Seasonal Open Rounds Recap ft. SWATblues, WhatAmI & MajiinBae

After the Season Open Rounds Essentials article I wrote just before the tournament (that you can check right HERE if you have missed it), I thought to bother some more great Open Rounds players to give you their opinions on this Season’s nine rounds of Swiss. Thus we got Europe’s one and only 9-0 player, SWATblues, and our very own WhatAmI and MajiinBae to walk you through what went right, what went wrong, and what to expect of them going into the Top 32 Playoffs this weekend.

Oh, yeah. This dude called Jason Fleurant is casting, as well. I heard his knowledge on both beagles and Runeterra is pretty neat but don’t quote me on that.

I will not keep you waiting any longer. Let’s see what our Pros have to say.

SWATblues

Before we begin, who is SWATblues?

CastMin: Could you tell us a bit about who you are in real life?

SWATblues: Hello. My name is Yannick. I was born and live in France and I am currently a 24 years old student in biology. 

CastMin: What is your background in terms of card games, besides Legends Of Runeterra?

SWATblues: Truth be told, I have played quite a lot of other online card games before Runeterra. Some of the top of my mind that I can mention are Hearthstone, Faeria, Gwent, and Spellweaver.

CastMin: Did you participate in any tournament for those card games?

SWATblues: Well, not really. I have never really made a splash in those games competitively speaking.

CastMin: How did you pick up Legends Of Runeterra? Was there any particular reason?

SWATblues: I was looking for a new online card game and they announced Legends of Runeterra, right? I instantly registered for its Closed Beta and never quit playing it ever since then.

CastMin: Which was the first deck you have ever built and played in Runeterra?

SWATblues: I am going, to be honest with you, I can't remember for sure. One of the first I remember picking up was a Mono Fiora variant back when Hecarim was at his best.

CastMin: Which Season was your favorite from the ones you have been playing in so far?

SWATblues: Like many others, I think Call of the Mountains, the one after Rising Tides, was the best. Naturally, that is probably the Season during which I spent the most time playing the game.

CastMin: Who is your favorite Runeterra streamer, if you have one?

SWATblues: When I play a game as often as I do with Runeterra I prefer to look at streamers who can help me improve. Therefore I have to go for someone like Alanzq.

The Open Rounds Experience

CastMin: What kind of meta did you expect to encounter in the Open Rounds?

SWATblues: Since we had less than 700 masters I expected to encounter a lot of players who would go for an "easy" Tier 1 Line-Up.

CastMin: And was your prediction correct?

SWATblues: Not at all. Turns out many people brought Lee Sin or Thralls, so I guess I was wrong on that one.

CastMin: What was your line-up?

SWATblues: My line-up consisted of Lee Sin Zoe, Feel The Rush and Darkness.

CastMin: And what was the strategy behind it? 

SWATblues: My goal with it was to ban Zed Poppy and beat Draven Sion, Gangplank Twisted Fate or any other Aggro decks it is really difficult to lose against them with this Line-Up.

CastMin: Were there any other line-ups that you considered?

SWATblues: I considered going for a Tier 1 Line-Up myself because it is difficult what you are going to face in the Open Rounds. My thought process is that going for an overall "strong" Line-Up can help you win against a larger variety of decks that you are bound to face.

CastMin: Were there any other decks that you were thinking to have in this line-up but did not make it?

SWATblues: I thought about replacing Feel The Rush with Thresh Aurelion Sol but the deck was too weak. I also considered bringing Zed Poppy or Gangplank Sejuani instead but that would give me a chance to lose against what I was already targeting. Considering what I have faced that was probably a better call than Feel The Rush.

CastMin: What line-up would've been the scariest to go against for you?

SWATblues: Any Line-Up that brought some iteration of Demacia, Thralls, or Darkness was scary for me. None of my decks are doing a great job against them all.

CastMin: Were you prepared to face that scenario? How?

SWATblues: To be honest, I got lucky and never fought someone who had all three of those decks in the same Line-Up. Only my last opponent brought something favorable against me:  Thralls, Lee Sin Zoe, Poppy Lux Curious Shellfolk. Fortunately for me, I managed to beat the Shellfolk deck; that was probably the weakest of the three against me and the weak link in my opponent’s Line-Up.

CastMin: What is your history in the Seasonal tournaments so far?

