Group H favorites Germany find themselves still without a win in the Hearthstone Global Games. Instead, the Czech Republic are flying high.
The Czech squad picked up their second win this week, defeating Croatia 3-1 to go second in the group.
Despite opening with a loss, as “CzechCloud” lost to “Lavvek,” the experienced pair of Stanislav Cifka and Mikuláš “Pokrovac” Dio picked up a brace on Priest and Warrior. “JáraVyskočil” then completed the win on Rogue.
The Czech Republic are second only to tournament favorites Ukraine by the narrowest of margins on game score. The two teams will now be heavily favored to reach the second group stage given their early performances, although the tournament is still young.
Germany meanwhile continue to be mired in issues—having been plagued with problems since before the beginning of the Global Games.
Two players were removed from the German team by Blizzard before the tournament started, following weeks of bitter infighting over the inclusion of Mats “P4wnyhof” Karthage in the side.
With the controversy now behind them, however, the team had hoped to push on to a successful run—especially as they added decorated pro Jan “SuperJJ” Janssen. The team has struggled in its first two matches, losing a close match to Ukraine in week one. Then yesterday they were blown out 3-0 by the Philippines.
Though the Philippines side don’t have a huge amount of experience on the biggest stage, the quartet of Dustin “WaningMoon” Mangulabnan, Jan “Chalk” Zaldiva, Cara “CaraCute” Vergel De Dios, and Euneil “Staz” Javiñas are four of the best players in the SEA region. They showed that quality against Germany, justifying those who picked them as a dark horse in the group.
There may be a lot of weeks left in the first group stage of the Hearthstone Global Games, but Germany will have a hard road ahead to qualify for the next stage, while the Czech Republic and the Philippines have got off to a great start.
