We’re giving away a compLexity Karambit to 3 lucky winners over the next week!

The giveaway will run from 12:00PM EST on January 24th, 2017 to 11:59PM on January 27th, 2017 as which time we’ll announce 3 (three) randomly selected winners. The winners will be contacted via the email provided in order to claim their prize.

About the compLexity Karambit

The knife is made of stainless steel and plastic commonly used in Valve’s game CS:GO. The knife is 18.5 cm (~7.28 inches) long in total. The design features the Complexity logo and colors. It’s topped with a glossy finish for the sleek and perfect look.

The karambit has a unique serial number engraved on it, which makes your knife completely unique. You can register your knife at Fadecase’s official site to receive special promotions and bonuses. A protective blade sheath and black golden box is also included with the karambit.

Giveaway

Enter below!

Fadecase CS:GO Knife Giveaway

Thank you for your continued support of compLexity and good luck to everyone who enters!

 @compLexityLIVE      |       compLexityGaming       |        compLexityInsider

by Jordan “TheJordude” Hong Tai

Last week we looked at Druid, Warrior, Hunter, Mage and Warlock and how they have evolved and where they fit in the current Mean Streets of Gadgetzan meta. Now we will look at Paladin, Rogue, Shaman, and Priest and how they have been impacted by MSG.

Paladin

Paladin started off strong initially after the release of MSG. With the release of powerful hand buffing cards such as Grimestreet Outfitter and Smuggler’s Run in addition to card draw with Small-time Recruits, Aggro and Zoo Paladin seemed to never run out of fuel and constantly pushed out midsize threats. Players were also experimenting with Murloc builds, which ran similarly but with murlocs as the core support to the strategy. Paladins are also able to utilize the Pirate package because of cheap weapons like Light’s Justice. However as your first impressions may infer, running a build with suboptimal cards like Light’s Justice proved to be less effective in comparison to other decks like Pirate Shaman and Warrior. The deck also relied on having to build up a hand that can be buffed multiple times to have explosive turns, otherwise it was just dropping a couple of low impact one-drops in the mid game. Just like what we talked about Hunter, Paladin is a class that is just suboptimal in what it wants to do compared to similar archetypes, like Shaman or Warrior. It will be interesting to see if Zoo Paladin will continue to be underpowered or if anyone can find a stronger build in the future whether it be more a midrange deck or bringing back the Control or Murloc OTK.

Rogue

Just like all the other classes that wield a weapon, Rogue has also included the Pirate package of Small-Time Buccaneer and Patches the Pirate. Even though Rogue was not an exciting class when the MSG cards were announced, Rogue has proven to be a top tier class in the current meta, particularly the good old Miracle Rogue. Miracle has risen to be a top tier deck as it has a very favoured matchup against the popular Reno decks as well as Druids, as it has the time to set up big Auctioneer turns and burst them down with the Leeroy + Coldblood combo. It also does decent against aggressive decks like Shaman, since it runs additional early game in the name of Pirates, which can help carry them into their mid game threats of Tomb Pillager and Azure Drake. The Counterfeit Coin has also been a nice addition since it can help cycle with Auctioneer, push out midgame threats sooner, and can help make a large Edwin Vancleef that a lot of classes can not deal with at the moment. Out of the entire MSG set, the Counterfeit Coin was the most exciting card for Rogues, however even though we see the strength of it in Rogue builds, it has only been used at most a one-of, since two can be clunky. Though Miracle is the top favoured Rogue deck at the moment, other decks have also been experimented with decent success such as Jade and Aggro Rogue. Aggro Rogue does well particularly against other aggressive decks since it can race fast with Cold Bloods, and have reached #1 Legend in the Asia servers.

Shaman

The overlords from last format that is Midrange Shaman, and the class itself, has died down after the initial release of MSG. However, players quickly realized that Shaman is still an extremely powerful class that supports the Pirate package really well with strong early weapons like Spirit and Jade Claws. Instead of midrange, Aggro Shaman has risen in power once again, as a lot of classes cannot outrace or deal with 4-Mana 7/7’s and the early game pressure which Shaman consistently outputs. The addition of Jade Golem cards like Jade Claws and Jade Lightning were also surprising good in Aggro Shaman. Being able to remove minions or deal burn damage while also spawning a small minion creates great tempo, as opposed to the traditional Shaman burn spells which cause tempo loss from Overload, and the additional damage the Golems deal does add up. It looks like Shamans will be a dominant class for another few seasons until their strong early game of Tunnel Trogg and Totem Golem gets rotated out next expansion. When that does happen, we may see the rise of other builds such as Midrange, Control, and Jade Golems, but for now Aggro Shaman just seems to be the best variant of Shaman at the moment.

