Hearthstone Trinity Series season 2 is a team league played in autumn 2017. The first stage of the tournament is a seven-week online round robin, after which the top four teams will compete in live finals. The prize pool of the tournament is $150,000.
In this post, I take a look at the final, seventh week of the round robin as well as some overall stats from the round robin.
Format and schedule
There are eight invited teams in the tournament. Each team consists of three players, and the players pilot the decks together – discussion on each move is allowed and encouraged, and stream viewers get to listen in on the players at times.
Each match is played in best-of-11 Last Hero Standing format: teams submit a deck for each of the nine classes, and ban two of the opponent’s decks. The teams then self-ban one of their remaining seven decks, leaving them with six decks for the match. The first team to reach six wins takes the match.
The round robin started on September 27th 2017 and continued for seven weeks until November 16th 2017. The live finals take place from December 8th to December 10th 2017.
Prizes:
- 1st: $75,000
- 2nd: $30,000
- 3rd and 4th: $15,000
- 5th and 6th: $4,500
- 7th and 8th: $3,000
Official website: https://play.eslgaming.com/hearthstone/americas/major/trinity-season2
Stream and VODs: https://www.twitch.tv/esl_hearthstone
Week 7 direct links:
- https://www.twitch.tv/videos/201477703 (G2 Esports vs Virtus.pro, Team Love U Lots vs Tempo Storm)
- https://www.twitch.tv/videos/201728991 (Misfits vs Planet Odd, Complexity vs Team Liquid)
Teams and players
Complexity: Tyler, Crane, MrYagut
Tempo Storm: Trump, Eloise, JustSayian
Planet Odd: Xixo, Hoej, Surrender
G2 Esports: Rdu, Thijs, Neirea (Lothar played for G2 during weeks one and two before Neirea joined)
Misfits: StanCifka, Pokrovac, GeorgeC
Team Liquid: Dog, Sjow, Feno
Team Love U Lots: Chakki, Muzzy, Zalae
Virtus.pro: Casie, Naiman, Bunnyhoppor (DrHippi played for Virtus.pro on weeks one to four)
Week 7 results and teams for live finals
G2 Esports vs Virtus.pro 3-6
Team Love U Lots vs Tempo Storm 3-6
Misfits vs Planet Odd 1-6
Complexity vs Team Liquid 6-4
Standings after all seven weeks of round robin:
Alas, there was one surprise when it comes to live finals: Planet Odd declined their spot, because the team will be in China during the live finals. As a result, the four teams that advance to the live finals are Team Liquid, Virtus.pro, Complexity, and Team Love U Lots.
Week 7 known archetypes and performance
The ban game was mostly uniform, similar to previous weeks once the meta in this format stabilized. Every single team banned Priest and Druid and self-bans went for the most part to Hunter, except for two teams: Misfits, who chose to self-ban Shaman, and Complexity, who chose to self-ban Warrior again.
With the entire round robin concluded, we can take a look at the overall performance of classes over the past seven weeks.
Class performance throughout the round robin stage:
- Paladin 42-32
- Warlock 48-35
- Hunter 11-10
- Druid 5-5
- Priest 1-1
- Warrior 36-37
- Shaman 29-33
- Rogue 28-37
- Mage 29-39
(Note that these are compiled from archetype performance, so some class mirrors are included when two different archetypes have faced against each other)
Paladin and Warlock were the dominant classes in this mostly no Druids and no Priests format. Rogue and Mage suffered the most.
There were two widely played archetypes that found a lot of success in round robin:
- Zoolock 21-14
- Murloc Paladin 33-25
Of the lesser played archetypes, some had good records but with very low sample sizes:
- Handlock 5-2
- Control Paladin 5-2
- Exodia Mage 7-5
Other archetypes with at least 20 games played failed to rise above mediocre:
- Control Warlock 22-19
- Midrange Hunter 11-10
- Taunt Warrior 13-13
- N’Zoth Control Warrior 12-12
- Control Mage 14-16
- Evolve Shaman 29-33
- Tempo Rogue 24-34
These results perhaps give some indication on what the meta would look like without Druid and Priest. Druid and Priest got in a couple of games early on, but were uniformly banned for most of the tournament, especially in the last weeks.
