Championship Profile: Tinyfin Fan Club

Tinyfin Fan Club

Swinging down from the jungles of Un'goro to take their place on the Icy Throne is Tinyfin Fan Club. A rather innocuous name for a team that proved to be a dominating force in the latest SHL season. Lead by TheFlyestLai, Tinyfin Fan Club came charging into the scene with an impressive debut. In week one TFC took out Big Deck Bandits 18-7. The rush of that initial team win was short lived however as they took a crushing defeat from Xnergy 8-16. In week 3, they came back with a vengeance, seemingly fueled by the heat brought against them the previous week, and absolutely crushed Temporal Legends 20-5. They followed up their impressive week 3 victory with a 17-6 win over another new team DadLegend. In week 5 TFC faced off against the returning champions Kawasaki Ninjas Rule, a force to be reckoned with since the introduction of SHL. TFC made KNR look like they lost their learner's permits and installed training wheels on their rides as they peeled away 20-3, crushing the season 3 champs. Week 6 was followed by the first of 2 matches for TFC that ended with a tied score. Seohyun lost by DQ to Kroozin causing a 12-12 tie with Team Next Level. Tinyfins came away with the win as they won 3 matches to 2. In week 7, the last week of the regular season, TFC went down 12-13 to Destiny's Illegitimate Children, but at this point had all the points they needed to make the playoffs. In comes Xynergy, who manhandled TFC in week 2 to crush their hopes and dreams and end their inaugural season in SHL, but TFC wasn't having it. It seems they learned from the first time around and knocked Xynergy out of the running with a score of 18-9. In week 9 TFC again had a tied score due to a Seohyun DQ matching Big Deck Bandits 12-12. TFC moved on as they won 3 matches to 2. In the final week TFC was able to to take 3 of the 4 matches played to become crowned the SHL Season 4 champions. Let’s hear what the players have to say about their season!


TheFlyestLai (1 Seed, Captain)

What's your THL/SHL history?
2 seasons on TGW and 1 season for Tinyfin Fan Club

How did you find THL/SHL?
Alec through a tavern hero qualifier; he beat me in the semifinals

How long have you been playing Hearthstone?
Since BRM

What do you love best about SHL?
My team <3

Favorite THL/ SHL person not on your team?
I like Sage, Anamor, Hockeyboyz, and Markshire. MMI is pretty cool too I guess :p

Who was your toughest opponent this season and why?
Idk, none of my opponents impressed me enough for me to remember right now:)

What was your favorite decklist to play this season?
Raza Priest

What made the deck so enjoyable to play?
I like drawing cards and pointing them at my opponent’s face. I also sexually identify as a machine gun.

What do you like about the league compared to other Hearthstone communities?
All the talk shows and game play shows serve as a good way to get me competitive when there’s no tangible prize. Sometimes there’s good drama in the discord too.

Your favorite band/ song/ music to jam to while playing Hearthstone?
I like Korean music. Tablo is my favorite.

If you weren't on Tinyfin Fan Club, what team would you like to be playing on?
Whichever team Sage is captaining:)

What do you do outside of Hearthstone?
Just graduated from Boy Scouts; I play NYC Handball; I go to Baruch College full time to study statistics; Focusing on professional development atm

Seohyun628 (2 Seed)

What's your THL/SHL history?
First season on TGW and First season on TFC

How did you find THL/SHL?
Theflyestlai introduced it to me

How long have you been playing Hearthstone?
Started in beta but quit for a year and came back around 11 months ago

What do you love best about SHL?
Last hero standing is fun

Favorite THL/ SHL person not on your team?
Anamor, great player and good opponent for the final

Who was your toughest opponent this season and why?
Durtymike, only player to take a win from me in THL/SHL. Played good decks

What was your favorite decklist to play this season?
Mitsuhide's Dragon Priest, got me a clean 3:0 sweep in final

What made the deck so enjoyable to play?
Have OTK variances and early board control deck

What do you like about the league compared to other Hearthstone communities?
Haven't tried other but as a beginner here this is fun

Your favorite band/ song/ music to jam to while playing Hearthstone?
Kpop

If you weren't on Tinyfin Fan Club, what team would you like to be playing on?
Any team theflyestlai is on

What do you do outside of Hearthstone?
Study for school


ArcaneTHL (3 Seed)

What's your THL/SHL history?
I have been playing for around 5 seasons I think, maybe 4. My first team was the Hairy Generals. This was my first full season in SHL. Last season in SHL I was used as a sub in the first couple of weeks by KNR, then later in the season I was picked up for the rest of the season on Xplosive Sheep.