SWATblues: I have qualified for only one other Top 32; it happened so long ago that I don't remember when it was. It was quite sad that I ended up losing in Top 8.

CastMin: Are you afraid of the x-0 curse going into the Top 32?

SWATblues: You know, I wasn't even aware of such things until you told me about it before the interview. I don't believe in curses or things like that so I will just try to play my best going into Top 32.  That aside, it would be cool to be the first to break this curse and go undefeated in a Seasonal tournament.

WhatAmI

CastMin: What kind of meta did you expect to encounter in the Open Rounds?

WhatAmI: Very wide.

CastMin: What kind of usual nonsense did you expect to be the most prevalent?

WhatAmI: Gangplank Sejuani definitely had to be up there.

CastMin: And was your prediction correct?

WhatAmI: Tooootally!

CastMin: What was your line-up?

WhatAmI: Lee Sin Zoe, Feel The Rush and Zed Poppy. 

CastMin: And what was the strategy behind it? 

WhatAmI: I simply wanted to play strong linear decks that beat Gangplank Sejuani. Makes sense? Makes sense.

CastMin: Were there any other line-ups that you considered?

WhatAmI: Not really, no.

CastMin: Were there any other decks that you were thinking to have in this line-up but did not make it?

WhatAmI: Thresh Aurelion Sol. But I subbed it out for Zed Poppy at the last minute.

CastMin: Why do this last-minute swap?

WhatAmI: Because it was beating Gangplank Sejuani and was sufficiently busted to clean up other random things I expected to see.

Thresh Aurelion Sol was just a hair under the power level I needed for it to work out.

CastMin: What line-up would've been the scariest to go against for you?

WhatAmI: Triple anti-control rally nonsense.

CastMin: Were you prepared to face that scenario? How?

WhatAmI: Umm... Pray?! Does that work?

CastMin: What is your history in the Seasonal tournaments so far?

WhatAmI: Well, it’s a funny thing. I had many tops but no wins so far. I hope to change that

CastMin: Do you think this time is the charm and you can break the curse?

WhatAmI: I decline to give the universe ammunition, but we will see.

MajiinBae

CastMin: What kind of meta did you expect to encounter in the Open Rounds?

MajinBae: I expected to face mostly Gangplank Sejuani, Lee Sin Zoe and Zed Poppy.

CastMin: And was your prediction correct?

MajinBae: I didn't see a lot of Lee but I saw the other two decks almost every round I played.

CastMin: What was your line-up?

MajinBae: Lee Sin Zoe, Feel the Minah and Thralls was my lineup.

CastMin: And what was the strategy behind it? 

MajinBae: It is built to beat Plunder as well as have an edge in the other "Beat Plunder" lineups.

CastMin: Were there any other line-ups that you considered?

MajinBae: I was pretty set on this lineup.

CastMin: Were there any other decks that you were thinking to have in this line-up but did not make it?

MajinBae: The only other deck I considered was Poppy Lux Curious Shellfolk.

CastMin: Was there any specific reason you considered Lux Poppy for?

MajinBae: I think Poppy is the strongest champion in the game and I wanted to have her in the lineup one way or another. But the deck’s matchup tables went a little against what I was trying to do so I  had to drop it for Thralls.

CastMin: What line-up would've been the scariest to go against for you?

MajinBae: Triple Rally or Rally, Lurk and Sivir Akshan would have been bad for me.

CastMin: Were you prepared to face that scenario? How?

MajinBae: In fact, I faced both these lineups and won.

CastMin: What gave you the edge in those games, considering they should've been unfavored for you?

MajinBae: I have to hand it to my matchup knowledge and a bit of luck that helped me out.

CastMin: What is your history in the Seasonal tournaments so far?

MajinBae: So far I have 5 top cuts, 1 win in the second Seasonal.

CastMin: Do you think history will repeat itself once again and you will be the first player to win two Seasonal tournaments?

MajinBae: I think I will be the first player to win two Seasonals. Whether it is this one or another, I have that feeling.

Closing Words

Consistent top cut players, undefeated ones in the Swiss, and potentially the chance for Bae to do the unthinkable and get the double sweep… there you have it. May that and their experience in the Swiss rounds inspire you to be one of these great players if you are not considering yourself one already.

Whatever the future may hold, I hope you enjoyed this article and found it useful.


Don’t forget to check out my Twitter as I will keep you up to date there about my future articles and future interviews with top competitors like the ones featured in this article.