Hearthstone HCT Bangkok March 2018 Tour Stop was played from 16^th March to 18^th March 2018 at the Pantip Esports Arena in Bangkok, Thailand. It was an open Hearthstone Championship Tour Stop, where 213 players competed for a $15,000 USD prize pool and HCT points.

In this post, I take a look at the decks and results of the tournament, including class distribution, archetypes, and lineups.

Results

The event was played in a best-of-five Conquest format with one ban. It was played in its entirety as one huge double-elimination bracket.

The first day of the tournament was not broadcasted. The second day (top 64) and third day were broadcasted on Twitch:

• Day 2: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/239632600 and https://www.twitch.tv/videos/239685850
• Day 3: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/240002918

Tournament bracket: https://battlefy.com/met/hct-bangkok-tour-stop-2018/5a93ae0f263d47034c05abd2/stage/5a93ae903f4f91037a7cefeb/bracket/

Final results:

 

1st	ShangHigh	$3,500 + 15 HCT points
2nd	DacRyvius	$2,400 + 12 HCT points
3rd	Crane	$1,500 + 10 HCT points
4th	Illsory	$1,200 + 10 HCT points
5th – 8th	Tom60229 Kapi Reall Kribo	$800 + 8 HCT points
9th – 16th	ShtanUdachi Tredsred Surrender Monsanto Casie Linken DrJikininki GooGieMoNa	$400 + 6 HCT points
17th – 32nd	Justsayian Cocosasa Tars Swing Tyler Blitzchung SeolDaBi Freddykuhl Tail Rdu MrY BGIOU Staz Narina Henry Tixuty	4 HCT points

 

Class distribution

The decklists are available in a Google doc: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1l3qh7hO94ZNKAj6BYl-UvuiT7YDZEKBqpoHlhtCzyL4/edit#gid=0

All class and archetype statistics are based on decks of 211 players, as I chose to leave out the couple of players with basic decks – they are not important for the tournament meta.

Classes in the entire tournament from the most popular to the least popular:

• Warlock: 203
• Priest: 200
• Mage: 126
• Paladin: 120
• Hunter: 61
• Druid: 58
• Rogue: 43
• Warrior: 30
• Shaman: 3

Classes in the top-64:

• Warlock: 62
• Priest: 62
• Paladin: 34
• Mage: 31
• Hunter: 20
• Rogue: 19
• Druid: 17
• Warrior: 11
• Shaman: 0

Classes in the top-8:

• Warlock: 8
• Priest: 8
• Mage: 7
• Paladin: 4
• Rogue: 4
• Warrior: 1

Compared to HCT Toronto one week before, Warlock and Priest retained their clear positions as #1 and #2. Paladin, however, fell off quite a bit, while still being brought by more than half of the players.

Mage saw minor growth and some of the less represented classes saw percentage-wise huge growth: Druid, Rogue, and Warrior were now much more popular than one week earlier, with Warrior seeing triple the numbers from before.

Shaman, on the other hand, became nearly non-existent – from only 7 players bringing it to Toronto to just 3 daring to bring the class to Bangkok. It saw no success in the tournaments, either.

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Archetypes

The control meta is here?

Warlock’s numbers remained steady, but the class saw a major internal shift from HCT Toronto to HCT Bangkok: at Toronto, two-thirds of Warlocks were Cubelocks, but while Cubelock remained the most popular archetype at Bangkok, it was almost neck-and-neck with Control Warlock (86), which had siphoned numbers from both Cubelock (105) and Zoolock (12).

Priest held fast to its second place. The most popular archetype of the class was again Combo Priest (86), which had gained some more popularity after Toronto. Control Priest (56) and Spiteful Priest (48) well still well-represented though. Niche Priest strategies had also gained some ground with 6 Big Priests, 3 Velen Big Priests, and one Healbot OTK Priest making an appearance.

The third-most popular class this time was Mage. Secret Mage was still narrowly in the lead (56), but it had lost a lot of ground to Big Spell Mage (47 – double the numbers of Toronto) and N’Zoth Mage (15, up from 2 at Toronto), and even Exodia Mage had gained some more followers (8, up from 3 at Toronto).

