With the recent conclusion of the North American qualifiers for worlds in Seoul, Korea, it was time to do a different twist on the old Tier List. This iteration of the Tier List will cover the relevance of champions in the recent tournament and competitive play in general. The positions and ranks each hero achieves are based solely on my experience and opinion, and that’s why Krul is probably at the top.

Getting There

15 (+0) SAW didn’t see much play in the tournament, but there’s a reason for that. Having played hundreds of SAW games, and still being undefeated in 1v1 tournaments as him (just ask Doogen or edis or Nsmiles) I tried to play him in practice with Horizon. It did not work. It did made me miss the good ol’ low elo days with SAW when he was decent.

14 (+0) Skaarf is still bad. He didn’t see any success in the tournament. His numbers are still wonky, and with skipper being MIA it’s hard to see anyone excel on the flying hot dog. I don’t expect to see SAW and Skaarf continue to dwindle at the bottom of the food chain based on SEMC’s track record of buffing the underdog.

Not bad

13 (+0) Petal can’t compete as a crystal carry and doesn’t have anything but range going for her in the weapon category. Too slow, too squishy, she gets eaten alive with her pathetic attack speed by every other ranged weapon carry.

12 (-6) I can’t remember seeing a single Ringo game, and when I did see him in practices and scrims in preparation for the tournament people frequently built Tension Bow on him and ruined a perfectly good opportunity to have high sustained damage! What a noob trap! Why do people do that? No wonder he didn’t score any W’s.

Decent-ish

11 (+0) Ardan saw play in a few games, and he was able to be an impact in a some key games. However, he lacks reliable crowd control and damage, which other supports are providing fairly easily. If he’s not locking down a target, killing someone, or distracting the enemy carry, then what is he doing?

10 (+0) Gabevizzle gave Adagio new breath by playing him in the finals of the NA qualifier tournament. Despite the loss in the first game of the finals, his ability to bounce back was a key factor in establishing Adagio as a strong pick in the support role.

Pretty Good

9 (-4) Catherine was a surprisingly strong pick in the tournament. In the situations where a support player wasn’t comfortable on Adagio and Fortress was banned, Catherine was able to step up. In our scrims and practices with Catherine she was a powerhouse, enabling farmed carries to delete a stun-locked target.

8 (-7) Joule had a terrible tournament. The solo queue power of Joule doesn’t translate directly over to competitive play, as players were either able to play around the troublesome laser, or were moved out of the way by Glaive Afterburns. Whoops.

The Hotness

7 (-3) I didn’t get to see a lot of Krul in the tournament, but his win rate was quite impressive. I know Gibbs and I both experienced some levels of success with the undead life-stealing warrior. If nothing else, it was fun getting a reaction from the spectators when they got to see a lane Krul in competitive play.

6 (+2) I was unpleasantly reminded how strong Koshka’s early power spike is. Her ability to sprint across the map and dish out rude amounts of damage was showcased again and again in matches. She was an ample replacement as jungle carry when Taka was banned.

Simply Amazing

5 (+7) I was definitely surprised by Glaive’s performance in the highest levels of competitive play. I have a blind dog, and he couldn’t do half the stuff that Glaive was able to pull off. CullTheMeek made a name for himself as BestCelesteEU BestGlaiveNA with some clutch plays in team fights.

4 (-2) Probably the most impactful performances for Celeste were from the Pink Unicorn Brigade. Their ability to abuse lane Celeste to control every aspect of the map was paramount in their ability to clean up games.

Pinnacle of Awesome

3 (+6) Who let this dog out? Almost no one. He was banned CONSTANTLY, because he was the first piece to what came to be named “The OP Comp”. While most supports fall off as the game progresses, Fortress is able to stay relevant with percentage health damage, a built-in War Horn, and global scouting. His aggression starts at level one, and there’s a reason he was double banned in the finals.

2 (+5) Vision was a major concern for teams in the tournament. Once a team picked Taka, the amount of money invested in vision increased dramatically. In most situations, Taka was simply a decoy so that the lane carry could dish out real damage, but if left unattended, Taka proved extremely potent in team fights with his immense sustained damage, slipperiness, and excessive lifesteal.

Vainglorious

1 (+2) The keystone of “The OP Comp”, Vox earned himself a ban in the finals, and was easily the most popular pick or ban in the entire tournament. On Horizon, we frequently ran him as a jungler, but his real dominance was in the lane. In order to beat Vox in lane you need to catch him when his Sonic Zoom is down, which is never.