By Sören ‘Fantasy’ Vendsahm
The dry-spell of compLexity Gaming’s Hearthstone division is broken. After months of big battles in the Inn, coL.HS finally secured their first major title win in a star-studded tournament. Several times in the past month, players of the Hearthstone squad came close, only to end up getting defeated in the Semis or the Grand Finals. Dog suffered that fate in Pinnacle 3 and Battle of the Best, as well as a runner-up spot in the ESL Legendary Series. Alchemixt came close in the big HearthStats opening season, only to end up getting beaten in the Semifinals, while SjoW was close to triumph in Deck Wars second season and the fifth week of ESL Legendary Series. Now the wait is finally over with SjoW beating four of the biggest names in Hearthstone to walk away with the Xfinity Invitational titles.
The relief and joy once the final sliver of Rdu’s life total was gone in the clinching moment of the Grand Finals series was visible. Several months of hard work and dedication to the game paid off, as compLexity’s SjoW played his heart out and had fortune on his side from time to time. That combination carried him through World Champion Firebat, WEC Champion TidesofTime, Mayor of Value Town Trump and DreamHack Summer 2014 Champion Rdu for his first major title in Hearthstone. As mentioned on the cast by Frodan, SjoW joins a short list of eSports personalities to have won high-profile tournaments in multiple games. With his days in StarCraft 2 behind him, his big glory days in Hearthstone still in front of him.
With the triumph of the popular streamer and high-legend player, the overall team result of compLexity Gaming almost gets lost in the shuffle. Not only did the black and red brand win the whole tournament, but they were also only an inch away from an all-coL Grand Finals. coL’s own Dog was leading against Rdu in his Semifinals with 2-1, only his signature Druid left in order to pick up a win – but Malfurion failed him. In the Druid Mirror the rare double Force of Nature and one Savage Roar for ten mana – brought to you by Emperor Thaurissan – did him in. Then Rexxar relentlessly bashed in his face with weapons, Steady Shot and charging minions.
In the end coL walks away with SjoW crowned the champion and Dog collecting another impressive tournament performance. With that, SjoW goes on the trip to Krefeld in order to compete in the SeatStory Cup 3 with plenty of momentum. Congratulations and good luck for the next one – first LAN victory is still on the bucket list.