Embracing Wild Villainy

By MartyB

Everyone loves a villain. We all want someone to hate. Generally, THL isn’t a very good place to find a villain. Teams come and go in waves of dominance, and players enter and leave after they get tired of playing Hearthstone. There is one exception to all of this, however. The Wild Series was terrorized by one of the biggest villains THL had ever seen. Its name was F2L: Viridian, and I was at the helm.

​My first foray into THL was a Wild tournament held by the community. Unfortunately, I was bounced in the first round due to a small misplay that cost me the series. What did matter was who I had just lost to: Itachi, a core member of F2L. With the Wild Series on the horizon, he wanted to recruit me to a team and compete in the real deal.
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​The Alpha season was made up of teams of 3. For Viridian, it was Itachi, SRL, an in-game friend of mine at the time, and I. We finished the season with a positive record but just missed the playoff cutoff. That would be the last time Viridian ever missed the playoffs during its lifetime.

Great Beginnings

​For the next season, Wild would move to teams of 5. SRL had left for personal reasons, leaving Itachi and I on our own to find 3 players for the next iteration of Viridian. The first player we nabbed was Nejiboston, an iconic THL player who had a strong first season in Wild. Next was Therottedzombie, a friend of mine from Tempo Storm who was looking to dip his toes into the competitive Hearthstone scene. Our final player came shortly before the season start. Ultimate had just posted in THL’s Free Agent channel looking for a team. I had been familiar with them on ladder before and knew of their skill level, so Itachi pulled the trigger and brought them in. Our team for Season 1 was set.
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The regular season was a massive success for the team. Viridian went undefeated, setting the bar at the highest possible rung. We were the favorite to win the series in what was looking like a three horse race among Viridian; Hattleship, the reigning champs; and Power Creeps, Pasca’s juggernaut Wild team that was considered a preseason favorite. 

Power Creeps in particular was in our sights as the team to beat that postseason. The players were all familiar with each other, having spent most of the time facing each other in top 100 Wild ladder. Power Creeps also had Rami, a Hearthstone Grandmaster. On paper, Power Creeps had the highest skill ceiling of all teams. If anyone was going to win the championship, they would have to go through them.

Our undefeated record in the regular season granted us a bye in the first round of playoffs. For me though, the hard work was only just beginning. It was time to properly scout teams and analyze every lineup brought that season. I spent hours creating spreadsheets that covered every lineup brought and every match result posted on the THL website. From this, I was able to create a comprehensive scouting report that showed a player’s lineup preferences and go-to strategies. These pages represented the very first iteration of the public scouting pages that THL enjoys today. That wasn’t all however—these spreadsheets allowed low-level analysis on deck archetypes, something that was sorely missed in the Wild format. Per-game data wasn’t available, but match data was public. From this, the team was able to decipher what decks were in higher win rate lineups and what the strongest bans were, giving us a competitive advantage. It also led us to discover the elusive 4th deck in the “best” lineup we determined by the end of the season: Big Shaman. With our newfound knowledge, we were ready to take on anyone.
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The first round of playoffs was a rout. Viridian won the week 20-5 thanks to the “perfect lineup” discovered during the bye. Unfortunately, we weren’t the only team to figure out the optimal strategy. Power Creeps had done just the same that week. Both teams were on equal footing, and they were set to play in the semifinals the following week.

This time, the optimal lineup wasn’t going to be enough. Both teams would have to find another avenue to win, which meant taking risks and dodging counters. By the weekend, the match was 12-10 in favor of Power Creeps. The final match between Ultimate and jrhsk8 would be winner-take-all.

During submissions, we noticed that the opposing team was submitting the same lineup across the board. Ultimate had a choice to make: bring the original lineup planned, or counter the expected lineup brought by every other player. We decided to play the counter. It backfired. jrhsk8 had brought a greedy lineup made up of highlander decks, contrary to what we expected. Ultimate would have to win with unfavored matchups across the board. What already felt like an uphill climb was becoming insurmountable.
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Ultimate's lineup

jrhsk8's lineup

The team anxiously waited for 45 minutes in Discord to learn the match result. It was one of, if not the most anxiety-inducing experiences in my entire THL career. History depended on this match. The result would determine the season favorite, and likely the favorite for seasons to come. Finally, the result was in.