Archetype performance excluding mirror matches on week 7 and overall in Trinity Series:
Paladin 3-4 (42-32 overall)
- 3 Murloc Paladins 2-2 (33-25 overall)
- 1 Beardo Paladin 1-1 (1-1 overall)
- 1 Midrange Paladins 0-1 (3-3 overall)
- 0 Control Paladins (5-2 overall)
- 0 Aggro Paladins (0-1 overall)
Warrior 8-6 (36-37 overall)
- 3 Taunt Warriors 6-2 (13-13 overall)
- 3 N’Zoth Control Warrior 1-3 (12-12 overall)
- 1 Fatigue Warrior 1-1 (7-9 overall)
- 0 Pirate Warriors (4-3 overall)
Druid
- 0 Jade Druids (5-5 overall)
Mage 2-6 (29-39 overall)
- 3 Control Mages 1-3 (14-16 overall)
- 2 Burn Mages 0-2 (6-11 overall)
- 1 Exodia Mages 1-1 (7-5 overall)
- 0 Giants Mages (1-1 overall)
- 0 Freeze Mages (0-2 overall)
- 0 Secret Mages (1-4 overall)
Rogue
- 7 Tempo Rogues 7-4 (24-34 overall)
- 1 Elemental Rogue 3-1 (4-3 overall)
Shaman
- 5 Evolve Shamans 1-5 (29-33 overall)
Hunter
- 1 Midrange Hunters 4-0 (11-10 overall)
Priest
- 0 Kazakus Priests (1-1 overall)
Warlock 4-5 (48-35 overall)
- 5 Control Warlocks 3-4 (22-19 overall)
- 1 Zoolocks 1-1 (21-14 overall)
- 0 Handlocks (5-2 overall)
Week 7 known decks
Decklists are not public, so we only have information on the decks that were seen on stream.
Complexity:
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 |
| Jade Druid | Jade Druid | Druid | Druid | Druid | Druid | Druid |
| Midrange Hunter | Hunter | Hunter | Hunter | Hunter | Midrange Hunter | Midrange Hunter |
| Control Mage | Control Mage | Mage | Burn Mage | Burn Mage | Control Mage | Burn Mage |
| Murloc Paladin | Murloc Paladin | Paladin | Murloc Paladin | Murloc Paladin | Murloc Paladin | Paladin |
| Priest | Priest | Priest | Priest | Priest | Priest | Priest |
| Rogue | Rogue | Tempo Rogue | Tempo Rogue | Tempo Rogue | Tempo Rogue | Tempo Rogue |
| Shaman | Evolve Shaman | Evolve Shaman | Evolve Shaman | Evolve Shaman | Evolve Shaman | Evolve Shaman |
| Handlock | Warlock | Warlock | Handlock | Zoolock | Control Warlock | Control Warlock |
| Warrior | Warrior | Warrior | N’Zoth Warrior | Taunt Warrior | Warrior | Warrior |
Tempo Storm:
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 |
| Druid | Druid | Druid | Druid | Druid | Druid | Druid |
| Midrange Hunter | Midrange Hunter | Hunter | Hunter | Hunter | Hunter | Hunter |
| Exodia Mage | Mage | Mage | Burn Mage | Burn Mage | Mage | Mage |
| Murloc Paladin | Paladin | Paladin | Murloc Paladin | Murloc Paladin | Murloc Paladin | Murloc Paladin |
| Priest | Priest | Priest | Priest | Priest | Priest | Priest |
| Tempo Rogue | Tempo Rogue (Elementals) | Rogue | Tempo Rogue | Tempo Rogue | Tempo Rogue | Tempo Rogue |
| Shaman | Evolve Shaman | Shaman | Evolve Shaman | Evolve Shaman | Shaman | Shaman |
| Zoolock | Control Warlock | Warlock | Zoolock | Zoolock | Zoolock | Control Warlock |
| Fatigue Warrior | N’Zoth Control Warrior | Warrior | N’Zoth Warrior | Taunt Warrior | Taunt Warrior | Taunt Warrior |
Planet Odd:
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 |
| Druid | Jade Druid | Druid | Druid | Druid | Druid | Druid |
| Hunter | Hunter | Hunter | Hunter | Hunter | Hunter | Hunter |
| Secret Mage | Secret Mage | Secret Mage | Burn Mage | Mage | Mage | Mage |
