Hearthstone Grandmasters Playoffs crown Mighty, Jarla, and Pascoa: Journey to the top and winning deck lineups

The Hearthstone Grandmasters Playoffs crowned Manveer "Mighty" Singh, Jaromír “Jarla” Vyskočil, and Pedro "Pascoa" Pasqualini de Andrade as its regional champions!

After an intense weekend of matches, these three players became the regional winners of the 2022 Hearthstone Grandmasters Playoffs. The players duked it out against each other under the Conquest format, which involved bringing four decks and four unique classes into the fray. Each player banned one deck from their opponent, and the best-of-five winner went to the next stage. 

To reach the top in the Asia-Pacific region, Mighty dueled against players such as Wesley "lambyseries" Seek, Alan "AlanC86" Chiang, and Yashina "Alutemu" Nozomi over the weekend.

This was Mighty’s deck lineup:

In the finals for his region, Mighty used his Face Hunter deck against Alutemu’s Rally Priest. The latter player earned the first point after controlling the board, buffing minions, and going face. However, Mighty didn’t give in as he evened up the score in game two thanks to his Buff Paladin deck winning against his opponent’s Kazakusan Druid. Mighty then picked up another victory in game three when his Face Hunter battled against Druid. 

When it all came down to matchpoint, Mighty opted for Quest Rogue against Alutemu’s Kazakusan Druid deck. While Alutemu ramped, Mighty quickly completed the first part of his Find the Imposter questline and gained the Hidden Gyroblade weapon as a reward.

Mighty then went face with the weapon and his minions. Alutemu cleared most of Mighty’s board, the latter player built up another one to threaten lethal. 

Although Alutemu created a big taunt minion with the help of Ironbark, it wasn’t enough as Mighty cleared it and went face. Unable to find a solution, Alutemu bowed out and Mighty became the Hearthstone Grandmasters Playoffs champion.

“This is the best I've felt in so long.” Mighty said in the post-match interview with Blizzard Entertainment. “I put so much work into this. The last month has been—it's been one incredible ride.” 

Mighty then shared how he came up with his winning deck lineup. He said that he worked with a friend on analyzing the data from the Masters Tour Qualifiers. By figuring out the most popular decks, he determined the expected lineups and worked out strategies to counter them. 

Mighty also talked about what it was like for him to duke it out in tournaments versus on ladder. "I’m not used to being in such high pressure situations,” he said. “Still new to it, getting used to it. Hopefully, this changes over time because I know I'm a very good player.”

As for Hearthstone Grandmasters Europe, Jarla battled against players such as Tiago "SuperFake" Silva and Zakarya "xBlyzes" Hail before going up against Frederik "Furyhunter" Adam Møller in the finals. 

This was Jarla’s Hearthstone Grandmasters Playoffs deck lineup:

With a buffed minion to the face, Furyhunter earned the first point using Buff Paladin against Jarla’s Beast Druid deck. However, Jarla tied the score in game two using his Druid against Rally Priest. Jarla continued with this win streak in the following game when his Face Hunter versus his opponent’s Kazakusan Druid.

During the matchpoint, Jarla brought out his Buff Paladin for another victory over his opponent's Druid deck. Both players had good starts after mulligan, but Furyhunter’s Resizing Pouch only offered Murloc Tinyfin, Desk Imp, and Pounce. Meanwhile, Jarla built up his own side of the board, filling it with minions and buffing a couple of them. These minions helped him get through Furyhunter’s walls of taunt. 

Although Furyhunter played Scale of Onyxia for some board clear, Jarla continued creating a board of strong minions. Both players continued to play minions and clear the board, with Jarla pushing more damage to face. Furyhunter dug for an Ironbark to help stop the bleeding, but to no avail. When Jarla drew into Battlegrounds Battlemaster for Windfury, he went face for lethal and won the European Hearthstone Grandmasters Playoffs. 

"I'm feeling great," Jarla said in the post-match interview. "Since I didn't make the Last Call, I knew this is the last opportunity." He added how he prepared a lot with his practice partners in terms of figuring out the deck lineup. "Somehow, it paid off. Even though I was on Coin so many times as aggro."

Jarla also said that on the days before his matches, he played around five hours in preparation. On Saturday, however, he relaxed and watched the live broadcast matches before having a good night’s rest. 

"My read was just that everyone in the EU, except Seiko because I knew he was going to bring the Aggro Druid, is gonna most likely be on the Druid,” Jarla then revealed. “Maybe other people could think this way as well, but in the end, it worked out. Actually, the entire Europe field was Druid, which was my goal to target."

As for Pascoa, he fought competitors such as Frank "Fr0zen" Zhang, Davi "Fled" Garcia, and Lucas "DimitriKazov" Funes before facing off against Zachary "GamerRvg" Kannass in the Hearthstone Grandmasters Playoffs finals. 

This was Pascoa’s full Hearthstone deck lineup:

The first game went to Pascoa thanks to his Quest Rogue deck going against Face Hunter. Next, Pascoa played Rally Priest against his opponent’s Hunter deck. The game was close as Pascoa dug for healing while GamerRvg threatened lethal. However, Pascoa didn’t give in as he managed to heal up and buff his minion to win another point. 

When it came down to game three, GamerRvg continued with his Face Hunter deck. Although GamerRvg didn’t give up against Pascoa’s Buff Paladin, it wasn’t enough as Pascoa buffed one of his minions with Hand of A'dal to for the victory. 

In the post-match interview, Pascoa said he’s hoping for more players from Brazil to qualify for the Hearthstone World Championship. He then acknowledged his friend and fellow competitor, Fled, who had consistent performances in Hearthstone tournaments.   

Pascoa also talked about his mindset during the Hearthstone Grandmasters Playoffs. “Usually, when I come into a tournament and I expect to do well in it, I don’t do well in it,” he said. Pascoa added how going into a match with the confidence of winning the series doesn’t work for him because that makes him lose focus and prone to misplays. 

“So I made it my goal for today to not try to win, but just try to play well,” he said. “And if I can play well, it doesn’t matter if I’m gonna win today, if I’m gonna win in a few months from now, and whenever. If I know that if I play well—eventually, I’ll get the result.”  

Season 2, which is Hearthstone Grandmasters: Last Call, will feature the top four regional competitors of Season 1, so stay tuned on Esports.gg for more news and updates.