A professional Hearthstone player lost a quarterfinal match after a disconnect robbed him of his advantage in a crucial game. Luker went on to lose 3-1 to Nalguidan in Quarterfinal number three.
At the beginning of the fourth game of the best-of-five series, Luker was trailing Nalguidan 2-1. At around turn six, Luker’s Warlock deck was doing well against Nalguidan’s Pirate Warrior deck. Luker even had the possibility to gain dominance in what could have been a deciding game, but was disconnected, forcing a re-match.
When the game restarted, Nalguidan got off to a perfect start, getting an excellent deck curve. Meanwhile, Nalguidan’s good fortune had clearly upset Luker, who made several bad decisions, eventually losing the game, allowing Nalguidan to progress to the semi-finals.
In a post on Reddit, Luker offered his thoughts on the situation, saying his laptop, which was provided by Blizzard, froze. He says that if he had been able to take the series to 2-2, his final deck had an on-paper advantage against Nalguidan’s, and he believes he could have progressed to the next round.
Luker is keen to suggest that no one is to blame for the disconnect, saying “I’m not upset with anyone regarding this situation; not my opponent, Blizzard or the tournament organizers. This was something entirely unexpected, and there’s no way to call the game as a win for me.”
He does, however, go on to suggest that the Hearthstone esports scene needs improving, saying “we need a tournament mode, we need a better format (one where tie breakers aren’t considered or weighed as heavily), and we need better venues/equipment.”
