This article was originally published on GameSpot's sister site onGamers.com, which was dedicated to esports coverage.

　　Gnimsh, otherwise known as RNGesusMost people who follow the competitive scene in Hearthstone at all will know Marcin "Gnimsh" Filipowicz; known for his trademark luck and topdecking abilities, he is one of the best players in the scene. I'll be talking to him today about the current metagame within Hearthstone, his favourite/least favourite matchups and more!

　　

Gnimsh, for those who don’t know you: who are you, and what’s your history in TCG’s?

My name is Marcin Filipowicz, I live in Warsaw Poland and I play too much Hearthstone. I also do produce some educational videos, do interviews and write occasional articles for ihearthu.com. I’ve started playing tcgs in 1994 and my first game was Doom Trooper. A post-apocalyptic game that didn’t seem very balanced at a time, but provided our playgroup with many dear memories and hours of fun. In 1996 I jumped to Magic the Gathering and immediately started competing on the National level. In 2008 I’ve picked up WoW Tcg and after 4 years and many games played I made my move to the World scene, where I had multiple high-end finishes and tournament wins. I always loved card games and played them both casually and professionally. Even now I still happen to play some Cardfight Vanguard, Netrunner LCG and Star Wars LCG.

　　

So how do you prepare for tournaments? Are there any tips you can give to some of the tournament players looking to improve out there on how to improve their preparation for events?

The first and most important thing is to understand the current metagame. So you should always start with research and spot the so called archetypes and their structure. Then you should go into matchups and see what is better against what. With that noted you can start testing decks and search for a golden deck that wins vs everything. In most cases such deck doesn’t exist, but what if it does? If you happen to find it you may just win the tournament easily. After confirming that the golden deck is in fact an urban legend in the current metagame you should move to selecting the decks that suit your playstyle and make you win. Then you just play a lot and learn to understand how your decks work and how should you behave in different situations.

　　

What has your favourite event been to participate in so far? We’ve seen you in the likes of ESGN Fight Night, the Seatstory Cup and more, but which did you like the most and why?

Each of those events was different and had some things that really stood out. Instead of selecting just one I will list those exciting aspects first. Fight Night is all about the Team spirit, where we win as a team and lose as a team. We experience every game together and share all the excitement. Seatstory Cup had an incredible family-like atmosphere on one hand and a fierce competition on the other. IEM Katowice excelled in being huge and felt like something else with so many people gathered there and a live audience.

　　

Leading on from that point; at IEM Katowice we saw an extremely ‘different’ card within your Mage deck: Elite Tauren Chieftain! Can you give us some background as to why you included this card and do you think it fits within the current metagame?

I believe that card was “competitive” only because it was a 4 people tournament on a big scene. In a more open environment I wouldn’t bring it as it’s too random. In those specific conditions I was able to stress it’s advantages that overweight the disadvantage of randomness. It was a good card in that Mage deck if I was winning and provided a lot of psychological advantage as well as confusion.

　　Plus it was obviously just awesome. For the Horde!

　　

What are your top five tournament decks at the minute? Usually we see all the same decks at the minute, but are there any up and coming decks you think that have the potential to be one of the best within the current metagame?

Ha! It’s a hard question as there is more viable decks than five. My personal picks would be:

　　1. Control Warrior (super strong after Tinkmaster nerf, good vs both aggro and control)

　　2. Aggro Warlock (can be zoo, or murloc)

　　3. Watcher Druid (still strong)

　　4. Aggro Mage (I feel good with this deck and it plays well vs most of the popular choices, loses to Warlock aggro)

　　5. Miracle Rogue

　　I’m kind of sad for not picking Shaman, or Handlock here but only because I would prefer to play the above 5. Hunter is still a contender. Priest can be a cool surprise. I guess only Paladin fell behind, but it can still play!

　　

Additionally, we saw you run Mage at IEM Katowice; do you think that this class can make a comeback after its heavy nerfs to being the powerhouse it once was within the competitive scene?

Definitely. The hero power is super strong, so when build well the class can play. I’ve seen many mages on the EU ladder and as you could see it was a contender at IEM. If you use the class well it can still shine.

　　

What is it like being one of the few ‘true’ Hearthstone pro gamers? Most people within the scene recognise you, and for a game the majority of people wrote off at launch as being a casual game it must be pretty satisfying to be making money off it right?

Making money is always good, but what’s the most satisfying is that I can compete against the best players in the world. Hearthstone is a card game and card games are always about playing against others, which is the basis of being competitive. The game is great right now and it will only grow. It’s fantastic to play and entertaining to watch, which for me personally makes a perfect combination!

　　

What are your favourite and least favourite classes to play against and why? Are there certain mechanics within the class system that you think are unbalanced/need changing?

I like playing against Warriors. It’s very easy to predict what’s going to happen and see if he got the card he wanted or not. I hate playing vs Rogues, though. Because they chain their actions you sit there and just wait for the game to execute them. I somehow find it very irritating. Other than that I just enjoy the game and I feel like the current core set is very balanced after all the beta changes.

　　

Any shoutouts or last words?

Shoutout to all the fans and Hearthstone players. Support the game and stay passionate. If you get hit by burnout take a break and then return revivified. The game is awesome and will provide us with tons of entertainment for the years to come!

　　

PS: Why don’t you stream more?

With so many tournaments happening and Hearthstone release I was really busy. I hope to return to a somewhat regular streaming in April. Fingers crossed!