Milan with a first-half double to help the Nerazzurri to a third success

The third and final season champion for the Americas in the 2016 Hearthstone Championship Tour was decided Sunday afternoon, with Edwin HotMEOWTH Cook taking home the $25,000 first-place prize and an all-important seat in the finals at BlizzCon, which is coming up in just six weeks. HotMEOWTH bested ROOTs Jeffrey Tarei Liu after falling behind 3-2 in the final seven-game match of the Summer Championship on Sept. 17-18.HotMEOWTHs weekend almost ended early after a quarterfinal scare against Jerome Monsanto Faucher. Up 3-0 in the first match, HotMEOWTH needed just one win with his Warlock Zoo deck to advance to the semis. Zoolock is one of the more tried-and-true decks in tournament play and even with a deck built differently than the more standard template -- no Power Overwhelming, instead using Demonfires, Lance Carriers and Dark Iron Dwarves for reach-plus-bodies -- HotMEOWTH was heavily favored to grab at least one win.Montreal native Monsanto instead threatened to pull off the reverse-sweep, winning with Worgen Warrior, Freeze Mage and Anyfin Paladin, only falling short when HotMEOWTHs Zoolock held off the Yogg Druid in game 7. HotMEOWTHs unusual card choices ended up helping out in a pinch when the two Lance Carriers made a 6/2 Dark Peddler that dealt 12 damage to Monsantos Druid.While HotMEOWTH didnt previously have the extensive tournament background that a veteran like Tarei has, dont assume that hes a newbie. On a brutally competitive Americas ladder, HotMEOWTH reached the top 100 in both July and August, finishing as high as 12th in the latter month. And if youve ever caught the popular weekly Data Reaper report at Vicious Syndicate, he is their resident Hunter expert.HotMEOWTH talked to ESPN esports about his decks and the tournament meta after the full release of the One Night in Karazhan adventure.Was there ever a moment when you second-guessed the Warlock deck?HotMEOWTH: Surprisingly enough, my Warlock deck was one of the first two decks I decided to prepare and bring to the tournament along with the Druid deck. It was one of the decks that I have more faith in performing well [since] before the tournament started, mostly because of having success of ranking up to Legend this month [September] on ladder with it.However, after knowing my opponents lineups right before the tournament began, I was worried [about] its performance, mostly because of my first opponent Monsantos lineup. Monsantos lineup was all combo/control decks that tend to be really favored (70/30) against my minion-centric Zoo Warlock deck because of the multiple [area-of-effect] board clears with combo spells that those decks have.The idea behind my more aggressive variant of Zoo Warlock with chargers and minion attack buffs is that it can fare better against slower midrange decks that consist of fewer board clears and more big threats such as Dragon Warrior, Token/Malygos Druid, and Midrange Hunter, because of my Zoo decks faster/earlier board aggression. It has the potential to close out games before big minions or board threats come down. So, in that aspect, it performed as expected [i.e. winning games against Druid], which I am happy with. I think Zoo is still a strong class in the current meta, but my list is pretty experimental/unrefined, since Karazhan cards just came out not too long ago.How did you decide to go with a Warrior build thats more along the classic Control side, without the Dragon shell that is currently in fashion?HotMEOWTH: First of all, my lineup strategy was to target control, where it can fare decently against the strong meta decks currently in the game, which tend to be more midrange and aggressive in nature. After testing my lineup a few times with my practice partners, I found out that it was best to ban Shaman over the popular Warrior ban.With Shaman banned, Dragon Warrior isnt as tempting to bring, since beating Shaman is Dragon Warriors greatest strength. I feel the new Dragon Warrior list with The Curator is overrated by many pros and intermediate players alike. While Curator is a strong addition that helps the deck have more steam against control and slower midrange decks, the deck becomes more minion-heavy and has fewer removal spells early on like Slam. It is much more susceptible [to the] strong, early aggression that aggro decks often have, which makes the deck weaker overall against faster/aggro decks. In this tournament, I expected people to bring faster tempo/aggro decks, which