ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul Hearthstone team (3-0) pulled off a dramatic comeback victory as they took the final three games of the best-of-five series against Manitoba (2-1) to win it 3-2 on Thursday night.
 
After quickly falling behind 2-0 in the match, the Golden Bears turned things around in a big way as they clawed their way to three wins in a row to improve to 3-0 overall on the young season.
 
In the opening game, CSP utilized a demon hunter deck while Manitoba called on their warrior deck. CSP opened with the first eight damage of the contest as they got off to a fast start, but the Bisons turned the tide with a big weapon to pull ahead. Concordia tried to stem the tide late as they got their Magtheridon on the board, but it came too late as they were unable slow down Manitoba as the Bisons picked up the win with 16 health remaining.
 
The Golden Bears stuck with their demon hunter deck in the second game while the Bisons turned to their paladin deck. After the two teams traded blows over the first few turns, the Manitoba was able to get a pair of big minions on the board to gain the advantage. CSP was unable to clear those minions as they conceded the round to the Bisons.
 
Concordia shifted gears in the third game as they ran out their mage deck against Manitoba's priest deck to try to stay alive. Both squads utilized some slow moving decks early on before CSP looked to have an advantage in the middle rounds with some big minions on the board. Despite some timely plays to remove some of CSP's board control, the Golden Bears knocked Manitoba down to 16 health with just one damage on their own hero. The Bisons extended the game with some healing, but Concordia's minion and spell advantage proved to be too strong as they forced the concession to close the gap to 2-1 heading to the fourth game of the best-of-five series.
 
CSP turned back to their demon hunter deck in the fourth game as Manitoba once again called on their priest deck. The healing outweighed the damage through the first 10 turns as CSP held a slim 26-24 damage advantage before growing their lead with some large hero attacks. The Golden Bears rode that strategy all the way to the finish line as they evened the series at 2-2 to force a decisive fifth game.
 
In the fifth and final game of the night, both schools relied on their priest decks as they looked to secure the series victory. Stealing minions seemed to be the theme early in the game as the Cabal Acolyte was utilized heavily by both sides. While there were significant shifts in board control and little damage on either hero well beyond turn 10, Concordia started to build an advantage as time was running low for the Bisons. It proved to be an advantage that the Golden Bears would not relinquish as they ground out the victory to remain unbeaten on the season.
 
CSP is back in action next week with matches on Monday and Thursday, both scheduled for 7 p.m.