Priest

The class that has been the end of everyone’s joke has finally seen some presence in the meta with the support brought by MSG. For the Dragon archetype, Priest received the strongest cards of Drakonid Operative and Dragonfire Potion. Drakonid Operative is not only a very powerful midgame minion, but its effect generates a lot of value and utility. Dragonfire Potion is the AoE Priest has been lacking since Lightbomb left Standard. Kabal Talonpriest is also an addition that is more effective than the similar counterpart Dark Cultist. Having the +3 health immediately as a Battlecry gives much more value when trading minions which already have high health to begin with. Aggressive decks and Druids find it hard to deal with Dragon Priest’s on curve threats with high health. Players have also been experimenting with some success with Reno Priest. Priest received the strongest Reno class specific legendary, Raza the Chained, which allows Priest to constantly heal for free every turn and take advantage of Inspire effects. Additionally, Reno Priest allows the player to use strong cards they otherwise can’t fit in Dragon Priest, such as Excavated Evil, Kabal Songstealer, and Cabal Shadowpriest. Priest does not have any very favoured matchups at the moment, but they have become stronger as a class because they now have decent matchups across the board rather than being unfavoured in most matchups pre-MSG.

 

With that, we have discussed all the classes and how Mean Streets of Gadgetzan has affected them. As it is still relatively early in the meta, it is likely that we will still see innovation in decklists and the meta change a couple times before it finally stabilizes until the next expansion. As for now we can enjoy what is a rock-paper-scissors meta where players can enjoy any type of playstyle such as aggro, midrange, control and combo and still win games in tournaments and constructed based on what they queue into.

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About the Author

Jordan Hong Tai, also known as “TheJordude”, is a developing player for compLexity Gaming. For over a year he has enriched the coL.HS squad with his presence while becoming a fierce grinder on ladder and a threat in every collegiate competition. Apart from his business studies and the ladder grind, the youngster from Vancouver, Canada is a warrior in Open tournaments, a coach and the organizer and host of local tavern get-togethers. Monthly he delivers though-provoking pieces like for compLexity Gaming and other outlets. Follow him on:

• Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/TheJordude
• Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/TheJordude
• Twitter: @coL_TheJordude

by Jordan “TheJordude” Hong Tai

It’s been just a month since the release of Hearthstone’s latest expansion, the Mean Streets of Gadgetzan (MSG) and we have already seen a huge impact in the meta on ladder and in tournaments from the new cards it has brought. Almost every class has enjoyed a new deck archetype and the older archetypes have either been rotated out of fashion, or have received strong support. In this two-part article, we will look over each class on how it was impacted from MSG and how strong it is in the meta with the current decklists. This week we will look at Druid, Warrior, Hunter, Mage, and Warlock. Next week we will look at Paladin, Shaman, Rogue, and Priest.

Druid

Druid, aside from Warrior, was one of the most popular classes to be played initially after the release of MSG. Popularized by streamers such as Dog, players were hyped to play the Jade Golem Miracle deck, which focused on ramping quickly and cycling through the deck with the help of Gadgetzan Auctioneer. The deck consistently finds ramp and when it starts chain summoning larger and larger jade golems, the deck seems unstoppable. However as time went on, many found that Jade Druid had problems dealing with both aggressive decks and Miracle Rogues, which are quite prevalent on ladder.

As a result, Druids have fallen out of the spotlight in the current meta. There is still hope for Druid fans though, as many have started to pick up the Kun Druid decks, which focuses on the combo of Aviana + Kun + Malygos Burst/C’thun. Similar to Jade Druid, Kun Druid ramps quickly and searches for its combo pieces for a huge swing turn, or an OTK which helps against the combo and Reno matchups.

