After a disappointing world championship, one of North America’s top Hearthstone players has finally claimed his first major title.
Ryan “Purple” Murphy-Root of GamersOrigin took the $12,500 first prize in the DreamHack Winter Hearthstone Grand Prix, defeating Juho “Ersee” Hyödynmaa 3-1 in the final.
Murphy-Root had a strong march through the 200-player Swiss round, losing just one match in nine to Frederik “Hoej” Nielsen of Na`Vi. Only Nielsen had a better winning record in that stage (at 25-4), as Murphy-Root went 24-7 in games.
Once in the top 16 playoff stage, Murphy-Root encountered little resistance as he swept aside “Dragonalbert,” SK Gaming‘s Esteban “AKAWonder” Serrano and DreamHack Valencia champion James “Greensheep” Luo. The Canadian dropped just one game in the process. On the other side of the bracket, Nielsen looked set for a rematch with Murphy-Root in the final before being upset by Hyödynmaa 3-2 in the semi-finals.
The victory is very welcome for Murphy-Root, who fell out of the world championship at the group stage despite being a favorite to take the title.
A well known deck builder, Murphy-Root relied heavily on his Malygos Warlock deck. The deck went 17-1 on the first day of DreamHack Winter, and makes use of the newly released Brann Bronzebeard from the League of Explorers expansion to double up on the deck’s battlecry effects.
As well as the $12,500 won at DreamHack Winter, Murphy-Root becomes the first player to pick up points for the 2016 Hearthstone Championship Tour.
