Hail and well met fellow card floppers. Today I’m going to take you on a trip to the sunny beaches of Rimini, where our beloved Cryptozoic Entertainment held a European Continental Championship tournament. We had 217 attendees from many different countries all striving for the top and ready for a challenge. It was a great event that Team Problem couldn’t have missed.

It was also an important moment for me to see if I made any progress from the last year’s 6-5 score and missing Day 2. In the end I didn’t make top 8 this year, but my score was not at all bad (2^nd after Day 1). I hope you will enjoy this report and leave some comments afterwards.

1. The Deck

Let’s start with the deck choice I made and how we’ve playtested with our team.

You can find the list below:

Hero: [Sepirion the Poised]

Allies: 16
4 [Broderick Langforth]
4 [Grazzle Grubhook]
4 [Azjol-anak Champion]
4 [Uruka the Cutthroat]

Abilities: 22
4 [Squall Totem]
4 [Elemental Vision]
4 [Wind Shear]
4 [Incendiary Totem]
4 [Feral Spirit]
2 [Astral Recall]

Equipment: 11
4 [Stormstrike Mace]
4 [Calamity’s Grasp]
3 [Edge of Oblivion]

Quests: 12
2 [That’s Abominable!]
4 [All Things in Good Time]
3 [The Ring of Blood: The Warmaul Champion]
3 [Conversing with the Depths]

As you can see the list is pretty standard and 99% similar to the NACC lists. The only change that was made by our team’s deckbuilder Pawel Kędra was an addition of the 2 Wind Shears and a little quest swap. We found out that Wind Shear is not only an answer to the notorious Bunny Deck, but also wins mirror matches and helps against Vorix, which was the key to the gauntlet that we expected to face. That’s Abominable quest gave us some more flexibility with discarding the cards with Death Rattle. It’s also a decent drawing engine, when you’re empty.

So why have I picked this deck? It’s insane!! It totally destroys the current standard gameplay, which is - play the strongest card each turn. This deck does lots of things each turn and most of them for free. Even without a kite it has enormous card draw and cycles through the deck to always get the cards you need. It has interrupts, answers to everything with Calamity’s Grasp and can make a comeback in the late game without burning itself out. After initial testing it was “the deck” that had no weak sides.

I picked it up as soon as I got the list, which was Friday night when the NACC Day 1 results were published. Immediately I had a 12 hour testing session on Saturday with different people to check if this deck works and I was amazed on how it played and all of its synergies.

After establishing that all the matchups are good and doing a fair share of anti-bunny testing we focused on mirror matches. We suspected that those will be the most common games we play and we weren’t far from truth. The mirror match is tricky and you need to really know how to react and what to keep, so I urge you to spend some time on mastering it.

In the end I was very happy with this choice and I’d like to thank its creators for building it so well and giving me this tool for the EUCC.

2. The Challenge!

The gaming hall was amazing. It was very comfortable and spacious. The audio was also great and you could hear the announcements very clearly. As the lazy VIP I am I picked a table on a side, where I could run my games in peace and quiet.

Round 1 vs Ignacio Portillo, José - Deathseer Zuk'raj

When I saw a Druid Shaman Scourge hero I was more or less happy. I’ve tested against this deck and it was just too slow. Spider Solitaire breaks through all its defenses and goes for the kill. I rolled double six and got to start the game. I opened with Warmaul Quest T1, which got a Uruka to my graveyard hitting ability for 6, followed by Vision T2 (another Uruka for another 6) and Grazzle T3. This was not as aggressive as I wanted, but filled my graveyard and got me to draw some cards that I needed. My opponent passed on the first 2 turns and then placed Voice of Reason T3 followed by a Nourish T4, which he hoped would secure his position and heal the initial damage. This was not enough though. I summoned [Feral Spirit] on T4 paired with [Azjol-anak Champion] T5. I Wind Sheared his [Innervate] on T5 and then [Astral Recall]ed the same Wind Shear on T6 to protect myself from [Utopia]. The damage meter was jumping like crazy as I was pushing for the win and Jose was healing huge amounts out of himself. Eventually I got my final attack around T7-8 that had put Deathseer Zuk’raj on 32 points of damage!! Overkill!