brought me to the idea of bringing Control Warrior over Dragon Warrior.Control Warrior is known for being favored against tempo and aggro decks and also having polarizing/extremely favored matchups against combo decks such as Freeze Mage and Worgen Warrior. I feel like Control Warrior may be the best archetype out of all the different Warrior decks as it can beat anything with its stability through multiple removals and armor resources to gain over 30 health to play around decks with strong burst potential. It is sad that I couldnt play a single game with Warrior throughout the championship, since it was banned by all of my opponents, but that just shows how much respect they have for how the strong the deck was against their lineup.Which matchup this weekend were you most concerned about?HotMEOWTH: I was pretty confident the first two rounds of winning with all my decks except my Zoo Warlock. And [my expectations] turned out to be correct since I had a 3-0 lead against both Monsanto and [Manny dude7597 Eckert]. I think what I worried about the most was Monsantos lineup potential to sweep my Zoo deck since three of his decks (Freeze Mage, Worgen Warrior and Murloc Control Paladin) were really favored against it. But I did know he had a weak link which was his Druid deck that my Zoo deck is favored to beat. So I told myself to just play Zoolock last and not get tilted over the losses from his other decks, since I was unfavored and was meant to lose those matches anyway.The final match against Tarei was equally concerning and stressful for me since his lineup was really similar to mine, as we both brought Zoolock, the same Druid list, a Control variant of Warrior, Midrange Hunter, and a Shaman deck that leaned towards being aggressive. I felt like Tarei was the hardest to beat since he was, in my opinion, the most experienced player in the top eight. It felt like a 50/50 against Tarei with how similar our lineups were and it came down to how we queued and played our decks in the end, since I think that neither of us had an edge for prepping a better lineup because of how similar our deck choices were.What are your thoughts on the impact of the Karazhan cards on the current meta?HotMEOWTH: At first glance, I thought the cards would have a mediocre impact on the state of competitive metagame in Hearthstone. But it turns out it actually significantly impacted how the decks were were built, especially the meta decks (Yogg Druid, Zoolock, Control Paladin, Midrange Shaman). I think cards like Maelstrom Portal really improved the Midrange Shaman decks chances against aggro decks, along with tools like Lightning Storm to deal with early aggression, particularly Zoolock since the deck tends to play out a slew of early-game minions.Cards like Ivory Knight and Moonglade Portal really gave Paladin and Druid the stability they needed, as those cards heal your own hero or minion and also provide extra resources for development at the same time. I feel like the best card in the Karazhan set is Barnes, as the card gave a lot of new innovations in deckbuilding. Overall, I think the Karazhan cards tend to favor the already-strong meta decks and kind of left out classes like Rogue and Priest in the competitive metagame. As cheesy or cliché as it sounds, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer with the new cards.Many thanks to HotMEOWTH for the interview. Next up on the 2016 Hearthstone Championship Tour: another seat in the finals will be filled on September 24-25 when the Europe Summer champion is crowned. Fake Shoes Free Shipping . The 15th-ranked Canadian men lost the opening two games of their European tour: 19-15 to No. 17 Georgia and 21-20 to No. Fake Shoes Outlet . PAUL, Minn. https://www.fakeshoesonline.com/ . Jeff Green scored 13 points and Kris Humphries 12 for the Celtics, who nearly blew an 18-point, second-half lead. Sullingers 20-20 was the first by a Celtics player since Kevin Garnetts first game in Boston in 2007. Garnett was dealt -- along with Paul Pierce -- to Brooklyn during the off-season. Fake Yeezy . Coach Tom Thibodeau says the former MVP will probably start travelling with the team in the next few weeks. Rose tore the meniscus in his right knee at Portland in November and was ruled out for the remainder of the season by the Bulls. Fake Nike Shoes .C. at the helm of the top team in the Eastern Conference. His tenure as the GM in Vancouver was all too brief. Though he led the Canucks to what was then a franchise record-shattering campaign in just