I was in a bus filled with Hearthstone pros: FIrebat, Kolento, Amaz, Purple and Chakki were just some of the names I saw sitting near me- the bus was so large I probably missed a lot more in the back. One of the last people to enter the bus was Hotform. Seeing a seat next to mine, he sat down. We had met previously at this years BlizzCon 2015 and now we met again in China. Being the annoying eSports journalist I am, I started asking him some questions:

The first question was the most basic: How is China? Hotform is a positive person so he immediately starts to praise the landscape. Even his eventual criticism of the smog and polluted atmosphere is made friendly with a concede that it's hard to beat how clean Canada is. He would eventually come to tell me other stories about his adventures in China, including a 24 hour layover in Beijing that resulted in him buying a large pack of candy with Purple and lamenting over it's "low flavor, lack of sugar" and it being "way too doughy"

After we had that important discussion about candy, we started talking Hearthstone. I asked him the eternal eSports question; "what's the current meta like?". Hotform was quick to answer, confidently reporting that [card]Reno Jackson[/card] and [card]Sir Finley Mrrgglton[/card] having huge impacts on the game. Reno in particular has created so many different decks it's hard to predict what can be in your opponents hand. Shaman is back in a huge away and benefit greatly from Sir Finley. All in all, it was a positive report: there are more playable decks than ever.

Reno in particular has created so many different decks it's hard to predict what can be in your opponents hand.

My next question was a little more straightforward: "How do you plan on winning this tournament?". Hotform explained an interesting dynamic going on, as the players knew their groups before they have selected their decks. This means during this very conversation and this very bus ride the Hearthstone competition has already started. 

"I don't want to talk too loudly or else everyone might hear me" Hotform said with a smile.

That was the last time I would ask about deck selection, but I could still ask about his general deck selection strategy. This is where Hotform has some real interesting insight. He explained how there are generally two strategies for this type of tournament, as only the top four placed players get any sort of prize. This means getting out of the group stage is very important, so players are encouraged to play more powerful across the board decks like Face Hunter, Secret Paladin, or whatever other OTK / Face deck is available.

However, the trade off is if you do make it past the group stage, you are less likely to win the tournament thanks to your vanilla deck selection. A player who predicted this and selected decks powerful against these vanilla decks might have a huge advantage going into the main event. What type of player Hotform was, he didn't say. However he did note that EU players are notably stronger in tournaments and that is partially because of their decision to play a balanced combination of both types.

In closing, Hotform commented that he would like a chance to rematch Kolento and win, as the last time they played he lost. As luck would have it, his first match against during the tournament is against Kolento.

Regardless of the results, we can say for sure he is the best dressed person at the event.