Paladin’s popularity waned, but it still came in fourth with Murloc Paladin (61) maintaining its popularity and taking the lead from the spiraling Silver Hand Paladin (35) by quite a margin. Control-oriented Paladin decks increased in popularity with Beardo Paladin (14) leading the way ahead of N’Zoth Paladin (9).

Hunter remains a middle-of-the-pack choice, almost entirely dominated by Spell Hunter (57 of the 61 Hunter decks). It retained its popularity from Toronto.

Druid saw a leap upwards with Jade Druid (45, up from 14) surging in popularity while Spiteful Druid (8, down from 14) fell down.

All Rogue archetypes saw some increase and retained their internal order: Quest Rogue (27), Miracle Rogue (9), Kingsbane Rogue (6) – and this time even one Tempo Rogue making an appearance.

Fatigue Warrior was one of the stars at HCT Toronto, and it showed at Bangkok: 28 Fatigue Warriors entered the tournament as compared to just 9 at Toronto.

Shaman was marginalized even further. Only three players brought the class, and none made it even as far as top-64.

There was a significant rise in the number of control decks – and also in decks that can beat control decks, as players made the read that control would be more popular this time. For example, five of the six Big Priests made it to the top-64, as did six of the 14 Beardo Paladins, and 12 of the 27 Quest Rogues. Control Warlock overtook Cubelock on the way to top-64 by 31-29. What about Fatigue Warrior? 11 of the 28 made it to top-64, so while the class did not have the surprise element of Toronto on its side, it was still solid. The control meta seems to finally be here.

On the other hand, the winner of the tournament, ShangHigh, brought one of the most common and unsurprising lineups: Cubelock, Spiteful Priest, Murloc Paladin, and Secret Mage. While others try to prey on greedy control decks, he simply chose to kill them fast. The tournament meta is far from solved, with multiple strategies taking players to the top. It will be interesting to see how HCT Oslo will shape up next week!

The ten most popular archetypes in the entire tournament:

• 105 Cubelocks
• 86 Control Warlocks
• 86 Combo Priests
• 61 Murloc Paladins
• 57 Spell Hunters
• 56 Secret Mages
• 56 Control Priests
• 48 Spiteful Priests
• 47 Big Spell Mages
• 45 Jade Druids

All archetypes by class:

Warlock

• 105 Cubelocks
• 86 Control Warlocks
• 12 Zoolocks

Priest

• 86 Combo Priests
• 56 Control Priests
• 48 Spiteful Priests
• 6 Big Priests
• 3 Velen Big Priest
• 1 OTK Priest

Paladin

• 61 Murloc Paladins
• 35 Silver Hand Paladins
• 14 Beardo Paladins
• 9 N’Zoth Paladins
• 1 Paladin (list missing)

Mage

• 56 Secret Mages
• 47 Big Spell Mages
• 8 Exodia Mages
• 15 N’Zoth Mages

Hunter

• 57 Spell Hunters
• 1 Aggro Hunter
• 2 Big Hunters
• 1 Secret Hunter

Druid

• 45 Jade Druids
• 8 Spiteful Druids
• 2 Aggro Druids
• 1 Big Druid
• 1 Malygos Druid
• 1 N’Zoth Druid

Rogue

• 27 Quest Rogues
• 9 Miracle Rogues
• 6 Kingsbane Rogues
• 1 Tempo Rogue

Warrior

• 28 Fatigue Warriors
• 1 Control Warrior
• 1 N’Zoth Warrior

Shaman

• 1 Evolve Shamans
• 1 Jade Shaman
• 1 Murloc Shaman

Archetypes in the top-64:

Warlock

• 31 Control Warlocks
• 29 Cubelocks
• 2 Zoolocks

Priest

• 24 Combo Priests
• 17 Control Priests
• 16 Spiteful Priests
• 5 Big Priests

Paladin

• 17 Murloc Paladins
• 10 Silver Hand Paladins
• 6 Beardo Paladins
• 1 N’Zoth Paladin