1-0

Round 2 vs Gissler, Orian – Jeremiah Karvok

Jeremiah Karvok is my other hero of choice and if not for Sepirion I would probably end up playing this deck. Fortunately I wasn’t and this was my advantage. I again got to start after a successful roll and I opened with Broderick and Warmaul Champion cycling 2 [Incendiary Totem]s. Orian played [Sardok]. On T2 I completed All things in Good Time discarding third copy of the fire totem getting rid of Sardok with my Broderick and putting my opponent on 10 points of damage. Orian had another Sardok for me that actually looked a bit sad on the field. I completed Elemental Vision EOT and on T3 played [Azjol-anak Champion], which was already pumped-up. My opponent didn’t have [Hesriana] on his T3, so he searched for her with his [Summoning Portal]. I had a perfect play on my side. T4 Feral Spirit, T5 Edge of Oblivion + Stormstrike Mace dealing enormous amounts of damage to Jeremiah, even though he tried to heal himself with double [Undercity]. Orian had tried his last resort, which was Munkin Blackfist and he succesfuly destroyed my Axe and now he had a protector, which would delay his demise. I had just 1 card left in hand, which was Calamity’s Grasp. A Grazzle Grubhook from the top was more than enough to get the Munkin out and move for the kill.

2-0

Round 3 vs Kwarciak, Lukasz – Sepirion the Poised

When Lukasz came to my VIP table I thought he just wanted to wish me luck. It appeared that he was to be my opponent for the third round and my first mirror match as well. I won another roll and started the beating from the beginning. T1 Broderick and T2 Grazzle gave me a good head start for a T3 [Azjol-Anak Champion]. Lukasz was digging for answers with T3 Elemental Vision having a [Broderick Langforth] of his own from T2. I was totally on the offensive with T4 Edge and later some [Feral Spirit]. Lukasz finally got Calamity’s Grasp on T6, but even with consecutive [Squall Totem]s thrown at me I was still able to do some terrible-terrible damage. I finished the game with Edge of Oblivion combined with some [Incendiary Totem]s fired from Grazzle Grubhook.

3-0

Round 4 vs Alvisi, Manuel – Vorix Zorbuzz

I usually start Core events with a 4-0 score, which is really great and I don’t want to go below that. When I saw my opponent’s name I thought it might be challenging to keep it up. I’ve seen Manuel in a couple of top 8s and I was mentally prepared for a tough game.

The luck was again on my side. I won the 4^th roll at this event and got to open with T1 Broderick followed by a T2 Broderick. Manuel didn’t have an Undead Mage of his own, but he casted Thud on my T3 to stop me from casting a 4 drop on T4. While doing some serious damage with my party I didn’t falter and completed [That’s Abominable] on T4 instead; discarding Uruka the Cutthrout + Incendiary Totem. Manuel tried to defend himself, with some Deathblows and Surge of Adrenaline to dig for answers. In the end he was not able to stop the carnage, when I played an [Edge of Oblivion] + [Stormstrike Mace] on T5, which was enough to finish him.

4-0

Round 5 vs Oliver Schmidt – Sepirion the Poised

This round has received a feature match by Dave Sutcliffe and you can read it on the official site.

I just want to add that even though I got lucky I felt comfortable in this matchup. I’ve played around a hundred mirror matches with my team and I knew the decision making process. Even if you get lucky with a draw you might not see it and still fail.

This game broke a curse for me as I usually lose my 5^th game after going 4-0 and I usually lose it to someone from the Bootcamp!!

5-0

Round 6 vs Skali Lami, Jonas – Sepirion the Poised

The curse has been broken – a wild World Champion appears!!

It was my first game ever with Jonas and it was the first time we actually talked. I was really surprised to see that we could chat like old time friends and the whole game was performed in a very positive atmosphere. This is a great thing about our community and the people who play WoW tcg, we all share the same experience.

Lady luck was totally on my side on that day, so I won the roll again. Till this round I’ve lost it only once in round 4 – feature match.

I had a pretty decent hand and opened with T1 Broderick, T2 Vision and T3 [Azjol-anak Champion] fully buffed. Jonas didn’t have any Brodericks and he failed on Warmaul Champion to get anything that could help him. He followed with Vision T2 and Grazzle Grubhook + [Squall Totem] T3. I was on the offensive with the spider, using Astral Recall and some All things in good time to do even more damage and refresh my hand. My opponent was drawing a lot in a search of another Squall Totem, but he didn’t find it. That sealed the deal for me and I’ve got to reach for fatal.

