Hearthstone HCT Polaris Oslo March 2018 Tour Stop was played from 24th March to 25th March 2018 at Ballroom in Oslo, Norway. It was an open Hearthstone Championship Tour Stop, where 229 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 Last Hero Standing format with one ban. It started with 8 rounds of Swiss followed by a top-8 cut into single-elimination playoffs.
The tournament was broadcasted on Twitch:
Tournament bracket: https://battlefy.com/polarisgg/hct-polaris-oslo-tour-stop/5a7a4acd8c3e70038ad9f45c/stage/5ab610544135f60391825a39/bracket/8
Final results:
| 1st | Turna | $3,000 + 15 HCT points |
| 2nd | Faeli | $2,000 + 12 HCT points |
| 3rd – 4th | AlexNoehr
OldBoy |
$1,000 + 10 HCT points |
| 5th – 8th | Swaggermeist
Swidz Juristis Viper |
$600 + 8 HCT points |
| 9th – 16th | Bertels
ElMachico Bozzzton ShtanUdachi Orange NikolajHoej Fenomeno Theo |
$300 + 6 HCT points |
| 17th – 32nd | Furyhunter
MatTheGreat Oloninho Justsayian DevilMat Jambre Jarla SilverName Twink Zalae Xeno S8ris NoRage BoarControl Danswf Tixuty |
$200 + 4 HCT points |
Do you enjoy Hearthstone content? Help me keep creating it by subscribing to my Youtube channel and following me on Twitch (you can do both for free).
Class distribution
The decklists are available on Battlefy under the games: https://battlefy.com/polarisgg/hct-polaris-oslo-tour-stop/5a7a4acd8c3e70038ad9f45c/stage/5ab610544135f60391825a39/bracket/1
Classes in the entire tournament from the most popular to the least popular (229 players):
- Priest: 219
- Warlock: 205
- Paladin: 188
- Mage: 130
- Rogue: 60
- Hunter: 53
- Warrior: 33
- Druid: 26
- Shaman: 2
Classes in the top-8:
- Priest: 8
- Warlock: 8
- Paladin: 5
- Mage: 4
- Rogue: 3
- Hunter: 3
- Warrior: 1
It is difficult to compare HCT Oslo to the previous two Tour Stops, because Oslo was played in Last Hero Standing format and they were in Conquest. That said, Priest took the #1 spot from Warlock, and Paladin regained its popularity.
Of the minor classes, Rogue saw a large increase with the popularity of Quest Rogue in LHS, whereas Druid sank down again.
Shaman keeps going down. 7 in Toronto, 3 in Bangkok, 2 in Oslo.
Archetypes
Priest managed to become the most popular class in the end, maybe because of the Last Hero Standing format. Be that as it may, Combo Priest (119) increased in popularity again with more than half of the Priest decks putting their faith in Inner Fire. Control Priest (26) came crashing down in popularity, while Spiteful Priest (59) made minor gains. Big Priest (14) also continued to rise in numbers, even though it remained a niche pick. With a 50% win rate, Priest was a bread-and-butter performer.
Warlock saw a swing back to Cubelock (128) at the expense of Control Warlock (62). Zoolock (14) remained a niche deck. Warlock’s performance as a class was lackluster at 49%.
Paladin numbers were on the rise again with Murloc Paladin (110) leading the way and Silver Hand Paladin (71) also recovering from its Bangkok slump. A couple of players even chose to mix the two and bring hybrid Dude Murloc Paladins (3) to the tournament. Beardo Paladin (3) was a rare pick. Xixo brought the new Rally Vally Paladin as the lone representative of Val’anyr. With a 52% win rate, Paladin was among the three most successful classes in the tournament.
Mage as a class retained its popularity, but it shifted heavily towards more aggressive builds again. Secret Mage (89) was by far the most popular Mage archetype in the tournament, leaving Big Spell Mage (35) far behind. N’Zoth Mage (4) and Exodia Mage (1) disappeared almost completely. Mage’s 48% win rate did not reflect favorably on its aggressive game plan though – and, in fact, most of the Mages in top-8 were Big Spell Mages.
Rogue sprinted forward, or Quest Rogue (49) did, anyway. Kingsbane Rogue (7) and Miracle Rogue (4) were left behind in numbers, even if not in performance – all three archetypes found their way to the top-8. With a 52% win rate, Rogue was one of the best classes in the tournament.
There is little doubt of the star of the tournament. It was Hunter. Most Hunters were Spell Hunters (50) with a couple of Big Beast Hunters (3) in the mix. 54% win rate, best of any class, and prominent performance in the playoffs showed exactly how good Barnes, Secrets, and Spellstone are.