Warrior

Like Druid, Warrior was another one of the go-to classes after MSG’s release. Pirate Warrior was an obvious deck to try out with all the new pirate support in this expansion – it’s a very easy deck to build, and easy to play with its aggressive nature. The deck abused many players that were caught experimenting with cards and new deck ideas, and many found a fast climb up the ladder in the first week. Warrior has the best class cards for the Pirate archetype, having N’zoth’s First Mate and Bloodsail Cultist, in addition to it’s very powerful weapons being Fiery War Axe and Arcanite Reaper. These aggressive Warrior decks are just good at having an explosive start with early minions and weapons, and close games out early with pure early board control and burn damage.  Although a lot of people are showing dissatisfaction on the power level of pirates, especially with the release of Patches the Pirate, it is nice to see one of the oldest archetypes of cards finally receiving competitive strength in the meta. Pirate Warrior and Dragon/Pirate Hybrid Warrior have seen the most success for the class, while Control Warrior variants have been phased out for now. With Miracle Rogue, Reno decks, and the occasional Jade Druid found on ladder, Control Warrior just hasn’t received much support other than Alley Armorsmith. It will be interesting to see if Control Warrior finds its way back into competitive play or if it will see a time of weakness like it has in the past – such as when the old Patron Warrior was the popular choice.

Hunter

Hunter has been debatably the weakest class after the release of MSG. Before MSG, Hunter was gaining momentum with the strength of Cloaked Huntress, and I had expected Hunter to remain a stable class with powerful cards being printed such as Rat Pack and Dispatch Kodo. Although their support seemed strong on paper, in practice they have just underperformed against the other decks. Unfortunately, standard format Hunters no longer have Glaivezooka, their two-cost weapon which would allow them to support the whole Pirate archetype package. As Pirate decks consistently have a faster opening, Reno decks out value with heals and answers, and Control Warrior are phasing out, Hunter sees itself in an awkward position. Aggro Hunters are simply not as consistent and fast enough compared to Pirates, there are easy answers to the traps hunters set, and Midrange/Grimey Goons are just not impactful enough against the current meta. If the meta remains like this for the entire format, Hunter may remain a weak class, and what Hunter really needs in the next expansion is a one- or two-cost weapon so it can hop aboard the Pirate ship.

Mage

Mage has definitely been one of the less talked about classes in MSG. The set did not bring anything too exciting for the class, however we have been seeing a rise of Reno Mage, as the deck boasts a lot of utility to consistently control the game in both the aggro and control matchups. Reno Mage seemed to be the late boomer deck of the set and the deck is constantly evolving and changing as there is so cards to choose from based on the players preference. Freeze Mage expert Laughing insists that Freeze Mage is a top tier deck at the moment, however the deck is a lot trickier to play with how Pirate decks have such a fast start. This is probably a time where aggressive decks are the fastest it has been, and if you do not have a way to deal with early damage as a Freeze Mage, you just die before you can set anything up.  Freeze Mage does have some upsides in this meta though, having very good matchups against Renolocks and Priests, and Control Warrior is almost nonexistent at the moment. Chongger and NaviOOT demonstrated this at the Malaysia Major where they took Freeze Mage to Top 8 and second place. Tempo Mage has also been a decent deck still, where APXVoid has been piloting the deck with a magnitude of success on ladder. Sjow also brought the deck to Seat Story Cup where he came in second with it. There aren’t any new cards, but adapting the deck to the meta with cards like Archmage Antonidas and Water Elementals has proven to be quite potent.

Warlock

Before getting into the obvious, let’s talk about Zoo Warlock. The ever-so-popular archetype that has been around since the era of Reynad has appeared to have rotated out this format, receiving almost no support. This isn’t a new phenomenon, we have seen Zoo being a weak deck in the past around the same time that Control Warrior was weak, back when old Patron Warrior was around. Ironically, with all the new aggressive MSG cards, it is the control Renolock that has risen to power. The whole Reno Jackson archetype in general has gotten very powerful support with the release of Kazakus and niche minions such as Second-Rate Bruiser and Dirty Rat. Warlock in particular has benefitted the most, gaining more AoE clears in the form of Abyssal Enforcer and Felfire Potion. Warlock also has lifetap, which gives it the card draw it needs to find its one-of answers in the deck, an advantage that all other Reno classes lack. Although Renolock decklists will vary to some extent, a common factor is that most people have been playing the Leeroy-Jackson combo. This allows the Renolock to just play for controlling the board and building card advantage, and, when the time is right, go for a twenty-damage burst combo to end the game. At the moment Renolock just has so many tools and options that it can defeat any deck in the current meta as it has decent win rates across the board, and thus many players have hit #1 Legend with the deck like Asmodai and Reynad. Its biggest drawback at the moment is that it often needs to find an early Reno Jackson to be able to survive against the aggro decks, otherwise it will just die around turn 4-7.

Just going over these five classes, there is a lot to take in. Come back next week where we look over the remaining classes on this overview of the Mean Streets of Gadgetzan meta.

