The second day of the Hearthstone 2020 World Championship began with the Group A Decider Match between Wu “XiaoT” Jiwei and Kenta “glory” Sato. A prize pool of $500,000 USD, a Hearthstone trophy, and a place in the Hall of Champions were on the line.
While XiaoT opted for his Evolve Shaman deck, glory chose Secret Rogue. A standout from the first round involved the summoning of Diving Gryphon. It was thanks to XiaoT’s Serpentshrine Portal on glory’s Questing Adventurer that summoned that minion, effectively breaking through Questing Adventurer’s Taunt. Coupled with burst damage in the end, the game was won by XiaoT.

In the second Hearthstone match, glory’s Secret Rogue went up against XiaoT’s Highlander Rogue. XiaoT was put in a tough spot in the early game and mid game as glory’s Questing Adventurer continued to grow in stats. By XiaoT’s fifth turn, the match was won by glory.
As for the third game, it involved XiaoT’s Aggro Demon Hunter versus glory’s Control Warrior. The game went over turn 10, and it looked great for glory. He was able to continue with gaining value and trading for board control. When glory used Bloodsworn Mercenary to summon a damaged copy of Kargath Bladefist, it was over for his opponent.

By the forth game, glory was only one more game away before heading to the semifinals. He chose to use Libram Paladin against XiaoT’s Aggro Demon Hunter. Although XiaoT had the Skull of Gul’dan on hand, he had to go against glory’s board and removal options.
It looked rough for XiaoT by his turn seven. However, he was able to clear the board. He then had to rely on top-decking, however, it was already over.

With the match won, glory now heads into the Hearthstone 2020 World Championship semifinals as a player representing the Asia-Pacific region.
Published: Dec 13, 2020 01:22 pm