The Inven Invitational pitted four of the top Hearthstone players around the globe for a prize pool of nearly $650 USD with Janne "Savjz" Mikkonen claiming all of it for himself after beating RenieHouR, Reynad as well as Kolento in a double elimination tournament format.
In the first round of the Inven Invitational, Savjz was matched against the founder of Tempo Storm, Andrey "Reynad" Yanyuk. Savjz started off with a Ramp Druid against the Miracle Rogue from Reynad. Some poor draws from Reynad as well as the early aggression from a Shade of Naxrammas and a Druid of the Claw proved to be too much for the Rogue player to handle; forcing Andrey to tap out at the 8th turn. Reynad pulled out a Mech Mage deck for the 2nd game which should do pretty well against a Ramp Druid because of the strong early drops. Unfortunately for Reynad, Savjz managed to stabilize with a Zombie Chow and Shade of Naxrammas and snowballed his way to victory. The 3rd game of the series was a mirror match between Druids. With some nice RNG and good decision making, Reynad finally grabs his first game in the series. Savjz then surprised Reynad with a fairly uncommon deck: an aggressive Undertaker Deathrattle Mage. Things weren't looking good for the Tempo Storm founder from the start of the game and with a Kel'Thuzad reviving four minions on the side of the Mage, Reynad had no choice but to drop down to the lower bracket.
With Kel'Thuzard reviving minions on Savjz's side, Reynad had to drop down to the lower bracket.
On the other side of the tournament, Aleksandr "Kolento" Malsh had to face off with Jung Hwan "RenieHouR" Lee to proceed onto the next stage. Pulling out the big guns, RenieHour started off with one of the strongest deck in Hearthstone - the Handlock deck and Kolento responded with a Fatigue Mage. The game went on for 20 minutes which should favor the Mage as the Warlock is already on fatigue. However, the early Lord of Jaraxxus play from RenieHouR put up too much pressure for the Mage to handle and the Handlock deck claims its first victim in the tournament. Sadly for the Korean player, that was the only win his Handlock deck could get him as Kolento slays the Warlock in a quick game using his Ramp Druid on the back of a turn 1 Shade of Naxrammas. After losing his Handlock deck, RenieHouR then moved to close the series by taking out the Ramp Druid and Control Warrior from Kolento with his Mid Range Paladin deck.
The next opponent for RenieHouR was Savjz and both players opted for their Druid decks to start things off. RenieHour took first blood with a surprise turn 8 Innervate into the Force of Nature and Savage Roar Combo. Knowing that he needs to end the game quick before the Druid can set up for the combo, Savjz decided to play his aggro Undertaker Mage and that certainly paid off for him as he forced RenieHour to tap the concede button on the 6th turn. Shaman was the next class for RenieHouR. With a Zombie Chow and Feral Spirits, the Korean pushed away all the early aggression but as the game went on, Savjz slowly took back board control. He then sealed the deal with two Kel'Thuzads on the board, forcing another concede from RenieHour. For the forth game, RenieHour went back to his Handlock deck; looking for a potential comeback for the series. His hopes were high as he defeated the aggro Mage but the Mid Range Paladin deck from Savjz denied his ticket to the grand finals.
The midrange Paladin of Savjz denied RenieHour's ticket to the grand finals.
In the lower bracket, Reynad and Kolento are both one series away from dropping out of the tournament. Both players chose aggressive decks to start the series; Reynad picking Zoolock and Kolento choosing the Face Hunter. The Zoolock deck barely managed to take the first game for Reynad and then succumbed to the mighty Warrior in the second game. Reynad then proceeds to his Mech Mage and with two Mana Wyrms played in the early turns, the American was able to put on enough pressure on the Control Warrior that when Kolento finally managed to stabilize, his health was already too low. A Frostbolt and Fireball ended the third game of the series. The Mech Mage from Reynad proved to be too much for Kolento as Reynad defeats the Ramp Druid from the Ukrainian; reviving his tournament hopes.
For Reynad, the next opponent blocking his way to the grand finals is RenieHouR. The first match between them went to RenieHouR when he surprised Reynad with a nearly full board Bloodlust, taking out 22 health from the Miracle Rogue in a turn. As if that wasn't bad enough for Reynad, RenieHouR crushed the Mech Mage from him with the Bloodlust once again; talking about rubbing salt on his wound. Just as hope slowly faded away from Reynad, he made a miraculous comeback with his Mid Range Druid by executing a pefect all kill on all three decks from RenieHouR.
Waiting in the grand finals of the Inven Invitationals, Savjz was more then ready to take on captain of Tempo Storm. The Liquid player went into the grand finals aggressively with the Face Hunter and took the game within 3 minutes against the Mid Range Druid from Reynad. The Miracle Rogue was the next deck that Reynad chose to stop the Hunter in its track. The Rogue managed to fend off the early push from the Hunter and stabilized with the heals coming out from two Earthen Ring Farseers. But an Unleash the Hound as well as Eaglehorn Bow was more than enough to silence the Rogue. To match the early pressure coming from the Hunter, Reynad reaches out for his Mech Mage deck (well, he didn't really had a choice anyway).
Both players were racing; trying to gain board control and deal significant damage at the same time. Reynad was the one who crossed the finish line first with his Blingtron 3000 getting him an Assasin's Blade, which provided the means of ending the game. The last game of the tournament was a mirror match between two different variants of the aggro Mage. Things were looking grim for Savjz as dropped down to one-third of his health pretty quickly. With a Sludge Belcher and Mirror Entity, the Finn was able to stabilize and regained board control soon afterwards. From there, things spiraled out of control as Savjz crowded the board with minions. Without a Flamestrike, it was impossible for Reynad to comeback into the game and he knew that. Savjz then claimed victory for the Inven Invitationals when Reynad conceded on his 9th turn while staring blankly at the intimidating board on the side of his opponent.
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