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About the Author

Jordan Hong Tai, also known as “TheJordude”, is a developing player for compLexity Gaming. For over a year he has enriched the coL.HS squad with his presence while becoming a fierce grinder on ladder and a threat in every collegiate competition. Apart from his business studies and the ladder grind, the youngster from Vancouver, Canada is a warrior in Open tournaments, a coach and the organizer and host of local tavern get-togethers. Monthly he delivers though-provoking pieces like for compLexity Gaming and other outlets. Follow him on:

• Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/TheJordude
• Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/TheJordude
• Twitter: @coL_TheJordude

 

by Sören ‘Fantasy’ Vendsahm

Since superjj made his announcement to join the Hearthstone team of compLexity Gaming a lot has changed for the German player. He found success, good teammates, a dedicated practice partner and a new home in Vienna. There are more than enough reasons to catch up with the SeatStory Cup 4 champion to recap 2016 and think ahead at the opportunities and chances that 2017 might bring for his career.

With the end of SeatStory Cup, your competitive year in Hearthstone also ended. Looking back at his event in Krefeld, what are your general thoughts about your play and performance?

JJ: The preparation was almost perfect. I really liked my lineup, but I still made some mistakes while playing the series.

Not to rub salt into the wound, but going back to the series against SjoW at SeatStory Cup. Can you give us a glimpse into your mind before playing Malkorok and what happened afterwards?

I didn’t have especially something in mind when I played the Malkorok, the card had to be played and you simply hope it doesn’t give you the Cursed Blade. After these moments you feel quite bad,  but normally I recover from them quite quickly. As a pro you are kind of used to Heavy RNG swings.

Those moments surely are tilting and discouraging – as Hearthstone pro you face them on a quite frequent basis. As a veteran now, looking back at your start of the your competitive career, how do you deal with those moments nowadays, as opposed to back a year or a 18 months ago?

Nowadays it’s of course not as tilting as it would’ve been in the past. If you are an unknown player and you play in the Top 8 of a tournament and you lose because of the three percent chance, it feels super devastating. These kind of moments happened quite frequently before I had the success of winning the fourth Seatstory Cup; they felt quite bad.

SeatStory Cup and esports superstars in Neumünster were the first big offline events for you with the new expansion. What is your early impression of it? What is good, what is bad, what gives you hope?

The new set seems quite interesting. It feels like there are more difficult decision again while playing the game, which is quite refreshing. Overall I think they did a good job with the set, I just dislike the aggressive Pirate mechanic and the card Patches.

We saw a lot of Renolock, Dragon decks, and aggressive variants of Shaman and Warrior at SeatStory Cup. In the current state of the game, what do you think is the best overall deck and why?

I think the aggressive decks are so powerful because Patches exists. It’s a very imbalanced mechanic which makes all kind of aggro decks with Patches powerful – over the top powerful even.

Another big change to the card set will hit in a few weeks with a new season of Standard starting. How do you see the entire game changing? Which class will suffer the most, which will benefit the most?

Reno Decks will suffer since Reno Jackson will rotate out, which is a big factor for Reno decks 😀 . Also I think the Dragon theme will become a lot weaker with a lot of Dragons rotating out. The Pirate mechanic will still stay very strong and should be one of the most powerful ones in the game.

Overall you can look back at a successful Year 2016, if you go through the memories, how would you best describe the past year?

I feel like 2016 is kind the year where I just got started, it was my big step into the top of the competitive scene. There were a lot of tournaments and all of the memories are great.  I am not quite sure which were the best, overall I would describe the last year as one of the most memorable years of my entire life.

You traveled to the States, to China and to various places in Europe. Which tournament stands out in your mind and why?

Every country kind of had its own charm and culture, which makes the tournaments there very interesting. Overall i would say the EU vs China tournament was very outstanding just because the culture there was so different and the way the Chinese fans celebrated esports. That being said, I am also very into the DreamHack Pro Tour tournaments, since I love playing well organized Swiss tournaments.

What is the most memorable moment of 2016 for you personally?

There are quite a lot of them, if i have to pick one that just gets into my mind I would say it was the whole Tour through America. From the Dota House to the DreamHack Austin, I had a lot of fun there.

The trip to the US wasn’t just about competing in tournaments, but also about being a brand ambassador at PAX East. You’ve done two of those appearances this year at GamesCom and at PAX East – how do you like those kind of events?

I enjoy visiting events in general and I also enjoy giving the sponsors something back for the trust  they put into me as a player and the team. Normally I would be at the event as a competitor anyways, so I think it just nice putting some time away to support the guys that make it all possible.