Mage

• 13 Secret Mages
• 12 Big Spell Mages
• 3 N’Zoth Mages
• 3 Exodia Mages

Hunter

• 20 Spell Hunters

Rogue

• 12 Quest Rogues
• 4 Miracle Rogues
• 2 Kingsbane Rogues
• 1 Tempo Rogue

Druid

• 11 Jade Druids
• 5 Spiteful Druids
• 1 Big Druid

Warrior

• 11 Fatigue Warriors

Looking for a specific deck list? Here are all the archetypes by player: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bR10hUD8OoXv6kyV7iHgfZUMfOSebne6qf7x9Dhny2w/edit?usp=sharing – with them you can find the right deck list from the decks Google doc https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1l3qh7hO94ZNKAj6BYl-UvuiT7YDZEKBqpoHlhtCzyL4/edit#gid=0

Lineups

Players brought more than 100 unique lineups to the tournament. The lineups that were brought by three players or more were:

Deck 1	Deck 2	Deck 3	Deck 4	Count
Cubelock	Combo Priest	Murloc Paladin	Secret Mage	12
Cubelock	Spiteful Priest	Murloc Paladin	Secret Mage	7
Cubelock	Combo Priest	Silver Hand Paladin	Spell Hunter	6
Control Warlock	Combo Priest	Jade Druid	Big Spell Mage	6
Control Warlock	Control Priest	Fatigue Warrior	Spell Hunter	6
Cubelock	Combo Priest	Quest Rogue	Secret Mage	5
Cubelock	Spiteful Priest	Murloc Paladin	Quest Rogue	4
Control Warlock	Spiteful Priest	Jade Druid	Quest Rogue	4
Zoolock	Spiteful Priest	Murloc Paladin	Secret Mage	4
Cubelock	Combo Priest	Miracle Rogue	Big Spell Mage	3
Cubelock	Combo Priest	Murloc Paladin	Quest Rogue	3
Cubelock	Control Priest	Jade Druid	Spell Hunter	3
Control Warlock	Combo Priest	Murloc Paladin	Secret Mage	3
Control Warlock	Combo Priest	Silver Hand Paladin	Spell Hunter	3
Control Warlock	Combo Priest	Jade Druid	Spell Hunter	3
Control Warlock	Combo Priest	Fatigue Warrior	Big Spell Mage	3
Control Warlock	Control Priest	Fatigue Warrior	Big Spell Mage	3
Control Warlock	Control Priest	Jade Druid	Big Spell Mage	3
Control Warlock	Control Priest	N’Zoth Paladin	Big Spell Mage	3
Zoolock	Combo Priest	Murloc Paladin	Secret Mage	3

Each of the top-8 players brought a different lineup:

ShangHigh#11315	Cubelock	Spiteful Priest	Murloc Paladin	Secret Mage
DacRyvius#1451	Control Warlock	Spiteful Priest	Quest Rogue	Secret Mage
Crane333#2314	Cubelock	Spiteful Priest	Murloc Paladin	Quest Rogue
illsory#1357	Control Warlock	Big Priest	Miracle Rogue	Exodia Mage
Tom60229#11689	Control Warlock	Control Priest	Fatigue Warrior	Big Spell Mage
reall#11561	Control Warlock	Spiteful Priest	Kingsbane Rogue	N’Zoth Mage
kribo#3588	Control Warlock	Combo Priest	Murloc Paladin	Secret Mage
Kapi#1905	Cubelock	Combo Priest	Silver Hand Paladin	Big Spell Mage

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Deck spotlights

Here are some of the more interesting decks from the top players.

Tom60229’s Void Ripper Control Priest

Tom had a rather unique take on Control Priest, opting to include two Void Rippers that can be used, for example, in combination with Pint-Size Potion to kill low-attack minions. Usually the card is used in Combo Priest lists as an alternative way to turn Divine Spirit into damage, but Tom’s Control list does not include means to significantly buff the health of minions.

