Salty Showdown 2: THL vs. New Order Esports

New Order Esports has started the Blizzcon season strong, with two players, Astrogation and Crimzig, in the top 25. This is a team that features names that may be foreign to the casual Hearthstone player, but will be painfully familiar to anyone who has climbed to the highest reaches of the legend ladder.

Today's Archon Team League format match between THL and New Order Esports will feature three of Team Hearth League's best going up against a group that clearly has Blizzcon in their sights in 2016. We caught up with MTGOStark and Eversiction, and if you want to learn more about NOE, check out www.neworder.gg/.

​Tell us about your history with Hearthstone, when did you pick it up and how long have you been playing competitively?

Michael "MTGOStark" He: I started playing Hearthstone in 2014. Finished Top 100 my very first season and have been playing in high ranked Legend since.

John "Eversiction" Lorenzo​: I picked up Hearthstone mate in the closed beta and started playing competitively since there was a legend ladder system.


​What personal Hearthstone achievement are you most proud of?

ME: I've reached Top 5 Legend dozens of times with my own creative decks, or new takes on established decks.

JL: Winning back-to-back tournaments with Priest in my lineup when everyone considered it to be terrible. 


What are your goals for the 2016 season?

ME: Making it to Blizzcon, and becoming a Twitch partner streaming Hearthstone.

JL: Hit rank 1 legend since I'm cursed from it (hit rank 2 8+ times) and win Blizzcon.


Is this the first time the three of you have played a Archon Team League-format match together? What are your thoughts on the format?

ME: This is my first time playing this format. I think it looks like a lot of fun, the number of rounds and team format should make things interesting.

JL: Yes it is. It seems like a very interesting format that offers a lot of room for creative strategies to be successful.


How are you preparing for the match?

ME: Ladder games and some testing sessions with friends.

JL: Constantly theory crafting with teammates and practicing my decks against strong players.


Do you stream or produce content about the game? If so, where can people find your Hearthstone content, and what can they expect from your stream?

ME: I started streaming recently, you can find me at www.twitch.tv/mtgostark. I focus on ladder and deck creation, and provide free coaching from time to time.

JL: I stream at twitch.tv/Eversiction and I used to write for Team Liquid but any new content will be on Neworder.gg