10 Questions with JerryDamage: HockeyBoyz3

In this edition of 10Q, Jerry talks with our resident challenger cup crusher, HockeyBoyz3.

• Standard opening question: Where are you from originally? And where are you at now?
  
  Hockeyboyz3: I'm a 20 year old student from Ottawa, Canada. I started playing Hearthstone in closed beta and joined THL 2 years ago. I started as a 3 seed and now I am still a 3 seed haha.
  
  
• Other than Hearthstone, what do you usually do to have some fun or relax?
  
  Hockeyboyz3: Other than Hearthstone I enjoy hanging out with friends, playing hockey and coaching various sports.
  
  
• What’s your history with CCGs? Is HS your first?
  
  Hockeyboyz3: I used to be obsessed with Pokemon when I was a little kid thus I really enjoyed playing the Pokemon Trading Card Game. My friends and I would play our "better" version of the game, in elementary school, which involved not using energy cards or evolving. Other than that I've been playing card games such as Euchre and Canasta with my family since I was 3. Hearthstone is the first CCG I've really started playing competitively.
  
  
• How long have you been playing Hearthstone?
  
  Hockeyboyz3: I got a closed beta key for hearthstone when they started doing giveaways on Twitch. I dabbled in it a little bit during closed beta but I didn't really get into Hearthstone until Naxx. My friends were talking about Hearthstone during lunch in high school and I started playing it again so that I could keep up with their conversations.
  
  
• This weekend, you are qualified to play in the North American Fall Playoffs. You didn’t do the standard path to qualify. Tell us how you earned your spot in the playoffs.
  
  ​Hockeyboyz3: I qualified for playoffs through the challenger cup system. The day Witchwood came out I won an open tournament going undefeated playing Cubelock, Odd Paladin and Even Shaman. It helps that I was the only player to bring odd paladin and no one else discovered its power on day 1. Winning that tournament qualified me for the Challenger Finals where I went 7-0 to qualify for playoffs. I brought Odd Warrior, Malygos Druid and Big Spell Mage to the Challenger Finals.

• ​Just a few weeks ago, we saw Hatul qualify for the Fall Championship after qualifying for playoffs through the Challenger series. Does his success inspire you as you head into this weekend?
  
  Hockeyboyz3: Hatul played some great Hearthstone at EU Playoffs. Regardless of how other Challengers performed in playoffs I'm going to try my best and have fun this weekend.
  
  
• Now let’s discuss your lineup. In THL you’re known as someone who enjoys meme decks. What inspired you to bring not 1, but 4 Mecha’thun decks?
  
  Hockeyboyz3: Rebobson told me 4 Mechathun decks suck.
  
  
• How have you been preparing for Playoffs?
  
  Hockeyboyz3: NHL 19 came out recently so I've been playing a lot of that. Other than that I've been testing different builds with Markshire, Bluesombrero, Rizen and Stephieee. I settled on the deck archetypes fairly early on but it was figuring out the exact 120 cards I wanted to bring. I believe my priest decklist I ended up bringing was version 1.26
  
  
• As you prepare, are there any decks or players you hope to not run into during the course of the day?
  
  Hockeyboyz3: I'm hoping to not have to play ironFIRE so I don't have to knock him out of playoffs.
  
  
• Last question isn’t really a question. I just want to say that you’ve been around the league for a long time. A lot of us have played many matches against you and seen you grow as a player since you first came into the league. On behalf of not only myself, but of all of THL, best of luck this weekend and may you Mecha’thun as many players as you can.
  
  ​Hockeyboyz3: The era of flesh has ended

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