Other than that, it’s Control Priest as usual: stealing stuff with Twilight Acolyte or Pint-Size Potion and Cabal Shadow Priest or Potion of Madness and using Elise the Trailblazer and Shadow Visions to generate several Un’Goro Packs if value is needed. Drakonid Operative can also grab the opponent’s win condition and turn it against them.

Deck code: AAECAZ/HAgLPxwKQ0wIOkALlBI0I8gyhrAKStAKCtQK1uwK6uwLovwLRwQLL5gL86gL96gIA

DacRyvius’s Cube Control Warlock

Who needs Doomguards, anyway? DacRyvius brought this double-Cube Control Warlock to the tournament. It affords a level of protection against getting your stuff stolen, too: just Faceless or Taldaram the Voidlord your opponent just took.

Interestingly enough, he opted to run Ironbeak Owl and Prince Taldaram in the same deck, thus requiring the Owl draw before Taldaram is usable. Owl works well with Defile, but Spellbreaker would have avoided a number of awkward moments.

There are also both Skull of the Man’ari and Rin in the deck. It is seen in Control Warlocks occasionally, bad luck protection of sorts, but it does mean that if you equip the Skull, you end up pulling Azari from hand without the Battlecry – unless, of course, you overwrite your Skull with Medivh, also included in the deck.

The final interesting choice in the deck is Corrupting Mist, a delayed board clear that is included over Doomsayer. It does not prevent development, but it is quite effective at killing whatever is on the board when it is played.

Deck code: AAECAf0GCqIC4KwCobcCj8cCoM4C8tACl9MCneIC2OcC2+kCCpME2wa2B97EAufLAvjQAojSAovhAvzlAujnAgA=

Reall’s N’Zoth Mage

Reall piloted N’Zoth Mage the furthest in this tournament, reaching the top-8. His take includes two copies of Coldlight Oracle, a great card draw option in control meta, often able to mill some of the opponent’s cards while drawing some for yourself.

No Plated Beetles in this one, the only Deathrattle minions are Sindragosa’s Frozen Champions and Pyros.

Deck code: AAECAY0WCsABxQSKB+CsArmyAsHBAsrBAqDOApvTAvLTAgpNigHJA+wH+AfKwwKWxwLV4QLX4QKW5AIA

Illsory’s Miracle Rogue

It has been a while since we’ve seen a Miracle Rogue top-4 a tournament. I’m not sure how much I want to praise Illsory’s Rogue though, as in the final matches it seemed that he was able to pick up wins in spite of bringing Miracle more than because he brought Miracle.

All in all, it’s a fairly regular up-to-date Miralce Rogue build. There’s an Acidic Swamp Ooze tech, which can help against Skull of the Man’ari, and that’s about it. No Arcane Anomaly here, Fire Fly and Acidic Swamp Ooze take those slots.

Deck code: AAECAaIHBrIC7QKvBIoHgcIC68ICDLQBjALNA70EmwWIB6QH3QiGCfW7AtzRAtvjAgA=

Illsory’s Big Priest

Control decks giving you trouble? Hit them in the head with huge minions right from the beginning and make new copies of them should any of them accidentally die. Big Priest put up a great performance at HCT Bangkok, and Illsory piloted this build all the way to top-4.

Pretty standard stuff. I really enjoy the Embrace the Shadow + Circle of Healing combo and have used it myself for a long time, but overall it still seems to be a somewhat rare inclusion.

Deck code: AAECAZ/HAgqiCaUJ0wqoqwKFuAK3uwLqvwLCzgLo0AKQ0wIK0grXCqGsAqesAui/AtHBAuXMAubMArTOAuPpAgA=

Crane’s Spiteful Priest

Four Spiteful Priests in the top-8, you say? That’s a lot of anti-control angst. DacRyvius really did not want to lose to Priest and brought double Dragonslayers and ShangHigh cut the Skulking Geist for Lich King, but I really like Crane’s build. Simple, elegant, has Geist in it. It is the most ladder-ready of the top Spiteful builds seen in the tournament.

Deck code: AAECAZ/HAgaQAooHqrIC4b8CoM4C0OcCDAiNCPIMgrUCursC8LsC2cECmcgCzswCy+YC/OoC1+sCAA==