Last weekend Bears Hearthstone brought a strong presence for the second NACE qualifier of the semester. Representing the Bears were Alex Estep (gamertag: AlanDander) who ended 4-2 and finished 5th after appearing in the second day of competition, Nick Byers (gamertag: Menace) whose record was 4-2 and placed 9th, and Bryan Meadows (gamertag: Lunarsky) ended the weekend 3-3, placed 15th. 28 people competed in this qualifier.
Deck List
Estep brought decks he was comfortable using to this qualifier, Priest, Druid, Death Knight, and Rogue. He stuck to the control style that he played in the last qualifier.
Byers kept steady with his heavy board control style and kept two decks from previous tournaments: Mech Rogue and Rainbow Mage. He switched into Thaddius Warlock to help fill in his weaknesses from last qualifier.
Meadows, keeping to the midrange aggressive playstyle, brought Plague Death Knight, Undead Priest, and Enrage Warrior. He dropped druid from the last qualifier, as it did not fit his playstyle.
Round 1
Byers faced Huntingdon College, winning 3 - 1, getting his first win of the day.
Estep faced Northeastern University, winning 3 - 1, getting his first win of the day.
Meadows faced Northeastern University, losing 1 - 3.
Round 2
Round two had a rematch from the last qualifier as Byers and Estep faced off against each other again.
Game 1 Byers played Warrior against Estep's Rogue, Estep won.
Game 2 Byers played Warrior against Estep's Priest, Estep won.
Game 3 Byers played Rogue against Estep's Death Knight, Byers won.
Game 4 Byers played Mage against Estep's Death Knight, Byers won.
Game 5 Byers played Warrior against Estep's Death Knight. Estep won, closing the series with a 3 - 2 win over his teammate, making their season head-to-head record 1 - 1.
Meadows faced Rochester Institute of Technology, losing 0 - 3.
Round 3
Byers faced Northeastern University, losing 2 - 3.
Estep faced Rutgers University, losing 2 - 3.
Meadows faced Keiser University, winning 3 - 0 and getting his first win of the day.
Round 4
Byers faced St. Ambrose, winning 3 - 2.
Estep faced Florida International University, losing 2 - 3.
Meadows faced El Camino College, winning 3 - 1.
Round 5
Byers faced Liberty University, winning 3 - 1.
Estep faced Ashland University, winning 3 - 1.
Meadows faced Rutgers University, losing 0 - 3.
Round 6
Byers faced Ashland University, winning 3 - 0 and finishing the day with a 4-2 record. He barely missed out of top 8 and day two.
Estep faced Huntingdon College, winning 3 - 1 and finishing with a 4 - 2 record. This win qualified him for top 8 and the opportunity to play in day two.
Meadows faced McMurry University, winning 3 - 0 and finishing with a record of 3 - 3.
Day 2 Round 1
Estep, in his first top 8 appearance of the season, faced Northeastern University. He fell 1 - 3 and finished 5th overall. His opponent went on to a finals appearance.
The Bears had a much better showing in this second qualifier, both Byers and Estep both earning a positive record and Estep making day two. Meadows also had a big improvement- from only winning one match in the previous qualifier to earning a 3 - 3 record. Estep earned 3 points towards the end of season tournament; a player must be one of the top 8 total point holders to qualify for the national tournament.