Warrior did not quite get off the ground this time. Fatigue Warrior (25) was again the most popular build of the class, but Pirate Warrior (8) also made an appearance, even as far as the playoffs. With a 48% win rate, the class as a whole did not perform up to expectations this time. Maybe the surprise element is gone, or maybe the rest of the meta was just unfavorable this time.
The popularity of Druid collapsed: 17 Jade Druids, 7 Spiteful Druids, and 2 N’Zoth Druids were all that was brought to Oslo. None of them made it to top-8 and the class was at the bottom of the win rate chart at 47%.
Wait, how can Druid be at the bottom? Did no one bring Shaman? Actually, two players did, and the class reached 50% win rate. MasterMixer piloted his lineup with a Jade Shaman in it to a 5-3 record, finishing #64. That’s the best news Shaman has had for a while.
The ten most popular archetypes in the entire tournament:
- 128 Cubelocks
- 119 Combo Priests
- 110 Murloc Paladins
- 89 Secret Mages
- 71 Silver Hand Paladins
- 62 Control Warlocks
- 59 Spiteful Priests
- 50 Spell Hunters
- 49 Quest Rogues
- 35 Big Spell Mages
All archetypes by class:
Warlock
- 128 Cubelocks
- 62 Control Warlocks
- 14 Zoolocks
- 1 Kazakus Warlock
Priest
- 119 Combo Priests
- 59 Spiteful Priests
- 26 Control Priests
- 14 Big Priests
- 1 Mind Blast Priest
Paladin
- 110 Murloc Paladins
- 71 Silver Hand Paladins
- 3 Dude Murloc Paladins
- 3 Beardo Paladins
- 1 Rally Vally Paladin
Mage
- 89 Secret Mages
- 35 Big Spell Mages
- 4 N’Zoth Mages
- 1 Exodia Mage
- 1 Kazakus Mage
Hunter
- 50 Spell Hunters
- 3 Big Hunters
Druid
- 17 Jade Druids
- 7 Spiteful Druids
- 2 N’Zoth Druids
Rogue
- 49 Quest Rogues
- 7 Kingsbane Rogues
- 4 Miracle Rogues
Warrior
- 25 Fatigue Warriors
- 8 Pirate Warriors
Shaman
- 1 Control Shaman
- 1 Jade Shaman
Looking for a specific deck list? Here are all the archetypes by player: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kV904Pv87aRK4f6AViVmRwX0Ly9RRX42RfsB3azJM2g/edit?usp=sharing – with them you can find the right deck list from Battlefy.
Lineups
The lineups that were brought by three players or more and their average performance in Swiss:
| Deck 1 | Deck 2 | Deck 3 | Deck 4 | Count | Match Win rate |
| Control Warlock | Spiteful Priest | Spell Hunter | Secret Mage | 3 | 71% |
| Control Warlock | Combo Priest | Murloc Paladin | Kingsbane Rogue | 3 | 68% |
| Control Warlock | Combo Priest | Murloc Paladin | Secret Mage | 3 | 61% |
| Cubelock | Combo Priest | Silver Hand Paladin | Quest Rogue | 4 | 59% |
| Cubelock | Combo Priest | Silver Hand Paladin | Spell Hunter | 5 | 57% |
| Cubelock | Combo Priest | Spell Hunter | Quest Rogue | 5 | 55% |
| Cubelock | Combo Priest | Murloc Paladin | Quest Rogue | 6 | 55% |
| Cubelock | Combo Priest | Murloc Paladin | Big Spell Mage | 4 | 52% |
| Cubelock | Spiteful Priest | Murloc Paladin | Spell Hunter | 6 | 51% |
| Control Warlock | Combo Priest | Murloc Paladin | Big Spell Mage | 3 | 50% |
| Quest Rogue | Combo Priest | Silver Hand Paladin | Secret Mage | 3 | 50% |
| Cubelock | Combo Priest | Murloc Paladin | Secret Mage | 8 | 48% |
| Control Warlock | Control Priest | Murloc Paladin | Secret Mage | 7 | 48% |
| Cubelock | Control Priest | Silver Hand Paladin | Quest Rogue | 3 | 47% |
| Fatigue Warrior | Combo Priest | Silver Hand Paladin | Quest Rogue | 3 | 47% |
| Cubelock | Combo Priest | Silver Hand Paladin | Jade Druid | 5 | 45% |
| Cubelock | Spiteful Priest | Murloc Paladin | Quest Rogue | 3 | 44% |
| Cubelock | Combo Priest | Silver Hand Paladin | Big Spell Mage | 11 | 43% |
| Cubelock | Spiteful Priest | Murloc Paladin | Secret Mage | 13 | 43% |
| Control Warlock | Spiteful Priest | Murloc Paladin | Secret Mage | 7 | 43% |
| Cubelock | Spiteful Priest | Silver Hand Paladin | Secret Mage | 5 | 42% |
| Cubelock | Combo Priest | Murloc Paladin | Spell Hunter | 3 | 42% |
| Cubelock | Combo Priest | Silver Hand Paladin | Secret Mage | 3 | 31% |
| Cubelock | Combo Priest | Murloc Paladin | Fatigue Warrior | 3 | 28% |
Hunter lineups generally overperformed compared to other lineups. Rogue lineups also performed above average. As those two classes had the best win rates alongside Paladin (which was in most lineups anyway), this is in line with other available statistics.
