World Elo Ratings

1 Ballistix Gaming 1858 2 KSV Black 1843 3 Team Dignitas 1789 4 Tempest 1751 5 Zealots 1730 6 Fnatic 1614 7 Team BlossoM 1611 8 Tempo Storm 1603 9 Super Perfect Team 1596 10 Method 1565 11 Team Twelve 1541 12 Team Liquid 1502 13 Heroes Hearth 1479 14 ce 1479 15 The One 1473 16 Beyond the Game 1472 17 Tricked Esports 1468 18 Miracle 1437 19 Gale Force Esports 1435 20 Good Luck 1430 21 Team Feliz 1411 22 Leftovers 1407 23 Sunny Lion 1404 24 Simplicity 1394 25 Team Freedom 1392 Oceania 1391 Taiwan 1389 26 Diamond Skin 1386 27 Start Over Again 1380 28 No Tomorrow 1371 Southeast Asia 1354 29 Team Ace 1323 30 LFM Esports 1320 31 TimeFlow 1318 Latin America 1299 32 RPG 1266

North America

Team Elo Match

W-L Map +/- 3-[0,1,2] Brawl%

(autobid) Crucible% Tempo Storm 1603 6-1 +12 [2,3,1] 88.9% < 0.1% Team Twelve 1541 5-2 +8 [1,2,1] 11.0% < 0.1% Team Freedom 1392 5-2 +7 [1,3,1] < 0.1% 0.3% HeroesHearth Esports 1479 4-3 +2 [1,2,1] 0.3% 0.2% Gale Force Esports 1435 3-4 -2 [1,1,1] < 0.1% 4.0% Simplicity 1394 2-5 -5 [1,1,0] < 0.1% 33.0% No Tomorrow 1371 2-5 -9 [0,2,0] < 0.1% 65.3% LFM Esports 1320 1-6 -13 [0,0,1] < 0.1% 97.1%

What to watch in Week 6:

We're back for the second half of 2018 Phase 1. Following the clashes, Europe and Korea secured additional slots for their regions at the Mid Season Brawl. While NA showed improvement, they still find themselves trailing behind Europe, while Korea dominated the Eastern Clash, finishing 1,2,3, and 4.Just a note on Elo ratings: The Eastern Clashes count for more than regular season games. This is so the regional averages are accurate to their performance. As a result of the clashes, however, teams that perform well tend to be slightly inflated, while teams that exit early tend to go down sharply. This is especially visible in the Western Clash, where Method and Team Freedom each left after just 2 matches. Team Freedom specifically dropped down into the high 1300 range, typically reserved for teams that wouldn't make international play. So just take each rating on a team in the clashes with some grain of salt.North America has become Tempo Storm's to lose. Tempo led the North American resurgence at Western Clash, as they beat Zealots and Fnatic out of the gate. Unfortunately, Sunday was unkind to Tempo as they went 1-6 on maps losing to Dignitas then Zealots. Meanwhile, Team Twelve continued to improve, beating Method 2-0 before losing to eventual runners up Zealots.Team Freedom enters the phase in something of a funk, stumbling down the stretch of Phase 1 with losses to No Tomorrow and Team Twelve, before a quick exit going 0-4 against Fnatic and Zealots in Katowice.HeroesHearth has continued to improve week after week, but will need a strong phase if they plan to claim one of North America's only 2 slots at MSB. Gale Force Esports entered the Clash break wondering what could have been, as an upset loss to LFM Esports (LFM's only match win of the phase) kept them out of Katowice.Simplicity unfortunately had to part ways with Erho following a suspension. While at times Simplicity looked above average in NA, they ultimately failed to close out series, and find themselves just above Crucible range. With the sudden vacancy, it's going to take work to stay above Crucible range.No Tomorrow parted ways with their sponsor Spacestation Gaming. No Tomorrow could occasionally show flashes of brilliance, including a 3-1 dismantling of Team Freedom late in the split, where they abused early game pressure to secure fast wins. However, outside of their wins over Freedom and LFM, No Tomorrow finished the season at 2-15 on maps. They must find a way to consistently get value in the early game to escape the Crucible.Finally, LFM Esports finds themselves in last place, with their sole win being over Gale Force Esports. LFM has played better than Even In Death, the team they were compared to after getting thrusted into HGC off the dissolution of Lag Force. However, LFM has taken maps off HeroesHearth, Tempo Storm, and No Tomorrow to go with their win over Gale Force Esports. If they used the mid-phase break well, this could be a dangerous out in the second split.

Team Freedom vs. No Tomorrow - No Tomorrow had a huge upset over Team Freedom late in the first split, winning off significant early game pressure. Team Freedom, meanwhile, is looking to recover after a bad run. Has Team Freedom figured out how to attack the pressure from No Tomorrow?



Team Freedom vs. Team Twelve - Team Freedom can't dwell too much on No Tomorrow, as they have to turn around and play Team Twelve the next day. Team Twelve seems to have found a rhythm, as they continued to improve including snagging one of NA's victories over EU at the Clash. This match definitely has autobid implications, as the winner will look to challenge Tempo Storm



HeroesHearth vs. Gale Force Esports - Gale Force and HeroesHearth went down the stretch fighting for the last tickets to Poland late in the first split. Both teams likely aren't in contention for the autobid to the Mid-Season Brawl, but will be fighting to improve their seeding in the playoff for the last slot. Don't be surprised if these two play again in that playoff, but in the meantime this could be a very interesting match-up.