You mention the Dota house, how was it for you to be in that team house environment with a very ambitious team? What was the atmosphere like?

It was just as very chill atmosphere. It’s always nice to meet other dedicated gamers which have a similar mindset. At the point I visited them I had a quite stressful month and they had holidays so it was just a very nice to relax and talk with some other esport pros.

Do you think bigger team houses would also work for Hearthstone – for example the coLHS squad in one giant house?

It could work for sure If you gather a group of players with the same dedication and the same approach to the game. Since Hearthstone is a single player game the aspect of working together would for sure look different, but it’s mostly about the people you work with, I guess. Working as a team is not that common in the Hearthstone scene, but I also think something like a team house would be a step forward.

A big change in 2016, the later portion of the year, was the move to Vienna and the constant bootcamping with Lifecoach. Can you give us a peek into a normal average day of you two in Vienna? What exactly are  you doing on a daily basis?

In the last month we just got kind of started. Our day doesn’t look very special or something. I spend most of the time from 7:00-14:00  streaming and then I head to Adrian’s place, where we practice for another ten hours. We just go through Decklists, meta analysis, and in-game decisions, which is great.

In terms of improvement, which part of your game has benefited the most from this new intense training regiment?

My preperation got way more analytic and I am also way more calm while playing. I would say I became an overall stronger player, but my analytical part and understanding  improved the most by far.

Analytics, stats and hard numbers are the core concept of your approach these days – one month into this big change in approach, how has your game changed?

It´s a completely different approach to the game now. I try to think about my decision more critically and also try to focus more. All in all I would say I’m just trying to squeeze more out of the single games itself which is very cool.

Last but not least, what do you expect from 2017? What are your goals? What are your hopes? What are your fears when you look forward to the next competitive year?

I expect to work even harder and become an even better player, I wanna make 2017 the best year for my Hearthstone career so far.

compLexity Hearthstone is traveling today as Jan “superjj” Janßen and Simon “Sottle” Welch head to Zagreb, Croatia for the Zagreb Gaming Area hosted at Croatia Music Week. The Hearthstone tournament has consisted of 3 online qualifiers and will culminate in a 2 part offline finals in Zagreb. A total of 20 players will fight for over 9,999.99€ in cash. superjj was invited to compete in the event as a pro player along with Lifecoach, Thijs, and Rdu. Sottle will be attending as one of the official professional casters.

Prizing

1st place: 4.000€
2nd place: 2.000€
3rd-4th place: 1.000€
5th-8th place: 499,99€

Location

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The compLexity Family would like to wish borth Rory “dephh” Jackson (coL.cs) and Jaron “Monkeys-” Clinton (coL.Dota) a very Happy Birthday!

Rory ‘dephh’ Jackson is new to the scene, just starting close to 3 years ago and has transitioned into pro level CS quickly. Rory has traveled all the way from the United Kingdom to compete in the US, with desires to achieve big things. Rory’s been playing games since he was a kid, but has always been drawn to the competitive side of gaming.

Jaron “Monkeys-” Clinton is new to the compLexity family, only joining the Dota team prior to the Boston Major.  He started playing DotA from version 5.64b and then switched to Dota 2 in September 2011. He is based in Pennsylvania, and currently plays as three position.

Once again, we’d like to wish both Rory and Jaron a very Happy Birthday!

compLexity takes to the skies once again as 3 different teams head to opposite ends of the Atlantic. coL.COD and coL.OW are in Las Vegas, Nevada for MLG Vegas, while coL.HS is in Krefeld, Germany for SeatStory Cup VI!

For the sixth time, TaKeTV has called on the best Hearthstone players in the world to join them for another edition of the famous SeatStory Cup! From 15 – 18 December, top players from all over the globe will once again travel to Krefeld, Germany, to take part in one of the world’s most popular Hearthstone tournaments. compLexity’s superjj, mryagut will be competing, joined by Noxious on commentary.

For Call of Duty, as the kick-off to the first event of CWL 2017, twelve North American teams will begin in pool play. An additional 96 teams will also compete in a double elimination open bracket for a spot on Championship Sunday with $100,000 prize pool. Eight of the top twelve pool play teams will be chosen based on placings of the top North American teams from the Call of Duty Championship. The remaining four teams will be awarded spots based on GameBattles tournament finishes.

The event will also play host to an invitational tournament featuring Overwatch. Eight top teams will do battle over the course of the weekend as they battle it out for $100,000 in prizes. coL.Overwatch was directly invited to compete in the event.

Join us in wishing our gamers the best of luck in their respective events and safe travels!