The second Grandmasters season of 2021 continued with Week 4 last weekend as 48 players continued their quest of gathering enough points to reach the Playoffs. You can re-live the action with our spoiler-free post below.
Finalists' Decklists
These were the players that reached the final in each region and the decks they brought for this week.
VoDs
Here are the links to individual match VoDs in spoilers below.
Day 1 - Initial Group Decider Matches
———- Asia-Pacific ———-
- Group A Decider - okasinnsuke vs AlanC86: VoD
- Group B Decider - GivePLZ vs Shaxy: VoD
- Group C Decider - Bankyugi vs blitzchung: VoD
- Group D Decider - trahison vs Surrender: VoD
———- Europe ———-
- Group A Decider - xBlyzes vs Floki: VoD
- Group B Decider - Bozzzton vs Leta: VoD
- Group C Decider - Casie vs Rdu: VoD
- Group D Decider - Thijs vs Bunnyhoppor: VoD
———- Americas ———-
Day 2 - Quarterfinals
The spoiler below uses results from Day 1 games in naming matchups, so watch those first if you want no spoilers!
———- Asia-Pacific ———-
- Quarterfinal 1 - glory vs GivePLZ: VoD
- Quarterfinal 2 - posesi vs Surrender: VoD
- Quarterfinal 3 - grr vs okasinnsuke: VoD
- Quarterfinal 4 - Alutemu vs Bankyugi: VoD
———- Europe ———-
- Quarterfinal 1 - Frenetic vs Casie: VoD
- Quarterfinal 2 - Felkeine vs Bunnyhoppor: VoD
- Quarterfinal 3 - Seiko vs Floki: VoD
- Quarterfinal 4 - Gaby vs Leta: VoD
———- Americas ———-
Day 3 - Semifinals and Finals
Results
The results in full, including the preceding off-stream games, can be found here.
Discussion
No major surprises on the decks brought for this week's matches. Rogue and Warlock were the top 2 in all regions whereas Paladin saw no play this week either. Additionally, Europeans didn't bring any Warriors and Americas saw no Hunters. In APAC, Warrior, Hunter, and perhaps surprisingly Mage saw only one pick each.
In APAC, Bankyugi brought the only Control Priest of the week and was rewarded for it as he managed to progress all the way to the final before getting reverse-swept by GivePLZ's Shadow Priest (which was far from the only Shadow Priest sweep of the weekend). In Europe the final was between the polar opposites of the Week 3 standings as Frenetic, who is having a rather impressive season (helped by the extra 5 points from his Season 1 victory), and the struggling Felkeine faced each other. The latter managed to win and secure the important extra point with which Felkeine climbed out of the immediate danger zone. In Americas the final was between the Week 2 winner Monsanto and Week 3 winner DreadEye. Even though DreadEye eventually lost to the Canadian, who has now won both Last Hero Standing weeks so far, both players can almost start thinking about Playoffs already with the strong lead they have over the other players.
The winners of Week 4.
Lastly, let's take another glimpse at the points standings of this season.
| APAC | Points | Europe | Points | Americas | Points |
| posesi* | 15 | Frenetic* | 15 | Monsanto | 14 |
| GivePLZ | 13 | Gaby | 13 | DreadEye | 13 |
| Alutemu | 11 | Seiko | 9 | Nalguidan* | 11 |
| Surrender | 11 | Rdu | 9 | muzzy** | 8 |
| okasinnsuke | 9 | Bunnyhoppor | 9 | 3 players | 8 |
| … | … | … | … | … | … |
| 3 players | 5 | 2 players | 5 | Eggowaffle | 4 |
| blitzchung | 4 | Warma | 4 | lunaloveee | 4 |
| DawN | 3 | Thijs | 4 | Fr0zen | 4 |
| che0nsu | 2 | J4YOU | 3 | Rami94 | 3 |
| AlanC86 | 2 | Bozzzton | 3 | Eddie** | 2 |
*The winners of Season 1 start with extra 5 points this season. **Retiring at the end of the season.
You can find the full standings on the official tournament site (not yet updated with Week 4 results at the time of writing).
Grandmasters' format will switch back to Conquest next week. Don't forget to tune in!
Comments
I really enjoyed watching the players that "embraced the spirit of Last Hero Standing" (as Sottle put it during Hot Takes) and had a clear strategy in their lineup, such as Bankyugi anf Frenetic.
Interesting to see also how warlock has moved fully towards card draw and deck burn to use Tamsin + fatigue damage as the preferred finisher with the inclusion of Manafeeder Panthara, Hand of Gul'dan, Nightshade Matron, and even Altar of Fire in some cases!
It hasn't moved fully because plenty of people still brought the Giants build, because it's a lot more consistent. The Fatigue version is just better against all the other fast combo decks that are often favored in tournaments.
This week really showed just how difficult Garrote Rogue really is. So many misplays at the highest level of play, I really will wonder how much of a menace it will be once people start mastering it.
I'm not sure if you even can master it. There's just so many immensly important decisions you have to make every turn while effectively guessing your coming turns because you can't influence draw RNG. The amount of time you'd need to properly evaluate every single turn is just too much for even veterans.
I'm also pretty sure the deck would have to be hotfix nerfed instantly if it was any easier because it can pretty much demolish any deck with very little counterplay other than slamming face and hoping they draw poorly.
I tried something similar back in barrens with sinister strikes, and after trying this latest build I can confidently say that team5 will never nerf it. Its too dependent on its core cards, and any tempo deck can easily beat it unless they draw really really well. I agree with your assessment that mastering it may be borderline impossible, because misplays are all too common, and there's just too many key cards needed, plus the essential problem of when to pull the trigger, added to the one problem that even pros cant escape from: just not enough time to do everything.
Team5 have always been skittish about nerfing stuff with low win rates. I expect it'll take multiple metas before we see anyone even talk about nerfing this deck.
I really don't wanna sh*t on the meta options as this has been done too much already, but yeah ... watching 2 players duking it out which solitaire would be faster to result in a OTK?
Paladin, Warrior, completely absent?
everyone just bringing Warlock, Shaman, Demon Hunter, + some 4th class over 3 days // 3x 6 hours? yeah. I liked it as background sound, as the casters all are really good and bring personality. the decks? couldn't care to give them a 2nd glance.