It took him half a year, but finally Minh-Duc "DaPh" Pham is back in the championship, taking the fifth GosuCup SEA. I caught him to hear his thoughts on the growth of Hearthstone in the region, his aspirations for the future and what classes actually work with Dragons.

If you're a Southeast Asian player, you too can be in DaPh's shoes. All you need to do is sign up and compete in our weekly GosuCups, every Saturday at 13:00 SGT.


 

Sooo, we meet again! It's been some time but you're back in the championship seat, so welcome back!

Yup, it feels great to have another chance being in this position.

What have you been doing between the two GosuCup seasons? Just hardcore Hearthstone?

I’m not really a ladder player so I play mostly tournaments now and then.

Has the SEA scene and the Vietnam scene in particular grown between now and the last time we spoke? That was more than half a year ago I think.

With the new Conquest rule and Blizzcon points as a prize, I think the Hearthstone competitive scene everywhere has developed significantly. It’s easier to attract players to your own tournament. In Vietnam, there have been two big tournaments so far which are Dr. Boom #1 and #2 which had approximately 150 players. Really appreciate the organisers and admins!

I’m not really sure about other countries, but there was a tournament between different teams from SEA countries in the past. It was really great.

Dr.Boom is probably the best name for a tournament, though ...

Haha, indeed!

 "The Hearthstone competitive scene everywhere has developed significantly."


The last time you won GosuCup it was one of those budget tournament we used to do. Do you miss them?

Not really, but it would be best if they will be back for new players to have chance to participate. Since the release of Hearthstone on multiple platforms, I believe the number of new players or casual players is worth noticing!

Walk me through your GosuCup #5 run. You won most of your games one-sidedly, even the grand finals were quick. How did you prep and approach each match-up to end up at a dominant score?

Firstly, in my opinion, Best-of-3 always involves more luck to win than Best-of-5, so I felt super relieved knowing I successfully became top 8.

Secondly, about the preparation before GosuCup #5, I just chose what decks I was most confident playing, then decks I thought will hard-counter popular meta decks which I guess will also be used the most in the tournament. The rest is for RNGesus to decide.

Also, I really want to say thanks to my friends Nexxgen and Chani and also my team - Coconut Candy, Neilyo in particular for helping me a lot for the tournament. I was really exhausted due to playing since early morning so without their encouragement, I wouldn’t be sober enough to play. Even so, I made many mistakes in the finals.

Oh, I didnt know you and Neilyo share a team. So that's not only back-to-back championships for Vietnam but for Coconut Candy as well?

Yeah! Big shoutout to him and my Coconut Candy team.

How long have you guys been together? Are you like the premier team in Vietnam?

We were just recently formed to participate in the Hearthstone SEA Team Tournament. Of course, we all knew each other before that time.

I’m not sure about claiming to be a premier team, because we don’t really have time to train professionally. But we do really support each other and share ideas.

"Being a professional player is not on my future plans list."


Do you not have the aspirations to become true professionals? Or are you guys only in HS for the fun and the hobby experience?

Too bad being a professional player is not on my future plans list. I’d love to but I will just be a casual player and hope to have few more achievements if possible in the future while I still enjoy playing Hearthstone.

Let's talk about Hearthstone as a game for a while. BRM just came out in full and players are still trying it out. What have your experiences with the expansion been?

BRM in my opinion is great! It brings freshness to Hearthstone gameplay. I have been testing different classes with Dragon tribes, some work out, some don’t, but in the end, it was good fun. However about the expansion itself with the Heroic Bosses, it’s just sad that there are few bugs with the AI so the enjoyment when playing them is not fulfilled.

Which ones do work? Because I know people have been struggling to find a good dragon tribe.

Oh, it’s great that you asked. Midrange Rogue Dragon deck and Priest Dragon deck work very well I think, I dont see many players play it though. The Paladin Dragon theme deck seemed to be good at the beginning but because there are too many great cards and synergy in the Paladin class I have trouble to fit them in a deck. In the end, the Warrior Grim Patron deck overshines them all. Big shoutout to the creators!

Haha, so the dragon decks people thought were going to be bad are now good, and vice versa? That's an interesting development.

It’s too early to give out any statement now, I believe time will answer. But right now, the “Everyone get in here deck” is too good! Hope it can have a worthy opponent soon.

I've talked to players and they say it's to the power level of pre-nerf miracle.

Haha, is it that much? So I wonder if It will get nerfed.

"Blackrock Mountaint brought freshness to Hearthstone's gameplay."


So what's next for you? More tournaments? Blizzcon? Real life?

Yup, I will just keep doing what I enjoy now. Playing Hearthstone in the weekend is one of those. I’m not dreaming about participating Blizzcon but having enough points for the qualifier is what I want. And of course, schoolwork and housework should always be prioritised.

Listen to this guy, kids! Real life > Hearthstone. Well, let's wrap it up shall we? Anything you want to say as final words, maybe an apology to the country of Singapore for beating five of their players in a row this Saturday?

Haha, I’m sorry that my Blingtron Mech Mage harvested a lot of salt from Druid and Warrior players. And don’t forget about how strong Duplicate is! I know playing with RNG is like having fun with fire, it’s risky but worth it.

As final words, I’d like to say thanks to GosuGamers for organizing and giving us the chance to play competitive Hearthstone. Final shoutout to my friends and team, and also to Chalk-senpai and his famous words: “Hope is what makes people salty, removing hope is one way to find peace in playing Hearthstone.”


More on GosuGamers Hearthstone: