Kritik und Lob » KravetsUkraines DrHippi had a terrific 2016

And a very happy birthday ahead of Friday to Scotlands greatest rugby player. Such titles are inherently subjective and arbitrary, but it was the one conferred last year on Gary Armstrong, who turns 50 on September 30, by the Herald, a paper with a long record of sane and serious coverage of the Scottish game.Armstrong, who won 51 caps at scrum-half between 1988 and 1999, squeezed ahead of Gordon Brown and Andy Irvine at the top of the Glasgow-based papers list of Scotlands all-time greatest 50. ESPNs own John Griffiths in 2003 rated him number 6 in his top 50, with Irvine at No.1, ahead of Gavin Hastings and post-war flanker Doug Elliott.Certainly few players have been more warmly regarded by a greater range of compatriots, not all of them natural rugby fans. Gregor Townsend has recalled his experience as a student of walking into an Edinburgh biker bar whose walls were decorated with news cuttings about Armstrong.It also helps to have been associated with some of the happiest moments in Scotlands rugby history. Armstrong and prop Paul Burnell were the common factors in both the Grand Slam of 1990 and the Five Nations title in 1999. His deft pass was perhaps the key moment in the creation of Tony Stangers decisive try in the 1990 Grand Slam decider against England.Those 51 caps spread across a dozen years might not look so impressive to modern eyes. But there was less international rugby in the era either side of the shift to professional in 1995, and Armstrong was unlucky enough with serious injuries to devote an entire chapter of his autobiography to his medical mishaps. Scotland played 89 matches in all between his debut against Australia in October 1988 and his final appearance against the All Blacks 11 years later.He was also an unlucky Lion. He made the party to Australia in 1989, but was kept out of the tests by Robert Jones -- a rivalry which, to the credit of both, generated friendship and mutual respect -- on Armstrongs own reckoning at that time probably the best scrum-half in the world. Forced to settle on that tour for membership of a memorably happy and effective midweek squad, Donals Doughnuts, led by Irish lock Donal Lenihan, he was slated for a bigger role on the 1993 trip to New Zealand. Coach Ian McGeechan reckoned him likely to be the first name on the team-sheet, but he was ruled out of the tour by a serious groin injury.His home town of Jedburgh ranks a little behind Hawick or Galashiels as a Border hotbed, the Jed-Forest club a periodic rather than a consistent contender for honours. But it provided Scotland with world-class scrum-halves for two decades. Armstrong emerged in succession to Roy Laidlaw, Scotlands scrum-half of the 1980s -- the two facing each other in one final Scottish trial before Laidlaw retired at the end of the 1988 Five Nations.Some commentators were incredulous that the same small club could provide Scotland with consecutive number nines -- in the process squeezing out heir apparent Greig Oliver -- but as Armstrong pointed out he did not just appear out of the blue, having played at youth, under-18, under-21 and B levels before winning his first senior cap.He was, he recalled in his memoirs always a scrum-half. I must have looked like a scrum-half from day one and that was where I was put. Usually identified as the extra loose forward type of scrum-half, he always offered rather more than that.He was fearsomely committed, a quality which made him a favourite of notoriously demanding Scotland coach Jim Telfer. David Sole, the abrasive leader of the 1990 Grand Slam team, said that if you were picking one guy to go over the top you would pick Gary Armstrong. He would put his body on the line for the cause -- a phenomenal player with incredible courage. Jonny Wilkinson, a team mate at Newcastle in the later 1990s, thought of him as the junk-yard dog.But he was much more than a rugged auxiliary to the fine back rows Scotland could field in the 1990s. His aim was to keep opponents guessing, never sure whether he would pass, break or kick. The golden rule was never, ever to give his half-back partner bad ball, a priority he kept to the extent that legendary Scottish commentator Bill McLaren, writing at a time when Armstrong had already amassed 30 caps, could not recall an occasion on which he passed on rubbish ball to his partner.And he had a wider range of skills than is often remembered. Like every other team-mate, Townsend admired his toughness and commitment, but for me, his kicking game and ability to break tackles were just as impressive. Taking a therapeutic career break from the pressures of playing scrum-half in 1993, he had sufficient all-round ball-playing skills to appear at outside-half, full-back and centre for Jed-Forest before the needs of both club and country compelled a return to the number nine shirt.And he got smarter as