Hearthstone Grandmasters 2020: Season 1 has come to a close followed quickly by Masters Tour Online Jönköping. At the close of HSGM Season 1 three players, SilverName, Bloodyface, and Glory, earned their way into The World Championships while 6 players, 2 from each region, were relegated making way for new Grandmasters to enter the system.
Relegated
EU - Pavel, Kolento, Hunterace
NA - PNC, PapaJason, Purple
APAC - SamuielTsao, Staz, FroStee
Masters Tour Online Jönköping was the final step of the journey on the way to becoming a Grandmaster for a few players.
New HSGMS
EU - xBlyzes, Warma, AyRok
NA - Rami94, NoHandsGamer, brimful
APAC - Alan870806, Bankyugi, TIXS
I caught up with one of the top players from HSGM Season 1, Languagehacker, to get his thoughts on the system and what it takes to be a Hearthstone Grandmaster.
BitBeaker: Could you tell the readers a little bit about yourself?
Languagehacker: I'm a 26 year old Canadian, born in Romania, living in Toronto. I got a math degree from University of Waterloo, did some bank stuff, and then decided I wanted to play games more than bank stuff.
BB: How did you originally get into Hearthstone?
LH: My friends from high school and I were really into World of Warcraft, and when Hearthstone came out, they convinced me to try it out. At that point I didn't really have experience in card games so it was my first real dive into the genre. I wasn't super into it at first, but I did get addicted pretty quickly after I learned how to play.
BB: Could you briefly describe your journey to becoming a Grandmaster and how did that accomplishment impact your life?
LH: I'm a competitor at heart, and was trying to qualify to playoffs and championships through the old HCT system before the Grandmasters system debuted. When it was announced, it became my new goal to try and get in. After my performances at the 2018 Fall Championship, and then the 2019 World Championship, I was a little heartbroken to not get into Grandmasters initially. I was a little lost for a few weeks after that, but decided that not being invited wasn't going to keep me down, so I spent a year fighting through Master Tours tournaments trying to get in through the open field. It was a pretty tough year, and I barely got in (the qualifying system is far from a walk in the park), but once I did it felt pretty liberating. I've struggled with confidence in the past and being recognized as a Grandmaster was a pretty big deal for me. This accomplishment was one of my big goals as a Hearthstone competitor, so I got pretty emotional at Bucharest (the last Master Tour of the year that decided GM promotion).
BB: As a competitive player you always have to expand your knowledge of the game and adapt to new metas. What are some of the best ways to continue to learn new decks and strategies?
LH: I always have Hearthstone streams up no matter what I'm doing. Sometimes they're muted, but I'm always glancing over to see who's playing what, how they're doing, etc. I look through HSReplay statistics quite a bit too to get a sense of the meta, and to see how specific decks and cards are performing. With that in mind, playing way too much Hearthstone is also a great way at learning the ropes of new metas/decks :).
BB: Relegation is a stressful time for Grandmasters players. How does that process impact you as a player and as a friend to others who may have been relegated?
LH: Stress is a very real and large factor for high stakes anything. A lot of competitors, myself included, struggle under pressure during tournaments, and the threat of relegation definitely applies the same way. I'm sure outside of games as well, players facing potential relegation are also stressing out for those couple of weeks.
BB: If you could change one thing about the current GM system what would it be?
LH: There's been a lot of discussion about what potential changes to the system could be, whether it's altering the prize structure for Master Tours, more relegation, more games played in tournaments... In an ideal world I'd have consistency be rewarded the most, but that's unfortunately not how Esports works. It's much more exciting for audiences to see players play for top-heavy prize pools where each match matters a lot.
BB: There has been a number of pro players expressing that they feel the current state of the meta doesn’t allow players to gain an edge based on skill alone. What are your thoughts on this topic?
LH: I think this is one of the most difficult metas to get a skill edge in. There's two powerhouse decks (warrior & demon hunter) where one will be banned, and the other will very likely get a win in a match. Outside of these two we're left with relatively weaker decks that all rely on drawing their very specific power cards or getting lucky. Big offenders include a big Edwin Van Cleef, discounting good cards with Galakrond or Warlock Quest, Druid Ramping on curve, or Yogg-Saron's box. I try to build lineup advantages and sometimes bring weirder lineups and I found it impossible to gain any edge because none of the off-meta decks have the same high roll potential that all these decks have.
BB: Season 1 of Grandmasters 2020 has come to a close, what are your plans for the off season and how do you plan to prepare for Season 2?
LH: I've been trying to build up my stream, work in some healthy lifestyle habits, and meme on twitter. These are probably the things I'll be continuing to do during the off season, but I'm also looking forward to a short break from constructed. Related to your earlier question, we've been in this (what I would call) frustrating meta for a while and it would be a good idea to have some fun with Battlegrounds or some other games that have been shelved. Even though I'll be relaxing a bit, I'll still be keeping an eye on streams and how the meta evolves over the next month - It's hard to put the game down completely.
BB: Out of the new GMs, is there one in particular that you are looking forward to playing against?
LH: I'm looking forward to seeing NoHandsGamer next season. His stream is one of many I frequent when I'm keeping an eye on meta development. I wouldn't mind taking a crack at the French newcomers too but we don't have cross region in GM at the moment.
BB: Favorite deck ever?
LH: I'm a big control player at heart, and will always go back to the control decks when they're playable. Control warrior and Control Priest back in TGT meta are what come to mind, although we've had such diverse decks throughout Hearthstone's history that it's hard to pick just one. With that being said.... I have to stick with my pal Shudderwock. He got me to the Fall Championship, and to Worlds.
BB: Favorite meta?
LH: TGT meta would also be one of my favourites for the same reason. Being able to play control decks (and win) made me happy.
BB: What was the best piece of advice you’ve ever received, personal or professional?
LH: Some personal advice, that also works in professional aspects - Focus on yourself. Focus on what you can do, improve your mindset, learn as much as you can about whatever you want to. Mindset is very important in a game like Hearthstone when you want to be competitive, and I think it matters a lot in many other aspects of life too. I think a large part of my success over the past couple of years vs when I started can be attributed to focus and attitude.
BB: Where can people find you?
LH: I stream weekdays on Twitch (http://www.twitch.tv/languagehacker), tweet memes, cat pics, and decklists on Twitter (https://www.twitter.com/languagehacker_) and have started doing some YouTube videos which mostly include lineup analysis, guides, and hoping to include game reviews as well (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrNrHiEmOS-DjX7uN3kReEg).
Thank you to Languagehacker for sharing his thoughts with us. Qualifiers for the next Master's tour are open and competition is fierce. To find these tournaments you can visit the Hearthstone Esports website at (website). I hope you can use some of what you've read here to take your game to the next level. You can follow me on Twitter www.twitter/com/bitbeaker or contact me at BitBeakerGG@gmail.com. Good luck on your ladder grind and as always #RuleTheRoost.