A 3-1 win put us up in the final match, giving us a golden ticket to the finals. The dragon was slain. We were on top of the world. But the job wasn’t done. Next up was Annoy-o-Team, led by Mattatarms. The team had just played upset to the former champions, Hattleship 2. Although they weren’t a favorite at the start of the season, they weren’t to be underestimated. No matter the result, history was going to be made this week.
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​A decisive 17-10 score gave Viridian the win, and thus, a perfect season all the way to the championship. Ultimate was considered the MVP by the rest of the team, and therottedzombie took home the Rookie of the Season award. It was the peak of our THL careers at that point, and the start of something great.

During the offseason, Ultimate decided to cut his time in THL short. In his eyes, everything he wanted to achieve in THL was complete, and he wanted to focus on other things in life. Fortunately for the team, a replacement in Corbett was waiting in the wings. Corb would end up sticking with F2L for much of Viridian’s lifetime, playing a key role in several championships and multiple deep playoff runs. At the time, though, we only wanted to fill the massive hole left with Ultimate’s departure. It couldn’t have worked out better.
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Turning to The Dark Side

In other areas of THL, however, hatred for F2L was brewing. There were rumblings of a team being built to take on F2L after all other teams in Season 1 failed to do so. When reveals began, the F2L killer was brought to light.

Captained by Absolute, Everyone’s a Winner was another group of high Legend players familiar with those playing on Viridian. Like Power Creeps, they were all friends with us. They also weren’t to be underestimated. We knew who our competition was this season.

The regular season went as expected for F2L and EAW. Both teams cruised to the playoffs with comfortable point totals. Community sentiment had the two as the favorites to win it all. The regular season matchup, therefore,  was considered a playoff-preview of sorts between the teams. Both groups prepared much more in anticipation, leading to a bloodbath in each seed. After the week was done, EAW was up 18-8. For Viridian, this wasn’t good enough. We had to be better.

The rest of the season was a blur for us. Viridian cruised through the playoffs, as did EAW. The finals were all that mattered. The climax of the season, a match between two juggernauts, was sure to satisfy those on the sidelines.

Unfortunately for us, history repeated itself. Everyone’s a Winner took the championship title after 4 matches played. Rotted forewent his match and jjjjjj was widely considered Wild Series playoff MVP thanks to his undefeated season. Viridian was devastated.
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​The offseason was one of the longest in Viridian’s history. Losing in the finals stung more than missing the playoffs during Season Alpha. Losing to friends is supposed to make the loss sting less, but it served as a constant reminder of our failures instead. The team had two chances to beat EAW and failed to do so each time. We had to be better. 

​Rather than blow up the roster and start over, Viridian made a small tweak to its makeup: GetMeowth, “famous Wild Hearthstone streamer,” stepped in over Itachi. Meowth had a history of tournament success with wins in tournaments like Team One Trick, making him a strong addition to the team. His relationships with Corbett, rotted and I also helped maintain strong team chemistry. We were all friends that happened to play on a team together, rather than the contrary. 

​When Season 3 began, it was business as usual. Viridian racked up points and finished the regular season undefeated, comfortably earning a playoff spot by the time the final week rolled around. None of this mattered to us though. The playoffs, and by extension, beating Everyone’s a Winner, were all that we cared about.

