Cydonia, a Canadian hearthstone player who has placed first in the Hearthstone Spring Championship 2016 for the Americas region, sits down with Team Dignitas' Oatmeal to discuss his tournament performance, love for Hearthstone, and what he would change about the game.

What made you try Hearthstone? What kept you playing it?

Cydonia: I tried Hearthstone since my friends kept bugging me to try it (that peer pressure!) and I kept playing since I immediately liked it and I felt the game had a lot of depth and complexity that was not apparent at first. I also liked the competitive aspect of ladder a lot.

What is your favorite card in the game?

Cydonia: I answer differently for every interview (so far I've said Blingtron, Unstable Portal and Raven Idol). This time I'll go for Lord Jaraxxus, Eredar Lord of the Burning Legion.

What is your favorite class in this game?

Cydonia: Right now Druid is the most fun for me.

Let’s talk about your recent tournaments. Coming into the HCT Spring, what was your game plan?

Cydonia: I feel the strategies in conquest are either to target a popular deck or to bring the best decks. I went with the second plan since none of the best decks are targetable in a 5-deck format. I'm pretty comfortable with Shaman, Zoo, Dragon Warrior and Druid and I felt Hunter seemed strong so I brought those and planned to ban Zoo since Druid, Hunter and Shaman are very weak against it. Then I teched all the decks for a zoo-less format and made minor adjustments like Ragnaros in Druid and Crazed Alchemist, Gormok and burst cards in Zoo so I could be stronger against Freeze and Rogue without really hurting the already good matchups of those decks. I was going for the win so didn't try to tech for my first round opponent and decided on decks that I felt would be good against the field.

Can you explain your deck choices in the tournament meta?

Cydonia: I answered this question a bit accidentally in 5) but for instance I feel Dragon Warrior is just better than Tempo and harder to target so I like it a lot. I didn't bring any decks I was not comfortable with or would need to learn and didn't bring any decks I felt could be targeted like Rogue. I brought strong decks I knew how to play so then I could focus on testing the matchups against my opponents's lists since we knew the lists in advance (which is still pretty time consuming as with 4 decks left post-ban there are 16 different potential matchups to test assuming I predict my opponent's ban correctly). Though I only tested the matchups that are not common on ladder.

How did it feeling pulling back the 6th game of the finals vs Rosty in a complete upset with the Young Dragonhawk combo?

Cydonia: Felt pretty good but I knew going in that 6th game that I would need to win an unfavored mirror match since his hunter was faster than mine so I was not ready to celebrate yet.

Now that the tournament is over, what are you planning to do with your winnings and for with your future?

Cydonia: I consider my winnings salary to compensate for perhaps not filling my schedule with as much work as I could have since I was preparing for the tournament. For now I will keep trying to get better at the game (I usually coop with other good players or watch streams to achieve this) and discuss strategy with other players as well. Also I'd like to have opportunities to play in tournaments other than opens and maybe that will happen now that I got a little more visibility. Perhaps I will join a team as well if I get some good offers.

If you had the opportunity to design a new mechanic in Hearthstone, what would it be and why?

Cydonia: I haven't given this much thought but I like the Jaraxxus replacing the hero and alternate hero power mechanic so perhaps they could make a cycle so every class could get one. Maybe not make them all at the same time though. I feel one per expansion could work. Those cards are flavorful and fun and it's nice to get to spam the new emotes that come with it. Oblivion!

What are your thoughts on the most recent modes in this game, Standard & Wild and Tavern Brawl?

Cydonia: I like aggro, tempo and midrange decks so I feel standard is in a good place for me right now. Also it's awesome how for instance warrior has pirate, tempo dragon, control dragon, control, c'thun, patron, midrange that are all somewhat viable and all have a different feel to them. I haven't played wild much since I prefer focusing on the format that is relevant in competitive HS and I'm not bored of standard yet. I think it's awesome that we get a new Tavern Brawl most weeks and that we get a free pack for playing. Usually I just get my free pack and that's it but sometimes I will play it more like the one that you were guaranteed to draw your deck on curve was my favorite as it was more strategic and had a deckbuilding aspect to it. Not a big fan of the rng ones but a lot of people seem to like them.

Any shoutouts?

Cydonia: In my post-match interview I already gave a shout-out to my practice partners so this time I'd like to give a shoutout to everyone I got to meet and hang out with in LA that made my trip super fun, including (but not limited to!) my opponents Rosty, Bradfordlee, Duane and PNC who were super fun to hang out with, my favorite caster TJ who did his best to make everyone feel comfortable on set, and Doug, Mason, Christina and Allan from ESL who love their job and are just great!