BunnyHoppor Wins 2022 Hearthstone World Championship

The prize pool was something to behold at a whopping $500,000, with a $100,000 first-place prize. The World Championship began as a dual tournament in the Groups Stage, with four groups of four players, only switching to single elimination brackets when four players remained. That’s a lot of fours in one sentence. Without further ado, let us get into the recap of the Hearthstone World Championship!

Players

• Raphael “BunnyHoppor” Peltzer
• Jaromír “Jarla” Vyskočil
• Sato “glory” Kenta
• Wataru “posesi” Ishibashi
• Zakarya “xBlyzes” Hail
• Zhu “Tianming” Xinyu
• KZG.Xiaobai
• Pedro “Pascoa” Pasqualini de Andrade
• Manveer “Mighty” Singh
• Harri “Habugabu” Jalovaara
• Lev “levik” Merkulov
• Jack “DeadDraw” Bancroft
• KZGXmg
• KZGYuYi
• LGDXiaoT
• iGXc

Group Stage

All matches in the Group Stage were best out of five. If players wanted to move onto the upcoming playoffs, they would need to be in the top two in their group, which is easier said than done. 

Cards from Hearthstone’s latest expansion, March of the Lich King, were legal in this tournament, so it was very interesting to see them used at such a high level of play.

Unfortunately, only eight players could move onto the next round: KZGYuYi, Jarla, KZGXmg, BunnyHoppor, LGDXiaoT, DeadDraw, levik, and posesi.

Top 8

The top 8 matches were exciting, even though there wasn’t a single, really close match, as all of them ended 3-1 or 3-0.

KZGYuYi vs. Jarla ended in a 3-1 victory for KZGYuYi.

KZGXmg vs. BunnyHoppor foreshadowed what was to come, with a commanding 3-1 victory for BunnyHoppor.

LGDXiaoT vs. DeadDraw wasn’t a close matchup, as DeadDraw managed to win three games in a row, eliminating LGDXiaoT with ease.

levik vs posesi was another case of a 3-0 victory, and levik was the one to achieve it.

Top 4

This is where things picked up and it got a bit more intense. KZGYuYi, BunnyHoppor, DeadDraw, and levik were the last four standing. The world’s best players were about to go at it, and the matches did become closer score-wise.

DeadDraw vs. levik was a good match to watch, but levik ultimately fell short, losing 1-3 to DeadDraw.

KZGYuYi and BunnyHoppor, on the other hand, had a nail biter of a match. BunnyHoppor showed his absolute class and brilliance, willing himself to a narrow 3-2 victory and ensured a spot in the finals. 

The Finals

DeadDraw vs. Bunnyhoppor. The United Kingdom vs. Germany. Team Liquid vs., well, also Team Liquid. 

BunnyHoppor is definitely the more established competitor of the two, already winning several Tier 1 tournaments, and coming in second or third place in others.

That’s not to say that DeadDraw didn’t stand a chance. It is actually quite the opposite, as you never know what can happen in the finals. 

However, that is the way it did end up going. BunnyHopper’s XL Ping Mage, Quest Fel Demon Hunter, and XL Con​​trol Priest were too much to handle for DeadDraw. He secured himself a 3-1 victory and earned his place as the new Hearthstone World Champion!

If you want to check out his decks, here are the codes you’ll need:

• Mage: AAECAf3VAwrY7AOd7gPQ+QOgigTlsASY1ASp3gT67ASX7wTipAUP1OoD0uwD0+wD1uwDkoEEk4EEmI0En5IEoZIE/J4E+6IE8dMEyt4E294EhJMFAA==
  
• Demon Hunter:
  AAECAbn5AwT39gON9wPQ+QO0oAQNwvEDifcDivcDxfkDyIAEtp8Er94EsN4EquIEheUEhpIFi5IFnaQFAA==
  
• Priest:
  AAECAaSrBArU7QPQ+QPoiwTUrATWrATlsASotgS63ASX7wTvkQUPlugDmesDmusDh/cDjIEErYoE8J8EiKMEiqMEobYE+dsEhoMFpZEF+JYFhqQFAA==
  
• Rogue:
  AAECAZurBAyh+QP7igSWnwTYtgTbuQTc2gTd2gSX7wTMoAXooAWLpAXipAUOvYAE9p8E958EuqQE+6UE7KcE+awE1bYE9d0Ekt8Ew+ME9+0E+fEE36AFAA==

With another World Championship concluded, and with having a new World Champion in the incredible BunnyHoppor, we can now slowly turn to upcoming tournaments. This one was quite eventful, and even though some fans didn’t quite like the decks and tactics, it was still a sight to behold.

Congratulations to BunnyHoppor on becoming the best player in the world, but also kudos to all 16 players that managed to qualify, which is an amazing feat in itself!