The first quarter final of the Hearthstone World Championship is one between two well known giants.?
Looking at the past of both ThijsNL and Kranich, it's difficult to predict who will win this clash. Sure, one can argue that ThijsNL will be favoured for multiple reasons. The Dutchman is on a winstreak which has never seen its equal before, and holds the all-time high record on the GosuRankings. However, Kranich is not to be underestimated. The Team Dignitas player has managed to make it to the Round of 8 two years in a row now, and he's looking strong again this time.
The line-ups of the two players differ to the highest possible extent. ThijsNL is bringing his completely unexpected Patron Warrior, Freeze Mage and Dragon Priest line-up, which seems to target an aggressive strategy from the opponent. Kranich brings his ZooLock, Midrange Druid and a Midrange Hunter. ThijsNL seems to have an advantage here, as he has faced both the Druid and Hunter in his group stage already and proved to be stronger than them. Kranich, on the other hand, has faced none of the decks of ThijsNL before during his own group stage.
The two only met once before, during The Pinnacle 3. At that time ThijsNL crushed his Korean opponent with a 3-0 victory.
