#blizzpro

Creators Series - Hearthstone with Eva @bunnyladame

Hearthstone with my lovely friend Eva! She was my predecessor on HearthPro Show, a podcast that we both co-hosted at different points in its 52 episode run. She went on to work at BLIZZARD (oh my!) and now leaves the company to pursue new directions for herself. #SoProud

The Creators Series is a special series of episodes on my stream where I have artists, creators, and casters (esports or podcasters) come onto my stream and play games, talk a bit about what they do, and get an extra bit of promotion with me.

If you are cool with coming on livestream with me, then: 1) Shoot me a message, comment, or tweet. https://twitter.com/aranyaphoenix 2) Follow me at https://www.twitch.tv/aranyaphoenix 3) Download the Twitch desktop app at https://www.curse.com/ and... 4) Join my Twitch app server https://invite.twitch.tv/w50PIZ

PLEASE NOTE, not everyone will get on stream, particularly due to some other stream topics and themes needing to take priority, and due to health and my real-life schedule.  

If you enjoy my streaming and videos, please consider supporting me on Ko-fi! http://ko-fi.com/aranyaphoenix

Yesterday, June 28, 2014 at the Google Fiber Space in Kansas City, Missouri, over 65 people showed up for the first Hearthstone tournament in the area, hosted by BlizzPro, Archetype Gaming, Google Fiber, SteelSeries, and ExtraLife. This tournament is the first in a series of tournaments ramping up for the 24hr LAN Extra Life event in October at the Ameristar Casino.

In two simultaneous tournaments, Casual and Ranked, players engaged in one-on-one skirmishes for cards, Battle.Net gift cards, SteelSeries products, and of course, glory while raffles and community building happened all around them! 

The decks on both Ranked and Casual play were varied, although we did see some big contenders: notably, Ramp Druid, Zoo, Handlock, and some Paladin Aggro. Players ranked 25-4 could compete in the Casual tournament, while Ranked was available to all players. 

The biggest upset was in the Casual tournament, where a brand new player, Haven, (with only with 3 hours /played!) won the tournament with a basic deck. Goes to show you that you don't need legendaries to win! 

The Ranked finals were very heated with interesting decks. Argyle vs Pickle ended the night, with Pickle winning 3-1. Argyle showed off his Healadin deck (which many on the BlizzPro Twitch Channel begged to see) for an early win (including a savage Aldor Peacekeeper+Stampeding Kodo combo vs Pickle's Ragnaros), and Pickle switched to Zoo. Game 2 was an early game blow-out for Pickle; Argyle could not get his healing in in time for the Zoo onslaught.  Argyle switched to Handlock, and still could not beat Pickle's excellent Zoo start (too slow, Argyle, sorry). Tempo was the name of the game in Game 4, and Argyle went down swinging in an intense Control Shaman deck vs Zoo, but still could not eke it out for the win.

Argyle placed second, winning $80 in Battle.Net credit, and Pickle placed first, winning a premium SteelSeries headset and $20 in Battle.Net credit.

Overall, the mood was buzzing and exciting all day, and forgiving some minor router hiccups, everyone enjoyed themselves. Players from all over the greater Kansas City metro got to shake hands and clash cards, discuss strategies, and break bread over this great Blizzard game.

A big thank you to BlizzPro, Archetype Gaming, SteelSeries and Google Fiber. Without you, this wouldn't have been possible. 

Blizzard Offers Three of its Earliest Games for Free

Three years before it would become known as Blizzard Entertainment, the company now famous for creating the Warcraft, Diablo, and StarCraft series was making games as Silicon & Synapse. Three of the games from Blizzard’s early years–The Lost Vikings, Rock N’ Roll Racing, and Blackthorne–can now be yours for free.

As discovered by BlizzPro, Battle.net members who check out the list of games…