Challenger #3 – Day 1 recap
by Francesca "Jaggerous" Jagger
Day one of GWENT Challenger #3 is now in the books, and what a day it was. We saw the four quarter-final best-of-five matches played out in the “Wieliczka Salt” Mine in Poland.
First up was Freddybabes versus Cmel. Freddybabes secured a 3-1 victory over Cmel, utilising an unusual Consume variant. The deck takes advantage of a monstrous Germain/Yennefer combo to access Harpies. It took Cmel, who was targeting the Greedy-Consume variant, by surprise. Conversely, Cmel’s controversial Eithné Hand-Buff deck failed to hit the mark, and he was knocked out of the competition.
Adzikov versus Kolemoen turned out as a surprise for many, with a decisive 3-0 by Adzikov. Lack of Ciri: Nova draws in game 1 spelled disaster for Kolemoen, and a repeat of his round 1 dry-pass strategy proved costly in game 2. Deathwish made an appearance in game 3 for Adzikov, and Kolemoen couldn't weather the storm as he was eliminated.
SuperJJ versus Hanachan was a big talking point of the day. Fan favourite JJ was expected to win by popular vote, but was taken out 3-0. His strategy to target Greatswords looked promising on paper. But, in reality, his Consume list didn't make the cut, and Hanachan took three clean victories.
Finally, the new kid on the block, I_aPOROgise, played against the annihilator of tournament dreams, TailBot. A surprise Dagon-Consume list bamboozled I_aPOROgise in the first game, giving TailBot the lead. Game 2 saw a misplay from I_aPOROgise, restoring a Dimun Pirate Captain with no target. Despite a colossal 39 point Schirrú in game 3 from I_aPOROgise, TailBot demonstrated why they call him “Tailgod” as he cinched the third game in the third round to close out the day.
To find out how things unfold in the semis and grand finals, you can tune in to the CD PROJEKT RED Twitch channel from 4pm CEST, April 29th.
Can we see the decks somewhere?
