Battle of the Best concludes with DTwo cashing in $1000

Author: Wraze

Coming from the loser’s bracket, Daniel ‘DTwo’ Ikuta from Team DKMR defeats Sebastian ‘Forsen’ Fors in two quick series to be crowned the champion of the Mad Catz Battle of the Best Invitational. The Japanese seems to be on the roll, just on time for the BlizzCon World Championship which will be held in November.

Image sourced from: https://www.battleofthebest.com/mci

Series 1

DTwo: Warrior, Warlock, Hunter, Priest

Forsen: Warrior, Warlock, Hunter, Mage

Game 1 - [DTwo] Priest : Warrior [Forsen]

The first game of the finals looked promising for Forsen after he managed to take out an Injured Blademaster with his Fiery War Axe and securing board control by saving his last weapon charge, denying any potential minions with 3 health or less. But as the game slowly progress, DTwo climbs back into the game bit by bit. A clutch Thoughtsteal managed to grab an Execute which was used later in the game to remove Forsen’s Ysera. Forsen rolled his final dice with a Grommash Hellscream but DTwo had the perfect answer to it – Mind Control. Everything went south from there and DTwo sealed the deal with a Slyvannas steal on Forsen’s Ragnaros.

Game 2 - [DTwo] Warlock : Hunter [Forsen]

DTwo swapped his Priest deck for a Handlock going against the Hunter deck from Forsen. The class matchup favors the Hunter and Forsen even got the turn 1 Undertaker play (Kreygasm). Unfortunately for him, a turn 1 coin into Ancient Watcher follwed by turn 2 Ironbeak Owl from DTwo managed to hold off any early aggression from the Hunter. DTwo continued to snowballed from that position to secure his 2^nd win of the series.

Game 3 - [DTwo] Hunter : Mage [Forsen]

Despite having a slow start to the game, DTwo’s Hunter deck managed to close the series with a flare to remove Forsen’s Ice Block and finish with a double kill command. Ouch.

Series 2

Game 1 - [DTwo] Hunter : Mage [Forsen]

A rematch of game 3 from their last series. Unlike the last game, DTwo had an aggressive start and a turn 3 Huffer fueled his early onslaught even more, cutting down Forsen to 18 health at the end of the turn. Forsen managed to cleared the board with his Doomsayer but the aggression from DTwo doesn’t stop there as he threw down Black Knight on the next turn and a Savannah Highmane on the following. Forsen thought he had an answer to the Hunter’s board by casting a frost nova and setting up for the perfect Flamestrike. Sadly for Forsen, a critical Loatheb timing from DTwo destroyed all hope for the freeze Mage and DTwo claims the first game of the 2nd series.

Game 2 - [DTwo] Hunter : Warrior [Forsen]

DTwo got disconnected in the middle of the game and it was later found out that the Battlenet servers in Europe went down. After a short pause, both players came back online and restarted their 2nd match of the series. The turn 6 Hogger from Forsen delayed the Hunter’s push. A topdeck Savannah Highmane from DTwp seemed to be the perfect answer but with a Death’s Bite and Baron Geddon, Forsen completely wiped the board. Forsen then sails to his first victory in the series on the back of his Grommash Hellscream being enraged by the burn from Baron Geddon.

Game 3 - [DTwo] Warlock : Warrior [Forsen]

Game 3 looked good for Forsen when DTwo’s Soulfire discarded his Lord Jaraxxus. But the Handlock deck had much more to offer. Forsen Executed the first Mountain Giant but DTwo immediately plays another on the next turn and even copies it with his Faceless Manipulator. The Warrior deck didn’t had the solutions to the heavy minions. A YOLO Ragnaros from Forsen disappointed him by blasting the Warlock in the face, reducing him to 10 health - the magic number where Molten Giants come sweeping into the board. DTwo chose to play his Ragnaros on the next turn to take a 50% chance on dealing the lethal blow to Forsen and it paid off.

Game 4 - [DTwo] Warlock : Hunter [Forsen]

DTwo is one game away from winning the Battle of the Best Invitationals. DTwo’s Handlock deck had the perfect start in the form of a Ancient Watcher and Sunfury Protector but Forsen’s turn 3 Huffer destroyed that. Both players then started to race with the Hunter having a slight lead. A Shadowflame from the Handlock killed off all aggression of the Hunter and DTwo was able to stabilize from there. The game then proceeded with DTwo having 2 health left and Forsen being 2 damage off lethal. The Lord of the Burning Legion, Jarraxus then entered the board, sinking all hope of Forsen into the dark oblivion.