ThijsNL Interview

After an historic nine week winning-streak in the IHearthU KOTH, Thijs “ThijsNL” Molendijk has finally been dethroned in a amazing game against Savjz. I had the honor of asking him a few questions after his match.

Watch the VOD of Thijs vs Savjz here.

Q: What is your history with other CCGs?

A: Hearthstone is actually my first real CCG game. I played some poker before, but never on a competitive level. Before Hearthstone came out, i played 2-3 years League of Legends. I’ve been playing Hearthstone since the beta.

Q: How did you get involved in Esports?

A: I was playing almost every tournament we had in Hearthstone at the beginning. After some good results and playing with other good tournament players, we decided to make a team. After 1 month, and keeping really good results in the ZOTAC cups and on the ladder, we came in contact with Meet Your Makers. This was the start for me as a professional gamer.

Q: How does it feel to be on a 9 win streak on our King of the Hill?

A: It still feels unrealistic to me. It was a honor that I get invited in the King of the Hill after i won the ZOTAC cup 5 times. At the start of my streak, I was really nervous. It was my first really big tournament. I prepared myself always really well against my opponents, watched VODs of their gamestyle, searching for decklists, making strategies and improving myself. I’m really proud that I can call myself a 9 time King of the Hill champion

Q: There were some very intense moments in your 9 games as champion. Can you describe the most intense or difficult moment for you?

A: For sure that was my second koth match against strifecro. I was 0-3 behind and only had my Druid left. I still can’t believe it but I was able to 4-0 strifecro (who is known for his druid decks) with my Druid.

Q:How many wins did you think you would get initially?

A: Actually, I was just doing the matches 1 by 1. After my first match becoming king I was already proud, but after my 2nd win against Strifecro i wanted to take the record from Savjz and Alchemixt with 4 wins. I thought it was not possible, but felt myself get only stronger after more wins. It will be hard for everyone to get over my win streak!

Q: We did not give you any soft balls in regards to opponents. Each player you beat is a killer in his own right. To what do you attribute your success on the iHearthU KOTH?

A: I think my success had 2 reasons. I always prepare myself really well against all my opponents. I’m not playing the decks that are the best, but the decks and cards that are the best against my opponents. I almost played a new 30 cards from week to week. The second reason is that i’m hard to read, I always played some other classes in weeks and started my series with different classes.

Q: What kind of preparation do you do prior to each match?

A: I look to the classes that my opponent likes, looking at cards he likes and try to counter this. I’m searching for some tech cards in my decks, thinking of which classes are good against my opponent deck choices. In the King of the Hill, you can take some risks and make a deck that is only good against one of your opponent decks to win 1 specific matchup. I’m searching for the best strategy.

Q: To what extent do you think having a surprising deck lineup is valuable?

A: It’s really important. It’s not only me that prepares, but also my opponent. When you are easy to read, or go with the 4 same classes every week people can make really strong decks against your lineup. I always wanted to be unreadable. Ofcourse i have my favorite classes, but changing some tech cards can sometimes be enough.

Q: With that said, what is your favourite class?

A: I think it is no surprise Druid is my favourite class. I’m known for my Druid decks, and had some really good comebacks with it in the King of the Hill. In every week I had a Druid deck in my line up. In my opinion Druid is the most consistent class in the game atm.

Q: How did you become so skilled at the Hearthstone?

A: My motivation is a really important factor. If I play something, I want to be the best. I’m trying to improve after every game and watching my matches back to see if I did something wrong.

Q: Recently in your game versus Kaldi you went 4-0 with a Backspace Rogue deck. What are your thoughts on Backspace Rogue as a whole?

A: It’s a really strong deck and good in tournament games. A lot of tournament players like to play control decks, and backspace is a good answer. The only problem backspace has is that it’s really dependent on the draws. Sometimes you just start your hand with only spells, but when you have a good starting hand it is almost impossible to stop.

Q: How do you think it compares to Miracle Rogue?

A: Miracle Rogue is just the best deck at the moment. It is way more consistent than Backspace Rogue, that is why people like Miracle Rogue more. But still, backspace is really strong.

Q: This match vs. Savjz was one of the first major matches after the release of Naaxramas. What are your thoughts on the current meta?

A: It is hard to say something about the meta. We get new cards every week and it will make some huge swings. After the first wing, miracle rogue is still really strong. Also the zoo had some new ways and is better now. But with some anti aggro cards and loatheb incomming it will change a lot. I have no idea what will be the best deck after we have all the naxx cards.

Q: What is your favourite Naxxramas card and why?

A: I think Loatheb will be my favourite card. It just destroys the decks that rely really hard on the spell combos. Also his stats are really good as a 5/5 for 5 mana. I think this card is be too strong and will be nerfed fast.

Q: You have made comments on the turn 2 podcast saying that you don’t use Animal Companion because it is extremely unreliable ie you need Huffer and you get Leokk. What are your general thoughts on RNG in Hearthstone?

A: I think the meta was stuck for a bit too long. Players were playing almost the exact same decks. I think it was a bit too much RNG sometimes, but I think Hearthstone is not an RNG game. Of Course, same as poker, you need some draws sometimes, but that is what you have in every card game.

Q: What do you think of Savjz as a player?

A: Savjz is one of the best players and I really respect him. He had a really good series before in the Koth and won some tournaments. We didn’t saw him for some time because he was streaming on azubu, but he is back.

Q: Do you think anyone else will be able to achieve this kind of streak in the future?

A: I think it will be really hard. I hope some players will get close, but I want to hold the record!

Q: Thank you very much for the interview, any final words and/or shout outs?

A: Shout outs to IHEARTHU for the chance they gave me in the King of the Hill, shout outs to my team Meet Your Makers and follow me on twitter (https://twitter.com/ThijsHS) and twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/thijshs) as I recently started with streaming too.