by Sören ‘Fantasy’ Vendsahm

It was a long time in the making. The compLexity Gaming history in Hearthstone is over a year long with ups and downs, great runs and brutal losses on the cusp. Today that luck changed when Jan “superjj” Janßen went ahead and defeated everyone in his run through the SeatStory Cup 4 in Krefeld, Germany.

For JJ it was the third LAN attended as a member of the compLexity family, establishing himself quickly as one of the hardest workers in the entire organization. The run through SSC showed that hard work pays off even in a volatile game such as Hearthstone, when the German player ran the table.

While the tournament started on Thursday, both superjj and Ryzen from coL started into it on Friday in the later groups. While Ryzen couldn’t quite make it out of the group stage on his LAN debut, the veteran JJ lived to fight another day on Saturday with a win over SjoW and BlizzCon Top 4 player Thijs – only dropping a game to surprise group winner Frodan.

That loss later turned out to be the only misstep of JJ, who went on a winning streak through Saturday and Sunday. First it was Group D that felt the wrath of the Sultan of Salt, sending both Zalae and Powder into the Lower Bracket of the GSL style groups. With those two wins, JJ already entered uncharted territory, as the new competitor had never reached the money ranks of any tournament yet. Back at DreamHack Summer 2015 he bombed out straight away, while making it into the Top 16 at DreamHack Cluj just a few weeks ago. Steady improvement, hard work and a bit of luck, all factors for his success.

The bracket stage then saw him go up against his only slayer, Frodan. The match for redemption was close for a long time, ultimately coming down to the dreaded Druid mirror. A timely combo later JJ advanced with a 4-3 score line: Setting up the battle of the two remaining Germans in the TakeTV studios. Another storyline was also the second battle against a TempoStorm member in Gaara. First the manager Frodan had to admit defeat, now former DreamHack Bucharest champion Gaara had suffer through one of the most heartbreaking 4-3 losses of his career – especially since it featured a 29 heal Reno Jackson of JJ’s Freeze Mage.

That became a common occurrence almost for JJ, who brought the new card to the table – throwing a curveball towards his opponents. In the Grand Finals against StanCifka the Reno Jackson Freeze proved to be too big of a force, getting it off twice against a slower lineup of the Czech player. Smartly the Warrior of his got banned straight up, leaving the Freeze Mage with favorable matchups across the board. In the end it was a Tempo Reno Jackson against Cifka’s Priest to mix things up, followed by Alexstrasza and plenty of burst to go along with that. A 5-0 sweep in the Grand Finals, the first LAN championship for the coL.Hearthstone division and the Sultan of Salt becoming the King of Krefeld.

Congratulations to our boy JJ, as well as Ryzen and Noxious on-side, showing the black and red brand in the Hearthstone community. Next up for both JJ and Ryzen is the WePlay Season 1 Hearthstone League, a perfect opportunity to follow up this success and continue the positive trend.

Images courtesy of TakeTV

It’s that time again – Dennis “Take” Gehlen invites the top pros in the Hearthstone scene to his place for the fourth edition of the SeatStory Cup. Once more the atmosphere and the fun will be the focus of the tournament, however it is very much a serious competition as the contestants fight for their share of $20.000 USD.

For compLexity Gaming, Ryan “Ryzen” Laguardia and Jan “superjj” Janßen make the trip to the studio in Krefeld, Germany, trying to utilize the relaxed and laid back vibe of the competition for success at the virtual table.

One of the longest trips to the venue is taken by Ryan “Ryzen” Laguardia from California all the way across the Atlantic. For Ryzen it will be his first competition on European soil. As if that wasn’t enough, it will actually his first competition in a LAN setting, period. The popular streamer  has had some competitive success in the DingIt TV Invitational, as well as the Last Call Qualifier for the BlizzCon World Championships 2015 in North America. In both tournaments the Rogue expert came close capturing the big prize – now he hopes to turn that around in Krefeld.

Seeded in Group H, Ryzen will have no walkover player whatsoever. With Powder he meets an old acquaintance, the first player he ever beat in a meaningful competitive match. Back at the DingIt TV Invitational Powder and Ryzen squared off in the first round, with Ryzen walking away with a close and narrow 3-2 victory. Also in the group are Na’Vi’s superstar Hoej, as well as Luminosity Gaming’s Ignite, returning to the sight of his famous botched Auchenai-Circle mistake.

For superjj the group stage won’t be an easy task either. Group G is where he landed, alongside another former compLexity Gaming star in SjoW. Both players never wore the black and red at the same time, but are still friends. Last time these two met was back in the Hearthstone Pro League Week 5 with SjoW taking a 3-1 win on the back of Hunter and Druid. Now superjj gets a shot at redemption. Also playing in Group G are BlizzCon World Championship 2015 Semifinalist ThijsNL and “Voice of Hearthstone” Frodan.

Outside of the compLexity groups, Noxious will lend his voice to the program as one of the two main casters for the tournament. Alongside constantly switching guests, he and Frodan will provide their voices to the plays made on the board. 

Make sure to stay tuned for coL action on the virtual tables, as well as on the casting couch. The tournament starts at 2 PM CET / 8 AM EST with Group A and B on twitch.tv/taketv_hs or twitch.tv/taketv. The coL players won’t be sitting down at Blizzard’s Inn until late Friday though. Still, make sure to tune in right away for all the Hearthstone action in the most relaxing and fun tournament of the Hearthstone scene.

Streams

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Beginning today, coL.cs makes their run through the iBUYPOWER Cup 2015 event in Santa Ana, California. Eight of North America’s best teams will come together to compete for their chance at the $100,000 prize pool, as well as an invitation to IEM San Jose.

Prizes

1. – $65,000
2. – $25,000
3. – $10,000

Format

• Best of 3 Upper Bracket
• Best of 1 Lower Bracket

Groups

Group A	Group B
Luminosity Gaming Winterfox Counter Logic Gaming Renegades	Cloud 9 Conquest Team Liquid compLexity Gaming

Matches

coL.cs	Cloud9
5	16

coL.cs	Conquest
16	10

coL.cs	Team Liquid
17	19

Stream

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Although the game has only been out for a single week, it’s time to get some competitive Call of Duty 3 action underway. Your very own compLexity Call of Duty squad, fresh on the heels of dawning their new banner, will be heading to Columbus, Ohio for the inaugural event, presented by Twitch.

Join hosts Alex ‘Goldenboy’ Mendez, Ben ‘Benson’ Bowe, and Joseph ‘Merk’ Deluca on /twitch this Saturday, 11/14 at 1pm PST as they bring you live coverage of the Totino’s Invitational from the MLG esports Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

Eight teams (eLevate, FaZe, compLexity, EnVy, Luminosity, OpTic, Kaliber, and Rise Nation) will be competing for the right to be called the first BO3 tournament champions and a share of that $50k. It’s going to be a sea of bullets and good times, so don’t miss a second of the action.

Matches

coL.COD	Optic Gaming
1	2

coL.COD	EnvyUs
2	1

Stream

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