Welcome to the first edition of let's hope many Hearthstone competitive recaps, where we keep track of what has happened in our favorite game each week. 

The "Hearthstone competitive recap" will be issued every Monday (yes, today's the exception) and will go over the major events in - and often outside - competitive Hearthstone. Blizzard's card game is in the middle of of its HCT campaign but there are also lots of other third party tournaments running in parallel, and this post will summarize everything for your convenience.

Enjoy!

Major news and content:

Hearthlytics' disbandment has nothing to do with bad storytelling, and here's why

Carling "Toastthebadger" Filewich and Radoslav "Nydra" Kolev write a rebuttal to an article posted by Saul "Shevvek" Tobin and argue that the dissolution of one of North America's leading team is about failure to meet market demands more than a blame to be found on journalists and casters.

Russia to officially recognize esports from June 17

The Russian government will scribe in "esports" in the national register of sports as of this coming Friday. This will be the second time the country does that, after it recognized the industry in 2001 but rescinded in 2006 for failing to meet the minimum requirements.

The 5 coolest tech choices from HCT EU Spring Championships

Tilmann "RexVayu" Gebhardt looks at the 40 decks of the EU champions and scouts them for peculiar tech choices. He finds them, in bulk. Yes, there's a [card]Tinkmaster Overspark[/card], you're not mistaken.

Chakki leaves Dignitas

The DreamHack Austin champion will be looking for a new team, after he chose to no re-sign with the UK-based organization. This was Chakki's longest stint with a team to date and he's brought Dignitas three second place, four top four, one top eight and one first place finishes.

Blizzard on the state of Hearthstone

IGN talked to Peter Whalen and Mike Donais from Blizzard on the state of Hearthstone. The interview focuses on recent card nerfs, the competitive aspect, Arena rewards and the Arena format in general (e.g. why C'Thun and his cultists are not included) and much more. 

Tournament recap:

ThijsNL wins HCT Europe Championship for the second time

The G2 marquee became the only player in Hearthstone to have won two regional championships and is one of only two players to make back-to-back Blizzcon finals. ThijsNL's victory came after a seven-game battle against Russian dark horse Iner this Sunday.

DrHippi, JAB, Xixo and Hoej qualify for StarLadder Season 2 finals

Ex-Hearthlytics player JAB was the only non-European to beat the StarLadder group stages and will compete for the lion's share of the $50,000 in the StarLadder finals. Eight other players will battle it out in the coming days in the Last Chance bracket for the remaining two EU spots.

Edward Gaming win the mid-season playoffs of Team Story Cup 2

The premier Chinese team-league is past its middle point as Edward Gaming defeated TongFu in the mid-season playoffs. The second half started yesterday with one less team (Newbee was eliminated as the last team in group stage #1) and will halve the team pool in time for the final playoffs. 

Kananai wins GosuCup SEA #3

The Malaysian player overcame the Filipino opposition to win $300 and 3 HCT points. Are you an APAC player and want to be in his place? Register for the next cup here.  

Decks and guides:

Midrange Shaman guide by Devt

HCT EU Spring Championship decklists

StarLadder World division decklists

GosuCup EU June #4 winners decklists

Xfinity Invitational winners decklists