he got older, using the opportunity to dedicate himself full-time after the switch to professionalism post-1995 to develop his game -- Townsend noting that playing and training as a professional for Newcastle had made him a more rounded player. He no longer played like a ninth forward and his first option was to quickly get the ball in my hands.His Scotland career might have ended much sooner than it did. There were the injuries, that sabbatical in the 1993-4 season and numerous offers to move to rugby league. His autobiography details how close he came to signing for the Carlisle club before a background check revealed the league teams financial instability.A lorry driver in the pre-professional eras, he was a significant beneficiary of the transformation post 1995. He was not only paid his considerable worth by the original big-money club, with whom he won an English championship in 1998, but extended his career by several seasons.His 1995 autobiography made it clear that the prospect of after-dinner speaking was enough to put him off becoming captain -- although he was a keen participant in the less formal aspects of post-match banquets -- but he wound up leading his country, captaining Scotland to the final Five Nations championship before ending with the 1999 World Cup match against the All Blacks.Scotland has hardly been ill-served since at scrum-half. Bryan Redpath and Andy Nicol were the immediate competitors to succeed him, while Mike Blair, Chris Cusiter and Greig Laidlaw have ensured that, whatever their limitations elsewhere, Scotland have fielded consistent quality in the number nine shirt.But where Armstrong left Scotland as champions they have not won, or come near to winning, a title in the 17 seasons since. Coincidence? One rather suspects not. Air Max Outlet . -- The Magic have their first victory of the new year. Cheap Vapormax China Discount . The Redskins announced Monday that the quarterback who led the team to the Super Bowl championship in the 1987 season will serve as a personnel executive. http://www.cheapairmaxchinadiscount.com/ . Varlamov made 33 saves and Ryan OReilly had a goal and scored in the shootout as the Avalanche beat the New Jersey Devils 2-1 on Thursday night. Cheap Air Max For Sale . -- James Young couldnt wait to apply those tweaks to his jump shot, and the first one he made against UT Arlington told him it could be a good night. Cheap Air Max Free Shipping . Perez, 35, posted a 1-2 record with a 3.69 earned-run average in 19 relief appearances last season. His season ended Aug. 9 due to a torn ligament in his left elbow. Perez joins infielder Andy LaRoche and catcher Mike Nickeas with minor-league agreements for 2014 that include invitations to attend spring training. And then there were eight. The long road to the Hearthstone World Championship has ended, with eight competitors surviving the grueling thinning-out process, facing tougher odds to survive than a character in a teen slasher movie.Jason Jasonzhou ZhouJasonzhous path to the final eight consisted of two close wins in Group A, considered the toughest bracket based on the names involved. Not only did he topple the favorite, Thijs Thijs Molendijk, in his first game, he also defeated the Americas Spring champion, Julien Cydonia Perrault to be the 2-0 advancee in the bracket.As a noted Control Warrior player, Jasonzhou certainly hasnt passed up bringing a Warrior deck, this time going with a heavy Dragon Warrior that includes Deathwing and The Curator. Also coming for the tourney is a fairly traditional Shaman build with Harrison Jones as a card-drawing tech choice, a possible indication that hes going to avoid banning Shaman in his games, using Harrison to deal with the troublesome Spirit Claw.Rounding out Jasonzhous lineup is a fairly traditional Miracle Rogue, Discolock with the Young Priestess choice, and a Malygos Druid that still retains the nerfed Yogg-Saron.Zhuo Hamster WangFacing off against Jasonzhou in the first round of the quarterfinals is Chinas Hamster, who survived the bottom of the bracket, knocking Hao Bbgungun Li out of the tournament in the final set of games last Sunday.Hamster made some unusual -- and for this analyst, exciting -- choices in the round of 16, playing the only Priest and Paladin decks of this stage of the tournament. Hamster is again bringing those decks, a Priest with two Doomsayers, hopefully drawn early to keep from falling too far behind in the initial turns, and the bursty Anyfin Paladin.Also coming along is a Ramp/Token Druid, not only eschewing Yogg-Saron that is no longer a must-include, but also not bringing Malygos, which has become a common feature in the standard Druid deck of the moment. While there are lots of spells and the Arcane Giants to go along with it, there are two Ancients of Wars, indicating the desire to build a very strong board as his win condition rather than the unavailable