Each of the top-8 players brought a different lineup:
| Turna | Cubelock | Combo Priest | Silver Hand Paladin | Spell Hunter |
| Faeli | Cubelock | Combo Priest | Murloc Paladin | Secret Mage |
| OldBoy | Cubelock | Combo Priest | Spell Hunter | Big Spell Mage |
| alexnoehr | Control Warlock | Combo Priest | Pirate Warrior | Quest Rogue |
| Swaggermeist | Control Warlock | Combo Priest | Murloc Paladin | Kingsbane Rogue |
| Swidz | Cubelock | Control Priest | Murloc Paladin | Spell Hunter |
| Juristis | Control Warlock | Combo Priest | Murloc Paladin | Big Spell Mage |
| Viper | Cubelock | Big Priest | Miracle Rogue | Big Spell Mage |
All three Rogue archetypes reached the top-8. Most of the Mages who made it that far were Big Spell Mages, and the only Warrior was a Pirate Warrior!
Do you enjoy Hearthstone content? Help me keep creating it by subscribing to my Youtube channel and following me on Twitch (you can do both for free).
Deck spotlights
Here are some of the more interesting decks from the tournament.
Turna’s Spell Hunter
Spell Hunter was the deck of the tournament, so it earns a spotlight. Turna took it all with this list, running one copy of Freezing Trap alongside the usual things and thus forcing his opponents to play around one additional secret in the open decklist format.
Deck code: AAECAR8EhwSoqwKFuAKG0wINjQGoArUDyQTtBpcI2wn+DPixAt3SAt/SAuPSAuHjAgA=
Alexnoehr’s Pirate Warrior
Yes, it is still 2018. No, you have not been hit in the head. You may have been hit in the face with an Arcanite Reaper though, as Alexnoehr piloted this Pirate Warrior list all the way to the top-8. It is not an original list as such, as it is the most popular Pirate Warrior list right now according to HSreplay, but some people just know how to hit face.
Deck code: AAECAQcEyAOvBJG8Arm/Ag0csAKRA/8DjgWoBdQF8gXuBucH7weCsAKIsAIA
Swaggermeist’s Kingsbane Rogue
Kingsbane Rogue in top-8 of a tournament, now that’s something. What’s more, Swaggermeist did it with an original build that includes two copies of Vilespine Slayer and a Mimic Pod and cuts the slow and unreliable Southsea Squidface.
Deck code: AAECAaIHBsgDqAj8wQKxzgKA0wK77wIMxAHtAssDzQP4B4YJ9bsCub8CgcICqc0C5dEC2+MCAA==
Viper’s Miracle Rogue
Miracle Rogue that almost carried the day? Viper tweeted that the deck went 7-2 in the tournament. It was one of the key parts of his top-8 lineup. Casie-style Arcane Anomaly as a one-drop, what’s there not to like.
Deck code: AAECAaIHBLIC7QKvBIHCAg20AYwCzQO9BJsFiAekB90IhgmvsgL1uwLc0QLb4wIA
Xixo’s Rally Vally Paladin
While Xixo did not go too far this time, his Rally Vally Paladin swept on round one. The first one to bring this guaranteed quality from Ike’s Deck Factory to a tournament, it earns a spotlight at least, even if it did not bring home any prize money.
Deck code: AAECAYsWCPsBmQKvB7nBAsLOAtHhAuPjArfpAgvcA/QF9gfZrgKbwgLfxAKIxwKbywLjywL40gLq5gIA
Bertels’ Big Beast Hunter
Spell Hunter was not the only Hunter archetype in the tournament. In fact, Bertels was only one match win away from making the top cut, and he had a Big Beast Hunter in his lineup. Secrets and Barnes is not the only way to win: Secrets, Barnes, Kathrena Winterwisp, and King Krush also works.
Deck code: AAECAR8GgAf4CIW4AobTAobUArbqAgyeAagCtQOHBPIFlwjtCf4M+LECxLQC39IC49ICAA==
MasterMixer’s Jade Shaman
Perhaps the best-performing Shaman list of recent tournaments, which is not much at all. Anyway, MasterMixer’s Jade Shaman relies on Jades and not milling, and it can take a bunch of decks to the late game.
Deck code: AAECAaoIBu4BlL0CoM4C688C8+cCiOgCDIEE9QT+BaC2At26Aua7Aoe8As+8AtG8Ava9AsfBAuDqAgA=