DreamHack Montreal quarterfinalist Walaoumpa explains his Rogue deck choice

As with all tournaments right now, Druid and Priest dominated DreamHack Montreal this weekend. But one player tried to change that.

An unheralded European player by the name of “Walaoumpa” brought a Rogue deck that was truly unique—and took to Reddit after the tournament to explain it.

The deck was pretty decent, and with it in his lineup Walaoumpa reached the quarterfinals of the tournament taking home $1,125.

“The hardest part for Dreamhack preparation is that while I follow the different decks that people play in competitive Hearthstone out of curiosity,” Walaoumpa said. “I almost don’t play ladder at all, my last serious approach being with Grim Patron. I had mostly kept active with Arena the last few months. But with the tournament being a 40 minute metro + bus ride, I felt this was too interesting an opportunity to pass on.”

As for the deck itself, it’s a variation on Elemental Rogue that Walaoumpa calls The Two Princes.

It’s called that because it features both Prince Keleseth and Prince Valanar, two new legendaries from Knights of the Frozen Throne. Because of those cards, the deck has to have no other two or four-cost cards.

“With Last Hero Standing,” Walaoumpa explains. “it’s important to try and take the first win because you dictate how the line-up develops and put your opponent on the back foot. I wanted to bring to the table a unique deck that would be very difficult to play around and with an adaptive gameplan – this is why the list runs 2 Hallucination, even though spells aren’t optimal in a prince deck, because Paladin / Warrior / Shaman cards are great against their own class. Stonehill Defender is also the same: it is never optimal, but it is never truly awful.”

Walaoumpa particularly highlighted Cobalt Scalebane, calling it “probably the go-to 5-drop for an aggressive deck.” Nerubian Unraveler was a tech choice to shore up the deck against Mage.

The affectionately named “Arena Rogue” deck might not be great for ladder, but it’s awesome to see players trying something out of the box competitively.