his second season, Nonis was gone and replaced one year later. MILAN -- It might be just days before his 40th birthday but Roma forward Francesco Totti is showing no signs of slowing down.On Wednesday, Totti was handed his first start in almost exactly a year and he helped his side to a 4-0 win over newly-promoted Crotone.Totti, who will celebrate his landmark birthday next Tuesday, did not get on the scoresheet himself but he lit up the Stadio Olimpico early in the second half with a splendid long-range pass for Romas third of the night.The former Italy international sent the ball with pinpoint accuracy to Edin Dzeko, who lifted it over the onrushing goalkeeper.Stephan El Shaarawy and Mohamed Salah had netted in the first half and Dzeko doubled his tally in the 57th minute, shortly before Roma goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny saved Raffaele Palladinos penalty.You saw up front a change, in being more clinical -- finishing off the chances the team creates, Roma coach Luciano Spalletti said.Totti is good physically. I knew the match would be difficult, that they would defend well, and he always manages to create something out of nothing. I want the team to absorb that from him, to use him as an example of anticipating plays.Totti, who won the World Cup with Italy in 2006, has spent his whole career at Roma and is likely to retire when his contract expires at the end of the season.Roma moved up to third, two points behind league leader Juventus and one below Napoli.Heres what else happened in Serie A:---JUVENTUS 4, CAGLIARI 0Crisis, what crisis? Juventus bounced back with an emphatic 4-0 win over Cagliari to move back to the top of Serie A after Napoli could only draw at Genoa.Juventus lost its perfect start to the season on Sunday as Inter Milan came from behind to win 2-1 -- a result which came days after a goalless draw against Sevilla in the Champions League.Massimiliano Allegris side was clearly out for blood and had 10 shots on target in the first half, something which had not happened since the 2004-05 season.Were back at the top of the table, being behind is never nice, Allegri said. We had a good reaction after the defeat at San Siro and the excessive criticism.The opener came from an unlikely source as defender Daniele Rugani scored his first goal for Juventus in 22 appearances, tappinng in the rebound after Marco Storari had denied Gonzalo Higuain with a stunning save.ddddddddddddHiguain doubled Juves lead in similar cirumstances firing home after Storari had blocked Miralem Pjanics effort.Dani Alves also got his first goal in a Juventus jersey, six minutes from halftime, as he was left unmarked on the edge of the box to drive into the bottom left corner.Cagliari defender Luca Ceppitelli turned into his own net to cap a miserable night for the visitors.---PESCARA 0, TORINO 0Joe Hart almost cost his new side dearly, but nine-man Torino managed to scrape a point at Pescara.Hart almost gifted Pescara the lead just before halftime when the England goalkeeper fumbled a simple Bryan Cristante cross and almost dropped it over the line before managing to recover in the nick of time.Afriyie Acquah was sent off moments later following a second yellow card and Torino was forced to play the final 11 minutes with nine men after Giuseppe Vives was shown a straight red.Incredibly, Torino almost won it but Andrea Belotti hit the post.Pescara also hit the woodwork as it laid siege to Harts goal.---EMPOLI 0, INTER MILAN 2Mauro Icardi did it again for Inter Milan with a first-half double to help the Nerazzurri to a third successive Serie A victory.Icardi headed in Antonio Candrevas cross for his first in the 10th minute and beat the offside trap to run onto Joao Marios through-ball in the 17th for his sixth of the season.The Argentina forward has been involved in all seven of Inters goals this season, setting up Ivan Perisics winner against Juventus as well as scoring six in his past four league matches.---OTHER RESULTSSimone Verdi netted an early contender for goal of the season to help Bologna beat Sampdoria 2-0 in a match which saw both sides reduced to 10 men.The 24-year-old struck a sensational volley into the top right corner just before halftime.Khouma Babacar also scored a delightful goal -- a cheeky backheel flick -- as Fiorentina fought back twice to salvage a 2-2 draw at Udinese.Elsewhere, Chievo Verona moved up to fourth with a 2-1 victory over Sassuolo and Palermo won 1-0 at Atalanta. 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