Europe

Team Elo Match

W-L Map +/- 3-[0,1,2] Brawl%

(autobid) Crucible% Team Dignitas 1789 6-1 +15 [5,1,0] 99.8% < 0.1% Fnatic 1614 5-2 +9 [3,2,0] 40.8% < 0.1% Method 1565 5-2 +8 [3,2,0] 14.0% < 0.1% Zealots 1730 4-3 0 [0,2,2] 45.5% < 0.1% Team Liquid 1502 3-4 -3 [1,1,1] < 0.1% 1.4% Tricked Esport 1468 3-4 -3 [1,2,0] < 0.1% 3.3% Diamond Skin 1386 1-6 -13 [0,0,1] < 0.1% 98.3% Leftovers 1407 1-6 -13 [1,0,0] < 0.1% 97.0%

What to watch in week 6:

Dignitas eked out a victory over Zealots in a fantastic Eastern Clash. After not being challenged much of the season in Europe, Zealots has emerged as a legitimate threat. Zealots improved extremely fast. Zealots went from less than 5% odds to make the Clash, to almost winning it. While Zealots is still 4th in the standings, they are a legitimate threat to steal one of Europe's 2 automatic bids to the Mid-Season Brawl.Fnatic and Method looked strong in the first half of the phase, but both are likely disappointed with their performance in Katowice; Method is likely the more disappointed after finishing 7th-8th including losses to Team Twelve and HeroesHearth. Fnatic, meanwhile, went a combined 6-4 against NA teams, but failed to take a single map off Zealots, their only EU opponent.Meanwhile, Team Liquid and Tricked esport both showed they can pull upsets in the first half of the phase, but lacked consistency, most especially Liquid who lost to Diamond Skin in the first split.Finally, we get to Diamond Skin and Leftovers. While Diamond Skin at times showed a killer instinct, the team seemed simply too fresh to close out series. Diamond Skin now finds themselves once again in position to head to a Crucible. Leftovers, meanwhile, had an inauspicious start to 2018, going 0-15 over their first 5 matches. However, they closed out the split by taking maps off Method and Zealots, before dismantling Diamond Skin 3-0. Leftovers is still very unlikely to avoid the Crucible, but progress is being made.

Dignitas vs. Fnatic - Fnatic unfortunately struggled due to Quacknix's illness in Katowice. However, with Quacknix back, this is going to be a pretty clear indicator of how competitive Fnatic can be after a disappointing first split. Has the roster gelled enough to challenge the top team in EU?



Diamond Skin vs. Tricked - This is likely a must-win game for Diamond Skin to escape the Crucible. Tricked, meanwhile, could almost assure safety by winning this one.

Korea

Team Elo Match

W-L Map +/- 3-[0,1,2] Brawl%

(autobid) Crucible% Tempest 1751 7-0 +19 [5,2,0] 86.5% < 0.1% Ballistix 1858 6-1 +15 [5,1,0] 89.3% < 0.1% KSV Black 1843 5-2 +9 [4,1,0] 25.3% < 0.1% Team BlossoM 1611 4-3 -1 [0,2,2] < 0.1% < 0.1% Good Luck 1430 3-4 -3 [0,1,2] < 0.1% 9.1% Miracle 1437 2-5 -7 [1,1,0] < 0.1% 17.4% Team Feliz 1411 1-6 -10 [0,1,0] < 0.1% 73.5% Team Ace 1323 0-7 -18 [0,0,0] < 0.1% 99.8%

What to watch in week 6:

While Tempest dominated the first split in Korea, it was Ballistix that won the Eastern Clash over rival KSV Black, with Tempest once again finishing 3rd place. However, the first split showed that while Korea is still run by the big 3, the pecking order among those 3 is still up for grabs. Tempest has the inside lane to take one of Korea's two autobids to the Mid-Season Brawl, while KSV Black faces an uphill battle, being behind in matches, game margin, head-to-head, and 3-0 victories.In phase 1 of 2017, Team BlossoM found themselves in the Crucible, defending their spot in HGC. That seems long ago, as BlossoM has consistently improved, slowly climbing the ladder of HGC Korea. While they are still a clear 4th place, and haven't challenged Korea's Big 3, they can easily position themselves to steal a bid to the Mid Season Brawl off an upset win in the playoff ladder. Keep an eye on this team late in the season.As much as BlossoM has improved, Miracle has fallen off. Many believed when HGC started that then MVP Miracle was a strong contender in Korea, given their history at GCWC. However, Miracle never lived up to that hype, and now find themselves just above Feliz and Ace in the Crucible. Good luck, often shorted to Gluck, even beat them in the regular season, climbing up to 5th place. Gluck also took BlossoM to 5 games, and has easily been the best new team in Korea.Feliz and Ace bring up the rear. Feliz has managed to snag maps here and their, while Team Ace has simply not impacted Korea yet. Feliz will need to pull some upsets to climb out of the Crucible, while Ace will need a miracle. Specifically, Miracle to lose a lot and take their place.

Tempest vs. Ballistix - Tempest won the regular season, while Ballistix won at the Clash. Winner of this match will almost certainly lock up one of Korea's two autobids to Mid Season Brawl.