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　　A photo of the crowd at IEM Katowice.A short introduction of the players we'll see facing off later on at IEM Katowice. Two qualified players, Lothar and Sinex, both of team Planetkey Dynamics, will face off against the two invitees, Gnimsh and Artosis of Team Dogehouse for a slice of the $4000 prize pool on the main stage later on. Let's take a look at the players.

　　

Gnimsh

Well, everybody knows Gnimsh. The most enigmatic of the professional Hearthstone players, Gnimsh is a mercurial player; he has the potential to both amaze as well as the potential to fail miserably - shown by his either 3:0 or 0:3 scores in ESGN Fight Night. However, more recently, the Pole has fixed some consistency issues, which had somewhat held him back, progressing into being currently the 3rd best player in the world according to the ESGN Elo rankings.

　　Many people will know Gnimsh as an aggro specialist. We’ve seen him take down players such as Strifecro 3:0 whilst playing decks such as the burn Hunter; however, we saw an entirely different side of him at the SeatStory Cup. Gnimsh excelled at decks such as the midrange Shaman as well as Warrior control, showing he’s not just a one-trick pony. In many people’s eyes as well as my own, Gnimsh will be the favorite to take the title at IEM Katowice today.

　　

Artosis

Artosis doesn’t need an introduction. The Blizzcon Invitational winner, he is easily the most famous of the top-tier Hearthstone players - is there a game that this guy doesn’t excel at? A former Brood War pro as well as an avid Magic: The Gathering player, he’s now turned his trade towards the professional Hearthstone scene. Currently 2nd on the ESGN Elo rankings, Artosis is an extremely consistent player; despite what most may think after some incidents in tournaments (which we won’t speak about!).

　　Artosis used to be known as “the” Paladin player within the scene. However, with this class really dying out of the professional metagame, Artosis has been playing just about everything with tournaments – from Murlocs to Druid. I don’t expect any major surprise decks out of Artosis this tournament, but I expect his trademark solid, consistent play which should allow him to compete for the top spot today.

　　

Lothar

The player qualified from the Polish qualifiers, Lothar is a player that will be known to most players within the European tournament scene. A solid podium-placer in tournaments like the weekly Zotac Cups, Lothar will be coming into this tournament as an “unknown entity” for the audience, having not partaken in tournaments like the SeatStory Cup and ESGN Fight Night like Gnimsh and Artosis did – maybe this will give him the upper hand within the tournament.

　　Lothar is known as one of the better Miracle rogue players within the European scene; however, I wouldn’t be surprised if, due to the volatility of this deck, we won't see it being played today. Along with his teammate Sinex (who I will cover next), they will have been theorycrafting some decks, and I’m sure that we will see a surprise come out of the two qualified players within the tournament - even if it's a mere trump card within a standard Druid deck.

　　

Sinex

I’m not going to lie to you guys and pretend I know a lot about Sinex, because I don’t. A player for Planetkey Dynamics, he appears to have come out of nowhere to snatch the European qualification spot. As a completely unknown entity, this will surely give Sinex the element of surprise – nobody knows what will come of him and we can only wait and see until his game later on tonight against Gnimsh for what will become of the German.

　　

Schedule

Lothar vs. Artosis - Semifinal at 18:00 CETSineX vs. Gnimsh - Semifinal at 19:00 CET3rd Place Decider at 20:00 CETGrand Final at 21:00 CET