 Guillaume Matignon is the first World of Warcraft TCG World Champion! He conquered a field of nearly 400 players over three days to take the title, facing the sternest competition that Azeroth had to offer. After getting off to a rocky start on Day 1, Matignon didn't lose a match after Round 6, running undefeated for twelve rounds all the way to the trophy. Tired but triumphant, Guillaume was happy to sit down and chat about his road to victory.
A member of the well-known French contingent, Guillaume spent most of the weekend with Pierre Malherbaud and the other talented French players. Their work ethic for Worlds wasn't as rigorous as usual, though. “For Worlds, we didn't playtest that much,” Guillaume admitted. “Something like three days, but all day long. The format didn't change that much since Nationals—just [the release of] Winter Veil.”
Guillaume earned his invite to Worlds when he won the French National Championship, and his team’s decision to play Nathadan seemed obvious given the success they found at Nationals. Guillaume described their understanding of the format succinctly: “We realized the good players in France play solo decks, and the Paladin beats solo decks.” Thus, it was a logical conclusion to play the deck that has a favorable matchup against the best players. Still, Day 1 was rough. “It didn't go that well,” explained Guillaume. “I was 3-3, then started to win. I lost to Markoff in round 2; I probably can't win against that deck!”
Matignon had a lot of work ahead of him on Day 2 because only players with a record of 12-3 or better had a reasonable shot at making Top 8. Fortunately, he entered the drafts with a plan. “Aggressive Horde, always,” he declared. “Try to be aggressive. You can use more under-drafted cards. When you play small drops, you get more choices. The more choices you can make, the better your shot to win.” All that effort paid off when he ran both pods 3-0 and slid into Top 8 as eighth seed—a Top 8 filled with Rotun Daggerhand, one of Paladin's best matches.
After talking with his teammates, Guillaume Matignon decided the bracket favored him. “It was pretty good,” he said. “Actually, I was not sure if Mike Dalton would win his Rotun match, and against his deck, I probably can't win. But yesterday the French tested Mike's matchup, and they told me ‘Gorebelly can't win against Rotun.’” It seemed like the stars had fallen into place for Guillaume. As the brackets wound down, Guillaume annihilated three different Rotun pilots, dropping only a single game during Top 8 play and securing the title of World Champion.
Worn and weary, but above all, a winner, Guillaume Matignon is taking home $100,000; a trophy; and all the pride that being a champion can bring. Congratulations to Guillaume Matignon! |