How did you find THL/SHL?
A buddy of mine was telling me about a team based league he was apart of and I seemed really interested in it. So I joined and haven't looked back since.

How long have you been playing Hearthstone?
I have been playing off and on since closed beta. Shocking I know since I haven't hit legend yet EleGiggle.

What do you love best about SHL?
Being only able to most of the time just use 1 deck instead of all 3 lol.

Favorite THL/ SHL person not on your team?
Ohhhhh, this is a tough one. Let's see....Probably Slimsch. I have learned a lot from him. I've watched him on countless occasions and it was taught me to become a better player.

Who was your toughest opponent this season and why?
Oh this is easy, rnjesus by a landslide. If it wasn't for him, I very well may of went undefeated in the regular season lol.

What was your favorite decklist to play this season?
Most might think it would be murloc paladin but it's not. I would say raza priest.

What made the deck so enjoyable to play?
Being able to change the board state in a fast manner to regain control of the game at hand.

What do you like about the league compared to other Hearthstone communities?
The league's ability to communicate to all people involved. The structure of the league is solid.

Your favorite band/ song/ music to jam to while playing Hearthstone?
I didn't listen to much music this season because I prefer to have silence so I can focus better. If I had to choose, it would be rock,hard rock, and some metal.

If you weren't on Tinyfin Fan Club, what team would you like to be playing on?
If they were still around, I would say The Hairy Generals.

What do you do outside of Hearthstone?
As some might know, I help take care of my disabled father and grandmother. I also enjoy adult slow pitch softball. I also work part time at Home Depot.


Jaspyr (4 Seed)

What's your THL/SHL history?   
This has been my first season playing in SHL (and I have not played in THL, yet).  I made a valiant attempt to play last season, but unfortunately there was no openings for me.  Instead, I spent Season 6 of THL as Aeon's Spreadsheet Ninja!  I think this is important for new players to know, if there are no teams recruiting, then find a team to help out in anyway that you can.  You become immersed in the community, meet great people, and then they make great recommendations for you as a potential teammate for future seasons!

How did you find THL/SHL?   
I just searched for online Hearthstone Leagues / Communities on Google and was very fortunately to find THL

How long have you been playing Hearthstone?   
I have been playing Hearthstone from the beginning I think, I have many of the early card backs starting April 2014.  But, I got really frustrated with the game, for reasons that I can't specifically remember.  I took a ~2 year break, nearly all of 2015 & 2016.  I came back to the game in Feb, earlier this year, and hooked up with THL soon after.

What do you love best about SHL?   
The community and team environment.  Working together to improve, rooting each other on, and do your best to win.

Favorite THL/ SHL person not on your team?   
That is a really tough question because there are many, so I refused to name only one.  All of the guys that I worked last season on Aeon are awesome!  So I need to start and end there... Darkseid (who I played in the Finals), FollowDurden, Markshire, TheTownDrunk, & Detrucci are all awesome.

Who was your toughest opponent this season and why?   
My first match this season vs. BlakeHall was brutal mainly because I could not believe how nervous I was.  He is a good player, I new was giving up ~100 PR to him, and of course I wanted to play well.  It was a long time ago, but I think I opened up 2-0 against him with my Pirate Warrior, and I was feeling good, but then he crushed me by reverse sweeping me with his Secret Mage!  It felt horrible, but BlakeHall was gracious and classy in game and on Twitter.  Great player & great guy!

What was your favorite decklist to play this season?   
I really enjoyed playing Big Druid towards the end of the season!

What made the deck so enjoyable to play?   
I just seemed like the deck effortlessly ramped into all of those big minions.  Spreading Plague helped you keep control versus Aggro and then, of course you play Medivh into UI, Kun / UI, or just have fun with Y'Shaarj into Big Dragons.  The decks has a lot of toys and if it draws decent, it feels broken.  EZ!!!

What do you like about the league compared to other Hearthstone communities?  
I have only been involved in other Hearthstone podcast communities and even though you can learn a lot about the game there... In THL, you put your knowledge to the test and play some games!  There is a place for both types of communities, I wouldn't want to choose one over the other.

Your favorite band/ song/ music to jam to while playing Hearthstone?   
I usually don't listen to music at all while playing the game.  Does it work?  Maybe, I should try it!