| Murloc Paladin | Murloc Paladin | Paladin | Murloc Paladin | Paladin | Control Paladin | Paladin |
| Kazakus Priest | Priest | Priest | Priest | Priest | Priest | Priest |
| Tempo Rogue | Rogue | Tempo Rogue | Tempo Rogue | Rogue | Tempo Rogue | Tempo Rogue |
| Shaman | Evolve Shaman | Evolve Shaman | Evolve Shaman | Shaman | Evolve Shaman | Shaman |
| Control Warlock | Control Warlock | Zoolock | Zoolock | Zoolock | Warlock | Warlock |
| Fatigue Warrior | Pirate Warrior | Taunt Warrior | Taunt Warrior | Warrior | Taunt Warrior | Taunt Warrior |
G2 Esports:
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 |
| Druid | Druid | Druid | Druid | Druid | Druid | Druid |
| Midrange Hunter | Hunter | Hunter | Hunter | Hunter | Hunter | Hunter |
| Exodia Mage | Control Mage | Control Mage | Burn Mage | Control Mage | Control Mage | Exodia Mage |
| Murloc Paladin | Paladin | Murloc Paladin | Murloc Paladin | Paladin | Murloc Paladin | Beardo Paladin |
| Priest | Priest | Priest | Priest | Priest | Priest | Priest |
| Tempo Rogue | Tempo Rogue | Tempo Rogue | Tempo Rogue | Tempo Rogue | Elemental Rogue | Tempo Rogue |
| Evolve Shaman | Evolve Shaman | Shaman | Evolve Shaman | Shaman | Evolve Shaman | Evolve Shaman |
| Control Warlock | Control Warlock | Control Warlock | Control Warlock | Control Warlock | Control Warlock | Control Warlock |
| Warrior | Warrior | Warrior | N’Zoth Warrior | Warrior | Taunt Warrior | N’Zoth Warrior |
Misfits:
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 |
| Druid | Druid | Jade Druid | Druid | Druid | Druid | Druid |
| Midrange Hunter | Hunter | Hunter | Hunter | Hunter | Hunter | Midrange Hunter |
| Mage | Exodia Mage | Control Mage | Mage | Burn Mage | Control Mage | Control Mage |
| Murloc Paladin | Murloc Paladin | Murloc Paladin | Paladin | Control Paladin | Murloc Paladin | Murloc Paladin |
| Priest | Priest | Priest | Priest | Priest | Priest | Priest |
| Rogue | Tempo Rogue | Rogue | Rogue | Tempo Rogue | Tempo Rogue | Tempo Rogue |
| Shaman | Evolve Shaman | Evolve Shaman | Evolve Shaman | Evolve Shaman | Evolve Shaman | Shaman |
| Warlock | Control Warlock | Control Warlock | Handlock | Handlock | Control Warlock | Control Warlock |
| Fatigue Warrior | Fatigue Warrior | Fatigue Warrior | Fatigue Warrior | Fatigue Warrior | Fatigue Warrior | N’Zoth Warrior |
Team Liquid:
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 |
| Druid | Druid | Druid | Druid | Druid | Druid | Druid |
| Midrange Hunter | Midrange Hunter | Hunter | Hunter | Hunter | Hunter | Hunter |
| Mage | Freeze Mage | Mage | Burn Mage | Control Mage | Burn Mage | Burn Mage |
| Murloc Paladin | Murloc Paladin | Paladin | Murloc Paladin | Murloc Paladin | Paladin | Murloc Paladin |
| Priest | Priest | Priest | Priest | Priest | Priest | Priest |
| Tempo Rogue | Tempo Rogue | Rogue | Tempo Rogue | Tempo Rogue | Tempo Rogue | Elemental Rogue |
| Shaman | Shaman | Shaman | Evolve Shaman | Evolve Shaman | Shaman | Evolve Shaman |
| Control Warlock | Control Warlock | Warlock | Zoolock | Zoolock | Zoolock | Zoolock |
| Warrior | Warrior | Warrior | Taunt Warrior | Taunt Warrior | Warrior | Taunt Warrior |
