Welcome to a round up of the week! We have interviews with our CCS winners, a quick call to all our deck brewers out there, and more!
Last weekend we had the season 3 Cosmic Crown Showdown. Congratulations once again to all our winners! Today, we have a little treat for you all. We got in contact with both the winners of the Day 1 and Day 2 events. Here is what they had to say:
DistantSouth
HODORHODOR
So first off, on a scale of 1-10, how excited are you?
Excited! 10!
Easily a 10! Ever since HEX started doing tournaments, I have always enjoyed competing and seeing how well I would do. When I used to play other TCGs, I was never able to go play in big tournaments due to my location. But with HEX, I can do that with ease.
Tell us a bit about yourself - How long have you been a part of the HEX community?
I've played HEX one year. My English is very bad, though. I mainly identify cards through images.
I definitely know I’ve been playing since the beta as I have beta player sleeves. I want to say I’ve been playing since May, 2014. I think the game was still in closed beta back then, and I even still remember the time when players used to refer to HEX as being in “ninja” beta too.
What did you expect going into the Cosmic Crown Showdown?
Participating in the CCS, I wanted to try to get a good placement. My expectation was top 16.
Going into the Cosmic Crown Showdown, I was not too sure what to expect in terms of decks. A new set had just came out with sweet new cards. However, one thing I felt people were going to play was the new ice resources. These resources are very powerful, even though they are slow shards, and they allow a player to keep hands they would not normally keep.
How did you prepare? Give us your rocky training montage.
I was still directly training constructed in the ladder up to 30 minutes before the tournament. I was still in limbo, disciplining myself, and adjusting to Frostheart.
Honestly, I just played games on the ladder. At the time, I was not part of any play testing group or team, so the best way for me to prepare was to just climb the ladder.
What is your favorite constructed archetype?
I like operating more simple constructed decks. It's easy to make mistakes if the deck is too complicated.
I’m sure by now people know me as “that guy who plays Redlings,” and they’re not wrong. I enjoy Redlings because it’s a fast deck that closes games quickly.
How did you choose your constructed deck?
I had two main deck choices. The first was the mainstream Sapphire and Diamond deck. I tried and found it very easy for me to overtime and lose the game, so I choose a more familiar deck (Blood/Ruby Locket).
Well, since Redlings is what help me get to 2nd place in the Platinum Plunder and 11th in the previous Cosmic Crown Showdown, I figured I should play the deck I’m comfortable with and have lots of experience playing.
Were there any decks you were afraid of going in to the tournament?
I was afraid of candles rush.
I was a bit afraid of reanimator decks since Redlings really have no way of getting rid of Gargalith or Aegilus once they are on the board. I was concerned with having to face burgledurdle or other Sapphire/Diamond control decks since they now had access to Runebind as early interaction, but I was lucky and avoided both decks.
What is your favorite draft archetype?
I'm not good at draft, but the process determines what shard is what.
My favorite draft archetype would have to be the Sapphire/Wild transform deck. Much like my preference in constructed decks, it always felt fast and able to close games out. This format doesn’t have many Flight troops, so being able to turn something into a 4/4 Flier always felt good. Not to mention the synergies with Party Fungi, Spellsong Sweeties, and even being able to play Frostform troops and revert them with transform effects.
Can you comment on how you chose your strategy in the final draft?
When I was in the draft, I chose what is probably strong.
Honestly, I opened a Lumagoth and figured I would try to draft candles. It was looking pretty shaky at first, despite opening 2 on shard rares, but then when I opened pack 3 there was a 2nd Lumagoth.
Do you have any advice to those who aspire to be where you are one day?
The emphasis is on participation, and the rest is luck. Believe in yourself—that will nurture your own good luck.
Don’t let a couple early losses with a deck discourage you from playing and improving with it. It takes time and effort to learn the ins and outs of a deck you found online and decided to want to try. Even to this day, there are times when I am playing Redlings and I find a new line I haven’t seen.
Any last words?
I would refer back to the last question. I think I was mostly lucky. In the preliminary contest, I had no resistance from the rival decks I was afraid of. In the final draft, I got very strong cards. Even though I choose a champion I thought was a mistake (and didn't fit my cards), the last moment unexpectedly brought surprises based on the power of the champion I chose.
HODOR
The HEX Clash is back once more! Sunday, starting at 8am PT (Worldclock), you have another chance to prove your mettle and walk away with cash and exclusive prizes! Will you end up a proud owner of these fine cosmetics like last week's winners?
Join us this Sunday and find out!
For full details on prizing, please check out our tournament page here.
Important
The Into the Unknown AAA Clash Cosmetic is not yet in the client. It will be added in a future patch. Winners of the Into the Unknown card or sleeve will have those items granted at that time.
VIP Sleeve Rotation
This is a reminder that the special sleeve granted to those signed up for a full year of VIP will be changing soon.
You have until July 22nd (tomorrow!) to get the Quash Ridge Tusker sleeve. After that date, the Tusker sleeve will be replaced with the terrible and magnificent Uruunaz. Note, if you get a year of VIP right now, you will get both sleeves!
You can learn more about our VIP program here or by visiting our VIP FAQ.
Dev Stream Supreme
Next week on the Wednesday Dev stream, we will be taking challenges from the community in a fun, wacky format!
The rules are: Standard Constructed. You may play up to 4 copies of any single rare or legendary card. All other non-resource cards are restricted to a single copy.
We will be taking challenges on the official channel starting around 2:30 pm PT. See you all there!
In The Night Studio by Dan Brereton
You don't get into the games industry without being a fan of the creative arts. A deep love of games, movies, and comics is practically an occupational hazard. Everyone around the office has their favorites, but the classic comic book illustrators will always hold a place in our hearts. That is why we are excited to share that Dan Brereton is putting out a deluxe art book with notable sketches from his his own original comic, the Nocturnals.
If that sounds cool, you should check out his kickstarter. Full of original works from the past year, he is offering a few unique sketches, including some from his work on Batman. Pretty cool, right?
See you on the battlefield~
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