6-0

Round 7 vs Sparr, Dirk – Sepirion the Poised

Deck Check time!! We didn’t have a chance to play with Dirk as apparently there was a small mistake in his decklist. This provided him with a game loss and pushed me even higher on the standings list. While waiting for our decks we had a good discussion though, so it was fun anyway. I hope we can play the real game next time Dirk, but I won’t give you a chance for a rematch for the last year’s EUCC!

7-0

Round 8 vs Lazzara, Luca – Jeremiah Karvok

I knew Luca won’t go down that easily as he is a tough player. I’ve faced him in Antwerp and it was a very close game then.

Luca won the roll and decided to go first. He had a pretty standard opening of a T2 Dreadsteed, T3 Tuskarr Kite, T4 Dethvir. I was half defending myself – half attacking the whole time playing Feral Spirit three times in a row. I was afraid that Luca can overwhelm me with his drawing power, but I kept my board position and waited. Luca had a really nice decision making process, not falling into any traps that I’ve set up. I’ve heard from my team mates after the game that they watched what he did and they were impressed. I was actually saved by time being called and having an opportunity to deal more damage than it was dealt to me. I managed to topdeck, which had put my opponent on 21 damage total as I got an [Incendiary Totem] followed by [Elemental Vision] into another totem and [Grazzle Grubhoo]k to discard the totem I kept. It was really tough and close, but I succeeded.

8-0

Round 9 vs Corneby, Hendrik – Souldrinker Bogmara

Deck Check time again!! I was at peace as the previous check was fine for me, so I had a good chat with Hendrik about what we play in Starcraft 2 and what are our strategies. For the record - I’m a Zerg player. The decks were fine on both sides and we could resume the game.

I was not sure about this matchup. I’ve played with Bogmara before and I had a good dose of success as she just burns out, or loses to Feral Spirit, but you need to watch this deck really closely to not die in an instant.

Guess who won the die roll? I opened with T1 Broderick and watched in horror what was happening. Hendrik, a very calm person, has unleashed HELL (Rosalyn + [Lesson of the Nether], Onnekra, Bloodsoul, Broderick, another Bloodsoul + Lesson of the Nether, Broderick and Onnekra). I was at 20 points of damage on his turn 5, which was pretty amazing really. It had its bad sides for my opponent, though. He was left with just 3 resources and no cards in hand and I started to get my position back. I wiped his board with Uruka T3, defended with [Squall Totem]s and [Astral Recall] for the same totem. On T6 I’ve played [Feral Spiri]t and I knew that nothing in his deck can kill me now. It was a very fast game and a dangerous one. Hendrik had a good chance to kill me, but he didn’t have any [Searing Pain] in hand that could seal it earlier. It was a risky play, but I would take the same risk in his place.

9-0

Round 10 vs Blandino, Andrea – Sepirion the Poised

I’m really starting to be afraid of a dice check on the next tournament as I won this roll as well. I was using my opponent’s dice many times on this event, so I’m all legit!

Anyways, this match was also covered by Dave, so please visit the main site for the details. The link is as follows.

9-1

Round 11 vs Palys, Jan – Kinivus the Focused

I have to admit, I was not playtesting this matchup. I don’t know why as I think it’s still a really good deck, but somehow it slipped from our gauntlet. Jan had won the roll and I didn’t have any Brodericks. He got [Signet of Manifested Pain] on the table and started making tokens. He also got a [Voice of Reason] to heal himself followed with [Feral Spirit]. I tried to get through with Grazle Grubhook, Azjal-Anak Champion and my own wolves, but it was tough. I got rid of the blasted shield using [Calamity’s Grasp], but Jan’s army grew up and started to threaten me. I used my last resort and left everything to luck. I had 3 Incendiary Totems available, 2 in a graveyard and 1 in hand. This combined with [Astral Recall] and two copies of All things in Good Time could deal 12 damage if only I could get the 4^th totem in 3 cards. I took the risk, but I was only able to give Jan a near heart attack; it didn’t kill him though.

9-2

3. The Round-up

This concludes my Day 1 experience. It was an awesome day full of pleasant surprises. 9-0 start is my personal record now, which might be hard to break.

If you’re interested on how I spoiled this score and killer tiebreakers by not getting into the top 8 check out on the second part of my report here on DMG.

Till next time.

Yours trolly,

Gnimsh