If you weren't on Tinyfin Fan Club, what team would you like to be playing on?   
Sexy Hombres in Texas!  I feel like it's the corny answer, because we just played them in the Finals, but before the season even began I was recruited by both teams and I had to make a decision.  I really wanted to go with the Sexy Hombres because they had names that are easily recognized in THL... DLineman, Anamor, RHat, Roguejt, & Mainge!  What better way to be noticed in THL than playing alongside these guys?  And I did not know much about my team with relatively new players.  So, even though Theflyestlai gave me the "OK" to leave to this other team a week before the season began, he told me that he wanted me on this team because of a recommendation that Markshire gave him.  I had already verbally committed, so I felt leaving would have made me look bad and potentially burned bridges in the future, so I decided that I had to stay!  Obviously, it turned out to be a great decision!  Sexy Hombres then made a great choice to sign Darkseid as their 5th team member and he played well this season.  And the rest is history... In what can only be described as amazing symmetry, both teams made the Finals, and I had the pleasure to play Darkseid in my Championship Match.

What do you do outside of Hearthstone?   
I am a family man with a beautiful wife and 2 awesome boys (7 & 10 years old).  I am a Cub Scout Den Leader, Youth Football & Basketball Coach which keeps me ridiculously busy.  I also enjoy running, cycling, and yoga in an endless battle to try and keep myself reasonably fit.  Somehow, I still find time for my guilty pleasure... Hearthstone!


GKick (5 Seed)

What's your THL/SHL history?
I started playing in season 3 on The Damaged Ones SHL team, back then it was treated more like a minor league with 3 players per team. After a few good matches there, I swapped places with Jerry and played the rest of the season on THL

How did you find THL/SHL?
Cassity was advertising it on the Competitive Hearthstone subreddit and helped me set up and find a team. So Shout out to him

How long have you been playing Hearthstone?
I've been playing Hearthstone since right before GvG, took a break in TGT, and then came back with WOTOG to play competitively.


What do you love best about SHL?
Last hero standing is my favorite game type and in my opinion the best one for competitive play.

Favorite THL/ SHL person not on your team?
Ooo. This is a hard one... Probably GNetz. Use to take a lot of inspiration from him.

Who was your toughest opponent this season and why?
Gotta be Dexter. Played the guy twice and he kicked my ass twice too! All jokes aside still one of my favorite people to play against, win or loss.

What was your favorite decklist to play this season?
Gotta be my control paladin I brought. Got me my 2 sweeps in the regular season.

# Class: Paladin
# Format: Standard
# Year of the Mammoth #
# 2x (2) Doomsayer
# 2x (2) Equality
# 2x (2) Golakka Crawler
# 2x (2) Hydrologist
# 2x (2) Wild Pyromancer
# 2x (3) Stonehill Defender
# 1x (3) Wickerflame Burnbristle
# 2x (4) Consecration
# 1x (4) Eater of Secrets
# 2x (4) Truesilver Champion
# 2x (5) Stampeding Kodo
# 2x (6) Spikeridged Steed
# 1x (6) Sunkeeper Tarim
# 1x (7) The Curator
# 1x (8) Lay on Hands
# 2x (8) Primordial Drake
# 1x (8) Ragnaros, Lightlord
# 1x (8) Tirion Fordring
# 1x (9) Uther of the Ebon Blade
# AAECAZ8FCNIE+gbmrgKIrwK5sgK8vQ K5wQKO0wILigHcA/QFzwb2B9sKs8EC m8IC5MICiMcCyccCAA== #

What made the deck so enjoyable to play?
Control decks have always been my favorite ones to play and with control warrior being a pretty dead deck in the meta, control paladin was the next best option.
But generally, I like being able to clear my opponent's board with little effort and the threat the hero card gives every turn is a lot of fun.

What do you like about the league compared to other Hearthstone communities?
Everyone is really chill and cool about stuff. But besides the social aspect I like that there are a lot of options and the different leagues allows people to play what they like.

Your favorite band/ song/ music to jam to while playing Hearthstone?
Another hard one... I got a pretty big playlist of songs I listen to when playing. AJR, Portugal. The man, and Kanye are the first 3 that pop into my mind.

If you weren't on Tinyfin Fan Club, what team would you like to be playing on?
I wouldn't mind playing on Xnergy. Bunch of cool dudes.

What do you do outside of Hearthstone?
I'm a student in high school so that's one. I attend a lot of Speech and Debate tournaments on the weekends. I use to run a Hearthstone club at school if you count that as outside of
Hearthstone. I do jiu jitsu at least twice a week.


Congratulations again to Tinyfin Fan Club. I can’t wait to see what next season brings to the league.

Brett “BitBeaker” Eaker