Team Love U Lots:
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 |
| Druid | Jade Druid | Druid | Druid | Druid | Druid | Druid |
| Hunter | Hunter | Hunter | Midrange Hunter | Hunter | Hunter | Hunter |
| Control Mage | Control Mage | Secret Mage | Mage | Control Mage | Control Mage | Control Mage |
| Aggro Paladin | Murloc Paladin | Midrange Paladin | Paladin | Paladin | Midrange Paladin | Midrange Paladin |
| Priest | Priest | Priest | Priest | Priest | Priest | Priest |
| Tempo Rogue | Tempo Rogue (Elementals) | Tempo Rogue | Rogue | Elemental Rogue | Tempo Rogue | Tempo Rogue |
| Evolve Shaman | Shaman | Shaman | Shaman | Evolve Shaman | Evolve Shaman | Evolve Shaman |
| Control Warlock | Control Warlock | Zoolock | Control Warlock | Zoolock | Zoolock | Control Warlock |
| Pirate Warrior | Pirate Warrior | Taunt Warrior | Warrior | Warrior | N’Zoth Warrior | Fatigue Warrior |
Virtus.pro:
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 |
| Druid | Druid | Druid | Druid | Druid | Druid | Druid |
| Midrange Hunter | Hunter | Hunter | Hunter | Hunter | Hunter | Hunter |
| Exodia Mage | Control Mage | Freeze Mage | Giants Mage | Burn Mage | Control Mage | Control Mage |
| Control Paladin | Paladin | Control Paladin | Murloc Paladin | Murloc Paladin | Murloc Paladin | Paladin |
| Priest | Priest | Priest | Priest | Priest | Priest | Priest |
| Tempo Rogue | Tempo Rogue | Tempo Rogue | Tempo Rogue | Tempo Rogue | Tempo Rogue | Tempo Rogue |
| Evolve Shaman | Evolve Shaman | Evolve Shaman | Evolve Shaman | Evolve Shaman | Evolve Shaman | Evolve Shaman |
| Warlock | Warlock | Zoolock | Zoolock | Zoolock | Warlock | Warlock |
| Warrior | N’Zoth Control Warrior | Taunt Warrior | N’Zoth Warrior | N’Zoth Warrior | N’Zoth Warrior | N’Zoth Warrior |
Overall team statistics
Complexity:
- Murloc Paladin 8-4
- Midrange Hunter 5-2
- Control Mage 4-2
- Evolve Shaman 5-5
- Tempo Rogue 4-5
- Handlock 1-2
- Jade Druid 1-2
- N’Zoth Control Warrior 0-1
- Zoolock 0-1
- Taunt Warrior 0-1
- Control Warlock 0-2
- Burn Mage 0-3
Tempo Storm:
- Tempo Rogue 8-7
- Murloc Paladin 6-5
- Zoolock 5-4
- N’Zoth Control Warrior 2-1
- Evolve Shaman 3-3
- Exodia Mage 1-1
- Control Warlock 2-3
- Fatigue Warrior 0-1
- N’Zoth Control Warrior 0-1
- Midrange Hunter 1-3
- Burn Mage 0-2
- Taunt Warrior 1-4
Planet Odd:
- Zoolock 8-2
- Taunt Warrior 11-3
- Pirate Warrior 2-1
- Control Paladin 1-0
- Murloc Paladin 3-3
- Control Warlock 2-2
- Kazakus Priest 1-1
- Jade Druid 1-1
- Tempo Rogue 4-5
- Fatigue Warrior 0-1
- Burn Mage 0-1
- Evolve Shaman 2-4
- Secret Mage 1-3
G2 Esports:
- Control Warlock 11-5
- Murloc Paladin 6-3
- Exodia Mage 4-2
- Elemental Rogue 1-1
- Beardo Paladin 1-1
- Midrange Hunter 0-1
- Taunt Warrior 0-1
- Burn Mage 0-1
- Control Mage 2-4
- N’Zoth Control Warrior 0-2
- Evolve Shaman 2-5
- Tempo Rogue 2-6
Misfits:
- Handlock 4-0
- Murloc Paladin 6-4
- Jade Druid 2-1
- Fatigue Warrior 6-6
- Exodia Mage 1-1
- Control Paladin 1-1
- Tempo Rogue 3-4
- Control Mage 2-3
- Control Warlock 2-3
- Midrange Hunter 0-2
- N’Zoth Control Warrior 0-1
- Control Warloc 0-1
- Burn Mage 0-1
- Evolve Shaman 3-5
Team Liquid:
