Gaming
With Knights of the Frozen Throne fresh from release, we talk to the top player about how Hearthstone eSports will change after the influx of new cards and decks.
Our chat with Sebastian ‘Xixo’ Bentert falls during an important transitional period for Hearthstone. Journey to Un’Goro is in its final days and Knights of the Frozen Throne is about to change the atmosphere of the game like a (exceptionally) chilly summer breeze. New cards and a new meta are coming, as are those sporadic few weeks where players go wild experimenting with deck ideas they hope will do well. There are some obvious ways Team 5 are looking to push certain deck archetypes with the abilities and effects they’ve focused on, but part of being a pro is finding your own way.
“I’m more interested in trying the cards and finding the best decks that are not obvious,” says Xixo on the decks he’ll be trying in the latest expansion. “Blizzard want you to try Discard Warlock and Secret Hunter, but that’s not really what I’m interested in. I’m interested in trying the decks they’ve not thought about or the ones that don’t have that clear a structure.”
In that case, the experimental period following the release of Knights of the Frozen Throne is a dream situation for players like Xixo. At first, the possibilities seem infinite, with everyone on the ranked ladder trying out their craziest ideas. It’s something the German player is looking forward to as well, given his view on the current range of decks that lead the way in competitive play.
“I think that Journey to Un’Goro was a good set design-wise but a bad set in terms of how the meta turned out. I think, for example, Karazhan was the exact opposite. The cards they put in Karazhan were more or less a joke, but the meta ended up being kind of healthy because of different Druid lists,” Xixo suggests.
“I don’t really enjoy the Un’Goro meta because it feels like the games get decided by the matchups and the [coin] toss way more than the actual plays. So, I’m not too happy with how the game turned out, but I do like the cards they printed in this set and that they’re trying new things. I do think that if they keep being as innovative and not as scared as they used to be with printing cards as they were with Un’Goro the meta will also get better with the next expansions.”
And there certainly are a few bold new cards in Knights of the Frozen Throne. Lifesteal has become a more utilised mechanic, new variations of deck limiting cards require you to avoid using any at a specific mana cost to gain a bonus and then there’s the character morphing Death Knight Hero cards.
“Just by looking at the [Death Knight] cards themselves they seem too slow and I’m worried they may not be playable, but we have seen other removal cards that might make the meta slower and so they become more interesting.”
When asking Xixo to offer thoughts on some of the cards in the new set he feels may rise to prominence or usher the greatest changes to the meta, he’s expectedly reluctant to commit to any concrete opinions. Without having the chance to wade into the new card pool it’s easy to be misled. However, there’s always some room to speculate and – like many expansions before it – the conversation moves to whether we’ll see the meta slow down, especially with the influx of Lifesteal cards.
“We have had Lifesteal before in the game, so it’s not new,” he clarifies. “I think having more cards like that might make a change… I think that the Warlock spell they printed, Defile, shows that the meta might be slower. That card seems very powerful against more aggressive decks so maybe the meta will become slower, but I don’t think just printing minions with Lifesteal does it.”
These changes in the meta as players lean more towards faster aggro decks or slower control decks will always benefit some more than others too. Everyone has their prefered playstyle and we’ve seen players such as Ant take great advantage of a meta that suits them with the aggro heavy lineup he brought to the Spring Championships. From Xixo’s perspective, is the possibility of the game slowing down a positive, or would he prefer to keep things speedy?
“Normally, I prefer to be a more aggressive player. I used to play a lot of control decks. My first climb to Legend, the first time I tried to do it as fast as I could, was actually with Control Warrior. But, I just don’t enjoy losing and I want to give myself the best chances so I play whatever’s best.”
“I think over the history of Hearthstone aggressive decks have been the best so that’s what I play most of the time. But I do enjoy playing decks where you have to think and you have to play your turn somewhat fast. Patron Warrior was a deck I enjoyed playing because I didn’t get bored.”
Whether playing aggro or control, Xixo is a fearsome Hearthstone player. He’s a regular face at many major tournaments and is often found competing for the top prizes. This year alone he’s made the semi-finals of WESG and Dreamhack Summer, while also taking home prize money from the CN vs EU Championship and ONOG Major in Austin.
“In terms of results, last year was better for me, but I still had tournament wins. In July I won the SL i-L tournament in China. I’ve had some downs this year and overall I am more happy with how last year went, but I’m still feeling like I competed at a good level and I’m not unhappy with my results this year.”
There’s still a good chunk of the year left for Xixo to find even more success too. He even has the added inspiration from fellow Planet Odd teammate Frederik ‘Hoej’ Nielsen, who just recently won the Spring Championship in Shanghai (“I’m happy he did well, I’m proud of him”), to make one final push to reach Blizzcon for the World Championships.
The route could be a tough one, though, as his 24 HCT points was just outside the cut off for Summer Championship qualification. Still, Xixo isn’t one to count out just yet. He’s exuded confidence since he first decided to pursue Hearthstone competitively, and no doubt that will spur him on to further success in any last chance qualification opportunities.
“I was just playing very casually, but after watching the first tournaments I realised I could compete with them,” he says of his first experience watching competitive Hearthstone. “It took me some time because, for the first weeks, I thought they were playing so well that I just didn’t understand the plays. Afterwards, I realised they weren’t very good at the game themselves and just didn’t play very well. I realised that I could better and wanted to give it a try myself.”
That effort has been rewarded so far. Looking ahead, with the level of play he brings to tournaments and the shake up to the meta with Knights of the Frozen Throne, there’s a fresh chance Xixo to go further still.
