After putting on a spectacular, nail biting performance last week, the Saint Francis University Hearthstone White Team came into this week looking to prove that they were still one of the best teams in the ECAC. This week, SFU White took on the SUNY POLY Wildcats who were coming off a 3-0 victory over New England College. The Red Flash have faced historically better teams than the Wildcats already this season, so they had an abundance of confidence coming into this matchup. This confidence proved to be well-earned as the Red Flash were able to storm through the Wildcats, only dropping one round in the series.
Game 1
In the first game of the series, the Hearthstone White team decided to pull a switch-up that I am not sure anyone saw coming:they decided to allow Anthony "McBucketzzz" McFeaters to start off the night at the controls. Now, my devoted readers will know that I have never, and I mean never, covered a game in which McFeaters played in the first game for the Red Flash. The captain, Tyler "Clutch" Tomechak, almost always plays the first game for SFU and in one game, all the way back last November, Logan "SpiritShard" Huff started. Although this decision could have a whole story to itself, we must get to the actual gameplay. Despite the switch up from the usual way to begin the night, the Red Flash looked very comfortable in game one. They had a 91%-win rate, and not often do they lose with a percentage that high. Within one turn, they were able to fill the entire board, forcing the enemy to play defensively. By turn seven, I felt as though I was watching a reenactment of the Battle of the Appomattox Court House, with SFU having completely cut off any lines of defense or offense for the Wildcats. Just the next turn, SUNY POLY—not so dissimilar to General Lee—were forced to surrender without even taking any damage. This put Saint Francis up 1-0 in the series.
Game 2
After taking the backseat in the first game, Tomechak was eager to return to the controls and try his hand at advancing the White Team's match score to 2-0. Although not as high as the last game, the win rate for game two was 60% in favor of the Red Flash. Right out of the gate, Tyler did heavy damage to the Wildcats and took board control. This barrage of damage continued throughout the rest of the game, leaving SUNY POLY shell-shocked and unable to make any real offensive progress. Just a few turns later, Tomechak finished them off, winning without taking any damage.
Game 3
In game three, it seemed as though SUNY POLY was going to be outclassed again by SFU, but the Wildcats still had some fight left in them. Despite having a great starting hand and a positive win rate, the Red Flash were rather nervous about the damage potential their enemy brought in this matchup. To further their anxiety, SUNY POLY was able to complete their quest just about as fast as possible. With the quest completed, Saint Francis was at a massive disadvantage. The White Team's best efforts put them up 22-21 deep into the game; however, with the quest completed and having finally drawn the right cards, the Wildcats were able to do twenty-two damage out of nowhere in a single turn. This upset, combined with the horrible gingerbread-flavored Mountain Dew that Anthony bought, left a bad taste in everyone's mouth going into game four.
Game 4
Going into this matchup, the White Team knew that it would define the rest of the series. They had to win this matchup, or face a nearly impossible matchup in game five. Tomechak, being the longstanding leader of the team, was not going to let that happen. SFU was able to take a 28-23 lead early on, but the game shortly turned into a back-and-forth stalemate that went on for some time. During this, SUNY POLY was able to gain sixteen armor in one turn, giving them a massive HP advantage. Saint Francis stayed steady and were slowly able to chip away at it; however, the game was still much closer than they had expected. The Red Flash eventually caught a break with a good draw, stretching the distance between the two HP health pools to 25-12. In one last desperate attempt, the Wildcats put out as much damage in one turn as they could, even sacrificing their HP in the process, which led to their eventual loss. SFU was able to win the series 3-1 and will compete again next Thursday at 8pm.