Malygos shenanigans.CThun Warrior and a standard Midrange Shaman deck finish up Hamsters lineup.William Amnesiac BartonDescribed fairly as a prodigy as one of the youngest top competitors in Hearthstone, 2016 was really Amnesiacs breakout year and he almost coasted his way through the final 16 with two fairly easy matchups.Amnesiacs going for the tried-and-true, but choosing to not bring a Warrior deck, going with Midrange Shaman, Malygos Druid, Tempo Mage, Midrange Hunter and Discolock. The Shaman deck included the tech choice of Kobold Geomancer, in order to have another early spell damage minion that can activate Spirit Claws. In Druid, theres Baron Geddon, who can decimate Shamans totems and stealthed Cat Trick minions.For Hunter, while Amnesiac is playing the Cloaked Huntress, its still more of a Midrange build, only going with the two Freezing Traps (Huntress is a 3/4 minion which is fine in itself). Stranglethorn Tiger is included, one of my favorite choices in Midrange Hunter builds, simply because its a terrific Kill Command activator in this meta and going against very few Doomsayers, is harder to remove on that first turn than the Savannah Highmane, in a lot of situations.Pavel Pavel BeltukovNot every player that makes a major mistake in a high-pressure game gets the opportunity to redeem themselves, but Pavel does. Eliminated in the European World Championship in 2015 and missing BlizzCon after a play order miistake that resulted in Adrian Lifecoach Koy stealing his Dr.dddddddddddd. Boom with a Sylvanas Windrunner, Pavels getting that second chance this year.Like Hamster, Pavels bringing a heavy CThun Warrior deck (as opposed to the lighter, cycle CThun that was played a few months ago). Gorehowl is in the build and two Brawls as well to deal with faster decks, so Pavels not likely to be banning Druid or Warrior.For Rogue, Pavels going with the Malygos Rogue, a Miracle-type deck that uses Thaurissan-reduced magic spells rather than Leeroy Jenkins for the final burst. Tempo Mage and the Yogg-Saron-and-Malygos themed Druid deck complete Pavels lineup.Kim Cheonsu CheonsuThe round of 16 was a tough-time for players of the Asia-Pacific region, with only Cheonsu advancing of the four participants (China is a separate region from Asia-Pacific in Hearthstone).Cheonsus five-deck slate consists of Discolock, Midrange Shaman, Dragon Warrior, Malygos Druid (no Yogg-Saron) and Tempo Mage. While the deck order is familiar, Cheonsus tinkered with some of his choices, with some interesting ideas like playing Demonfire in Discolock, a reach/board card that is almost never seen in tournament play. Gone from the round of 16 is his Secret Hunter, a powerful deck that can sometimes run out of steam after a big Secret turn.Julien Cydonia PerraultWhere other players have either cut Secret Hunter for Discolock or backed off the secrets package somewhat, Cydonias going all-in with his Hunter, going with the full slate of secrets. Cydonias Hunter is even going a little more aggressive, swapping out the Deadly Shot for an Argent Horserider, the latter common in more face-oriented builds.The rest of Cydonias lineup stays the same as the round of 16, and given that he had the second-best record in last weeks games, behind only Amnesiac, its hard to blame him for not tinkering with success.Edwin HotMEOWTH CookHotMEOWTHs deckbuilding in the Americas Summer championship was a real treat, featuring some distinct choices such as Lance Carrier in Zoolock that really spiced up the tournament games. The BlizzCon finals are no different, with HotMEOWTH going way out of the box, eschewing all the common Warrior archetypes and going with a highly unusual Patron Warrior build. This isnt the Patron Warrior deck you remember from 2015 or even the modified post-Warsong Commander nerf list, but one featuring Bloodmage Thalnos, Blood Warriors, Wild Pyromancer and Commanding Shout. Patron Warriors lack of charge ability due to the loss of Warsong means it wont suddenly hit you for 60 damage out of the blue, but literally nobody is teching in for this particular deck. Hopefully for the viewers, it wont simply be banned all weekend as a result!HotMEOWTH is also choosing similar tech to Amnesiac, bringing Baron Geddon in his Malygos Druid and Kobold Geomancer with Shaman.Artem DrHippi KravetsUkraines DrHippi had a terrific 2016, not only winning the European Summer championship, but also collecting a cool $15,000 as the runner-up in the European Winter championship, another $5,000 in the Starladder Series, and joining Virtus.Pros new Hearthstone division.DrHippis Dragon Warrior is a more tempo-heavy version, featuring Malkorok, a card that we saw in Tempo Warrior before Dragon Warrior took over its spot in the meta. With a Tempo Mage deck with two Water Elemental and an Argent Horserider in his Midrange Shaman, DrHippi looks to deal directly with minion-based board control. ' ' '