- N’Zoth Control Warrior 4-1
- Burn Mage 5-3
- Elemental Rogue 3-1
- Zoolock 5-4
- Control Warlock 2-1
- Evolve Shaman 4-4
- Control Mage 1-1
- Tempo Rogue 4-5
- Murloc Paladin 4-5
- Taunt Warrior 2-3
- Midrange Hunter 1-2
- Freeze Mage 0-1
Team Love U Lots:
- Zoolock 4-1
- Midrange Hunter 3-0
- Control Warlock 5-4
- Evolve Shaman 4-4
- Midrange Paladin 3-3
- Pirate Warrior 2-2
- Jade Druid 1-1
- Murloc Paladin 1-1
- Fatigue Warrior 1-1
- Control Mage 4-5
- Taunt Warrior 0-1
- N’Zoth Warrior 0-1
- Secret Mage 0-1
- Aggro Paladin 0-1
- Elemental Rogue 0-1
- Tempo Rogue 2-5
Virtus.pro:
- Evolve Shaman 10-6
- N’Zoth Control Warrior 4-1
- Control Paladin 3-1
- Tempo Rogue 6-6
- Control Mage 3-3
- Midrange Hunter 1-1
- Exodia Mage 1-1
- Giants Mage 1-1
- Murloc Paladin 2-3
- N’Zoth Control Warrior 2-3
- Freeze Mage 0-1
- Burn Mage 0-1
- Taunt Warrior 0-1
- Zoolock 0-3
Week 6 matches
G2 Esports vs Virtus.pro
Bans: G2 Esports banned Priest and Druid and Virtus.pro banned Priest and Druid.
Self-bans: G2 Esports chose to not use Hunter and Virtus.pro chose to not use Hunter.
Games:
Tempo Rogue loses to Control Mage
Beardo Paladin wins against Control Mage
Beardo Paladin loses to Evolve Shaman
Control Warlock wins against Evolve Shaman
Control Warlock loses to N’Zoth Warrior
Exodia Mage wins against N’Zoth Warrior
Exodia Mage loses to Tempo Rogue
Evolve Shaman loses to Tempo Rogue
N’Zoth Warrior loses to Tempo Rogue
G2 Esports 3 – Virtus.pro 6.
Team Love U Lots vs Tempo Storm
Bans: Team Love U Lots banned Priest and Druid and Tempo Storm banned Priest and Druid.
Self-bans: Team Love U Lots chose to not use Hunter and Tempo Storm chose to not use Hunter.
Games:
Tempo Rogue loses to Tempo Rogue
Control Mage loses to Tempo Rogue
Evolve Shaman loses to Tempo Rogue
Control Warlock wins against Tempo Rogue
Control Warlock wins against Taunt Warrior
Control Warlock loses to Control Warlock
Fatigue Warrior wins against Control Warlock
Fatigue Warrior loses to Murloc Paladin
Midrange Paladin loses to Murloc Paladin
Team Love U Lots 3 – Tempo Storm 6.
Misfits vs Planet Odd
Bans: Misfits banned Priest and Druid and Planet Odd banned Priest and Druid.
Self-bans: Misfits chose to not use Shaman and Planet Odd chose to not use Hunter.
Games:
Tempo Rogue wins against Tempo Rogue
Tempo Rogue loses to Taunt Warrior
Murloc Paladin loses to Taunt Warrior
Midrange Hunter loses to Taunt Warrior
N’Zoth Warrior loses to Taunt Warrior
Control Warlock loses to Taunt Warrior
Control Mage loses to Taunt Warrior
Misfits 1 – Planet Odd 6.
Complexity vs Team Liquid
Bans: Complexity banned Priest and Druid and Team Liquid banned Priest and Druid.
Self-bans: Complexity chose to not use Warrior and Team Liquid chose to not use Hunter.
Games:
Control Warlock loses to Zoolock
Tempo Rogue wins against Zoolock
Tempo Rogue wins against Burn Mage
Tempo Rogue loses to Elemental Rogue
Evolve Shaman loses to Elemental Rogue
Burn Mage loses to Elemental Rogue
Midrange Hunter wins against Elemental Rogue
Midrange Hunter wins against Taunt Warrior
Midrange Hunter wins against Evolve Shaman
Midrange Hunter wins against Murloc Paladin
Complexity 6 – Team Liquid 4.