After a tough 3-0 loss last week to the University of Delaware Blue Hens, the Hearthstone White Team looked to bounce back this week. Standing in their way of doing this, the New York Tech Cybears. Although there is not an official rivalry between the two schools, it seems as though all of our teams at SFU play the Cybears rather often. New York Tech proved to be no easy stepping stone for the White Team on their way back up the ranks. Unfortunately for the Red Flash, NYT played a great game and beat the White Team 3-1 in a series of misfortunes. 

Game One (1) – Lost

Red Flash v. Cybears

SFU came into this matchup hoping to go first because the deck they were running was nearly predicated on getting an early advantage. However, as luck would have it, the NYT Cybears were selected to play first which would define this entire game for the Red Flash. Within the first few turns, the Cybears were able to take a massive amount of HP away from the White Team, leaving them with under 10 HP left. After scrambling to find a foothold, SFU was able to stabilize for a few rounds and it seemed as though there was a bit of hope. Unfortunately, the Cybears were able to draw the best card in their deck, putting an end to the Red Flash's glimpse of victory. The Cybears went up 1-0 in the match. 

Game Two (2) – Lost

Red Flash v. Cybears

After losing the first game, Jared "Dedzo" Ohler was determined to redeem himself in the second round. This matchup was much better suited for SFU and gave them an above average chance of winning. The Cybears, however, did not seem to care what the win percentage was and filled the board within the first few turns. A play like this was not only unexpected, but also put the White Team at a massive disadvantage. Within two turns of filling the board the Red Flash were down 11 HP and could not find solid ground. The game quickly spiraled out of control and NYT took the game putting the series at 2-0. 

Game Three (3) – Won

Red Flash v. Cybears

Angered by the previous two losses and refusing to get swept two matches in a row, James "Joker" Nichols decided to sub in. Almost immediately, it looked as though the third match would follow suit with the prior two. Nichols started out by making a misplay and taking some serious face damage. Beaten and bruised, but unwilling to give in, Nichols knew he had to focus up if he was going to have a chance to pull out the win. After a few massive plays and taking board control, James was able to do 18 face damage to the Cybears in one turn, effectively turning the entire game around. Nichols saw an opening and struck. Within the next few turns, he clinically dissected the Cybears defense and was able to pull out the victory. This put SFU down 1-2 in the series, but showed them that NYT was beatable.

Game Four (4) – Lost

Red Flash v. Cybears

With momentum finally on their side for the first time in almost two weeks, the Red Flash looked to even out the series. For this they would need their secret weapon, Jimmy "JimJam" Gresko. The deck matchup was completely even for this game, so it would be a pure test of skill and will for both teams. The first few rounds were back and forth with each team taking one step forward and two steps back, unable to get anything started. Eventually, the Cybears drew a Tip The Scales card and were able to fill the entire board. Unable to defend the flurry of oncoming attacks, the SFU took heaps of damage putting them down 31-13. Luckily, SFU was able to clear the board the next turn, but New York Tech was not going to let them off easily. Once again the Cybears drew and played Tip The Scales and put the White Team in what seemed like an impossible situation. SFU put their heads together and were barely able to clear the board without losing the game. Now that the Cybears had over extended their resources by playing aggressively the past few turns, it was the Red Flash's turn to take their shot. Within just a few turns, they were able to put the game back to 25-22 and it seemed as though they could actually win. The game went on for a while again with back and forth blows and both teams running low on HP. However, in what proved to be the most important turn of the game, SFU accidentally floated two mana on a turn where they could have finished off the Cybears. New York Tech took the advantage and closed out the game winning the series 3-1.

The Hearthstone White Team play again next Thursday at 8pm and hope to finally get back on track.