At the end of the postseason, we found our rivals waiting for us. This time, however, we returned the favor. A 16-6 score after four matches gave the championship win to Viridian. Our Goliath had been slain.
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One championship wasn’t enough to satisfy this squad though. The five of us ran it back a second time to reclaim the championship again in Season 4, becoming the first back-to-back champions in the Wild Series. EAW, meanwhile, slowly descended from their powerhouse status. The team would reach the semifinals and quarterfinals in Seasons 4 and 5 respectively before disbanding.​

Embracing The Villain Role

At this stage, F2L’s villain narrative was in full swing. The team had become the gatekeeper in Wild. Everyone knew that to win the series, you had to go through F2L: Viridian. For the next few seasons, three teams were able to slay the Viridian dragon in the finals. The first, Rumbletusk Shakers, was a team not unlike Viridian’s previous rivals. Most of the players were friends of Viridian, and I personally discussed lineups with Seth, the team captain, throughout the season. They naturally became our rivals after the disbandment of Everyone’s a Winner. Next came Bread Likely! The team was an anomaly in the Wild Series, as they were made entirely of Standard players who hadn’t taken much interest in the Wild format prior. As quickly as they appeared on the scene, the team disbanded and left the series as a flash in the pan. Finally came Xyrella’s Disciples. The team played upset as the only one to deliver a loss to Viridian all season. As the final match of the season, it’s also the only one that mattered. 

Three seasons of coming in second place wasn’t enough to deter the team though. We had a villain narrative to live up to, and we weren’t about to play second fiddle to the champions again. Lasagne had joined in Season 7 for Nejiboston, and Memnarch and otters came in over rotted and Getmeowth in Season 8. The team had a fresh coat of paint. We were ready to play.

​A dominant season 8 saw Viridian take the championship win over the rival Sourdough Shakers. Season 9 was another successful championship season despite adversity faced in the roster makeup. Corbett stepped down to be replaced by kvlt, yet another highly skilled player. MortalWombat also came in over otters to complete the team. In Season 10, the team completed the three-peat, with kvlt earning the coveted MVP award.

​By this point, F2L: Viridian had won 6 out of the last 10 seasons in the Wild Series. The team was one of, if not the most dominant club in THL history. The pinnacle of it all came via the team’s championship banner, which featured a perfume that parodied Anchorman’s Sex Panther: “60% of the time, it works everytime.” The banner is the only one featured in THL with zero championship players mentioned, as the team had earned a level of prestige that went beyond THL tradition. If you had played on Viridian at any point, you knew that the banner represented what you and everyone else a part of the club had achieved. No other team can hold a candle to that kind of history

From here, Viridian would reach the finals twice more. In Season 11, the Shakers won it all for the second time in their history. In Season 13, F2L would win it all one last time before closing its doors for good. The dynasty had reached its conclusion. Wild’s villains were no more. 

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The achievements obtained by F2L: Viridian during the team’s reign feel like something out of Gretzky’s book of NHL records. Here are some of the accomplishments by the numbers:

• 7 championships
• 12 Finals appearances
• 98-24-4 team match record
• 354-191 player match record
• 13 different championship winners, including:
  • Me (MartyB)
  • Nejiboston
  • therottedzombie
  • Itachi
  • Ultimate
  • Corbett
  • GetMeowth
  • otters
  • Lasagne
  • Kvlt
  • Memnarch
  • MortalWombat
  • Tom Carter
    
    

All of this is also thanks to the help of friends and fellow players who subbed and participated around the team:

• Zach
• YoDaddy
• Owllegs
• Shiawasena
• Others that may not have played but contributed heavily in lineup building and prep, such as F2L: Celadon

​​The list above shows how diverse and fluid the team dynamic at F2L: Viridian was throughout its history. This wasn’t a small group of individuals dominating the field, but a conglomerate of friends who banded together to form one of the most influential franchises in the history of THL. The competitive level Viridian brought to the Wild Series was unparalleled no matter who played under the green and white banner. The team also singlehandedly led to the formation of scouting pages, a core feature of the modern THL metagame. Without Viridian, THL wouldn’t have the amenities it has today.

Wild is still going strong, but the series will never be the same without a common villain for teams to rally around. Viridian made winning a championship mean something for teams. It was like fighting through the elite 4: if you wanted to be the best, you had to beat the best first. The team created an iconic culture within the Wild series that represents a core part of Wild’s identity. Winning a Wild Series championship means just as much now, but without a villain to overcome, getting a boat will never feel the same.