The Hearthstone Americas Championship Qualifier Tournament is fast approaching, and qualified card-slingers will soon be dueling for the chance to head to the Hearthstone World Championship at BlizzCon 2014, where they’ll compete for glory and a $250,000 prize pool.
The players that will be competing in the Championship Qualifier have earned their spots in a variety of ways, such as winning invitational tournaments, conquering community tournaments, or exhibiting excellence in ranked play.
Each one of these worthy competitors has victory on their minds, but each of them also brings their own unique spark to the journey as well! Join us as we get to know the people behind the decks: Their stories, their favorite decks, how they convince Ragnaros to hit their intended target, and more!
VARRANIS
One of the premiere players on team DKMR’s (Don’t Kick My Robot) roster, Varranis has proven his skill with numerous tournament victories and regular high finishes on the Ranked Play ladder. He has accomplished all of this while courageously enduring a neuromuscular disorder known as Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Despite the ailment, Varranis maintains a cheerful disposition and spends his afternoons streaming Hearthstone.
What got you into Hearthstone?
My friends are on the other side of the convention hall, scoping out the dealers’ tables and catching up with tourney buddies while they wait for the next round to begin. I just finished in the fifty-third minute. I gather my cards and shuffle a little for the next round. I grimace as I struggle to lift my head and look around. The other competitors are milling about the pairing boards, eagerly anticipating the declaration of the next opponent. Younger players still in the hunt zip about with energy and a newly found confidence while veterans wait patiently murmuring inside jokes amongst friends. I’m tired. What do I do? I’ve been playing cards for six hours and I kind of need to use the restroom. But that will take ten minutes, and the next round is sure to start in two. I could go chat with my friends, but those two minutes will be gone before I can roll up my play mat, pack my dice, and pick up my cards. I nibble on an apple slice foraged from the remains of my lunch and consent to wait out these few minutes. At least I have fixed seating for the tournament, so I won’t have to scramble to find my next seat. I relax for a moment and let my arms rest, contemplate what matchup I might face next, and before I know it my opponent is sitting across from me and introducing himself.
Physical card tournaments are a grueling ordeal even for the most able-bodied. Due to my physical disability, large events tend to play out as I’ve described above. I’ve played a lot of different card games, including the old World of Warcraft TCG. Most of those games require a lot of traveling to play competitively, which didn’t work well for me due to my disability and busy work schedule. Being almost entirely online, I can play major Hearthstone tournaments from my home and more on my own schedule. Having enjoyed another Blizzard title or two in the past, Hearthstone felt like a perfect fit for me. The design is also phenomenal, offering numerous strategic decisions in a short span of time and within a simple framework. For the other veteran TCG/CCG players out there, it’s also nice not having to search my stacks of thousands of paper cards for that one unheard of common that is suddenly the hot new tech card. Building decks in Hearthstone is like having a search function for my apartment.
What is your favorite deck to play?
Control Warrior. I’ve always been a sucker for the mind games and chess like elements of control decks. Control decks generally mean more options every turn, and more options means more interesting decisions to make. There’s nothing more satisfying than watching the plans you hatched on turn 2 bubble to fruition netting a win on turn 12.
What’s your favorite/craziest play you’ve ever made in Hearthstone?
I’m a pretty practical guy, so my favorite plays tend to be pretty boring. I get to draw four cards off my Starving Buzzard? Heck yes! I had one armor left from last turn, so Shield Block plus Armor Up gives me the eight armor I need to Shield Slam a Ragnaros? I don’t ask for much.
What’s your process for testing decks? When does a deck officially become a success?
We have a pretty rigorous deck testing process on my team (DKMR). If one of us comes up with a crazy new idea, a slight variation on a popular deck, or just wants to improve with a standard list, we’ll play a series of best of fives we call DKMR Challenges. This gives us a good feel for the deck in the context of tournament play and allows us to test multiple decks or a specific combination of decks.
During this testing, I’ll generally look to see if I feel the deck in question excels in either consistency or power level. If a deck is consistent, it’s often not too hard to make consistently powerful by adding a bit more end game or a particularly powerful combo. If a deck is powerful in a unique way, it can often be enough to catch opponents unawares or to attack the meta from a different angle.
In fact, testing is often about finding the specific cards or strategies to target the popular decks. If Hunter Mid-range is popular, perhaps we’ll test a more aggressive version of Hunter to gain an edge in the mirror. If Miracle is enemy number one, we might look to revamp the ole’ trusty Paladin Aggro deck. A deck is a success when it can hold up both in internal testing and find success in a tournament setting.
If you could design a card, what would it be?
Varanis Bitterstar
Mage Minion
4 Mana
3/5
Spell Power +1
Whenever you Emote for the first time each turn, deal 1 damage to a random enemy character.
Are there any players you’re looking forward to or nervous about playing against?
I’m excited for the tournament in general. Everyone participating will be top notch, which means awesome games and an awesome time. I’ve played against a lot of the top players already and have been playing competitive card games for a while, so there’s no nervous factor. I encourage less seasoned players participating not to be nervous either. A little bit of confidence goes a long way toward clearing your head and making the best plays.
If you could make Polymorph turn a minion into something other than a sheep, what would it be?
Perhaps a sad panda. He’s neither especially threatening nor happy about what you’ve done.
How does one go about making a deal with Ragnaros?
Definitely not by shaking hands. That seems like a sure way to get burned.
What are you passionate about outside of Hearthstone and other video games?
I have far too many passions for my own good. I’m passionate about my amazing wife, my job, reading, writing, board games, and just generally appreciating the world around me.
Varranis can be found on both Twitch and Twitter, and is a great source of Hearthstone knowledge!