The dust has finally settled and the Hearthstone 2020 World Champion is none other than Kenta “glory” Sato. He beat out Jaromír "Jarla" Vyskočil 3–1 and earned a spot in the Hall of Champions. As the winner, glory took home both the World Championship Trophy and the $200,000 prize pool.
If you’re interested in how it all played out, you can watch the match below:
At the start, glory didn’t have it easy after being swept 0–3 by Jarla. This led him to be dropped to an Elimination Match where he faced Luna "bloodyface" Eason. By this time, it seemed that glory was “weak” against a Paladin deck as bloodyface got first blood in their match. However, glory managed to get his bearings back in the second game. glory went full force, beat bloodyface 3–1, and moved to the decider match.
In the decider match, glory was against Wu "XiaoT" Juwei. The same pattern pretty much emerged with glory losing in the first game, and later on, winning the next three to claim the match. This resulted in the Finals match, as well as a rematch, versus Jarla.
A Bad Start
In the first game, glory went for a Control Warrior deck while Jarla chose a Libram Paladin deck. As expected, glory had issues and Jarla claimed the victory. While this appeared to be a repeat of the Opening Matches, glory was having none of it.
Being in Control
For the second game, Jarla went for Control Priest while glory decided for Secret Rogue. Fortunately, glory managed to drop Edwin VanCleef, and then, Questing Adventurer later on. This proved too much for Jarla and the game was done quickly with the series tied 1–1.
In the third game, Jarla continued with Control Priest. But this time, glory went for his Control Warrior. This game was a battle of wits that lasted for around 20 minutes. However, with two Rattlegores on glory’s side, Jarla had to call GG and give glory the lead 2–1.
Demon Hunter vs Demon Hunter
The fourth game was exciting with both players deciding to use Demon Hunter. Though, there was a difference. glory used Soul Demon Hunter and Jarla opted for OTK Demon Hunter. In the match, glory started strong and managed to whittle Jarla’s health to 13 by the sixth round. To Jarla’s credit, he found a way to stay in the fight and even turn things around in his favor.
Later on, glory got the advantage on the board, despite being at a disadvantage on health. Yet Jarla got a solution to clear the board, which at the same time, leaving only two cards on his deck.
Out of cards, Jarla knew he only needed a few turns to win the game. When glory drew Soulshard Lapidary just in time, it was clear who was the victor. glory claimed the game and crowned the new champion.
With the year over, it’s time once again to prepare and see what 2021 has in store. What about you? What was your favorite part of the tournament?
