Tempo Storm beats Team Twelve, 3-2

Team Freedom beats HeroesHearth Esports, 3-1

LFM Esports beats Gale Force Esports, 3-2

HeroesHearth Esports beats SpaceStation Gaming, 3-0

Team Twelve beats Simplicity, 3-1

Team Freedom beats Tempo Storm, 3-2





NA Power Rankings - Week 2

NA Power Rankings - Week 3

The Predictions

Hopefully we don't just see Cho'gall once this year in HGC....This weekend featured quality matchups, upsets, and a lot of wild drafting. With that said, lets get straight into recapping just what happened.I talked about spicy drafting in this series, and we got it. I'm not talking about psalm on Hanzo, or Glaurung on Zeratul; we know they're capable of perfection on those picks. I'm referring to the nasty Ragnaros Molten Core flank by Glau game 3 that got TS back in it, and the great usage of Medivh game 5 by psalm. I was pleasantly surprised how effective Auriel was in game 3, the pick did a great job at shutting down any potential blowup, shutting down TT's initial engage and winning them late game. Speaking of late game, TS drafted magnificently game 5 with Alexstrasza (whom I've dubbed the Nazeebo of supports), and Ragnaros. Turns out having additional heroics as traits are super effective in winning the shrine. I have to say, that last objective fight was the most intense battle I think I've ever seen in HGC; it came down to one or two skeletal defenders. Overall, well earned by Tempo. They were the better team, and it was superior drafting that gave them the edge.I got off work, ran to grab dinner (which was a chicken parm sub, my favorite meal), and arrived to the scene towards the end of game 2. Fortunate for me, because apparently the opening game was a complete stomp. Game 2 was a great bounce back for TT, with Kure's Lunara elegance and daneski's Li-Ming prowess. Game 4 was similar in how dominant TT was, as they appeared night and day in this series. In Towers of Doom, they were able to control the bot lane sappers masterfully with the classic Diablo/Medivh combo. We saw Lightning Breath here, which I felt was fine... Until we saw it again in game 5. This is where I get a little lost. I thought for sure Diablo last pick was an answer for Alexstrasza. She puts her circle down, and then Diablo PUTS DOWN FIVE with Apocalypse. I believe Justing's thought process was that against Medivh, they could all just portal out. But who knows for sure? Aside from the first game, the games TT lost were extremely close throughout; they just couldn't get over the late game hurdles. With all that said, they won't forget this series for a long, long time...Team Freedom banned Volskaya, the quickest heartbreak I could face before this series even started. Why? Well, no Volskaya meant no Azmodan. It was hard to watch...Anyways, game 1 summed up this series best for HHE: being able to play against TF (incredibly well at that), but falling short each time. Sky Temple was overall smooth sailing for HHE until late game. When McIntyre split from the team to create pressure bot lane, TF didn't worry about it. Instead, it created an odd situation over the temple phase, leading to BBJ's death, and a lead that TF wouldn't relinquish from that moment onward. Game 2 was the only exception for HHE. I loved seeing McIntyre's Sonya just take over the late game the way he did; I was definitely caught off-guard by that. Unfortunately for HHE, they wouldn't be able to reciprocate that spectacle. McIntyre on Genji didn't look so hot in game 3's Infernal Shrines (notice the McIntyre theme), and a lot of what came out of this developing team looked too forced. Come game 4, HHE's composition was too laid back, drafting double support without any way of capturing camps on Towers of Doom.TF outplayed HHE when they needed to and were able to do so with their competitive experience. Moments that appeared difficult for TF were overcome with ease. I think about the end of Sky Temple, battles around the objective in Infernal Shrines, and how they overpowered HHE on Towers of Doom; they didn't flinch for a moment. Soon enough HHE will get into the win column should they continue to perform the way they did this series.Final random thoughts: I still want to see more from Arthelon. This series was severely impacted by what McIntyre did (to conclude on that theme). Felt like everyone on TF played admirably, a few hiccups by Lutano (thinking about game 2 with that Genji dive).Let's hope this dreadful performance was a blip on the radar, otherwise we might be getting that trip to the Crucible. Back to back to back, I'm sure this was what GFE fans wanted to hear. I'll admit, that was hilarious, but not so much now after dropping a series against what was considered the weakest team in the league. There were good moments for GFE, but the bad heavily outweighed them. Watching the first few minutes of Cursed Hollow game 1 they looked fine. Suddenly, all hell breaks loose, and from that point onward, GFE became horrendously inconsistent. It looked like communication had all been lost the way people were behaving, a huge turn from what they were like a week before. Lava Wave I had no issue with, but Last Rites? I'd say the series was summed up by the last hurrah attempted on Infernal Shrines. Like flies into a bug zapper, they attempted a 5v5 by LFM's core once the punisher took down the keep. It appeared wise, but boy did it collapse in seconds. Learn from this GFE, and move on quickly.Congratulations to LFM on their first win! They must be feeling great to get that out of the way early. No need to ask if they can play with the top dogs now, they showed it. They still made some rookie mistakes along the way, but their effort outshined those moments. You could see their play had more cohesion this time around, and their individual strengths were pulling through. Tea on Li-Ming is just too good to pass up, Figgy was setting up the CC train with E.T.C. and Anub'arak, Swabs was landing the Entombs and Isolations (that juicy one in game 5 was beautiful). The plays were significantly cleaner in week 2 from LFM. Going forward, the key will be to keeping that winning recipe intact. If they can do so, this team will shake up the NA scene if they haven't done so already. Job well done boys.Third time's a charm as they say, as HeroesHearth Esports roars into a 3-0 sweep in their third matchup. Congratulations! Just like with LFM, they can assure themselves they're doing well. Difference is, I'd say HHE is doing extremely well. They looked strong against Team Freedom the day before, and even stronger against SSG. We know psalm is a beast with Hanzo, but Khroen is right there with him. Seeing that Genji get sniped game 1 early on was amazing. The drafting has gotten better and better for HHE, they're starting to show they can utilize whichever hero necessary to get the job done. Game 2 I thought for sure Junkrat was drafted to mine Alexstrasza's circles, but I don't know if I saw that happen. I mention this specifically because Tempo Storm did it to HHE the week prior, and it was filthy. Other than that, there's not much to say. SSG got handled. Rest of the league is put on notice, HHE has shown up to win.SSG needs to switch roles around now before it's too late. They just don't look good right now with their current setup, and I don't see it getting better anytime soon with how strong the NA scene has become. I'd sum up their efforts this weekend with what happened in game 3, when Equinox threw Uther into Jschritte, killing his teammate in the process. I actually lol'd, it was that bad. SSG has a good squad of players, but as of right now, it's just not working.What an interesting series for Team Twelve. Sure, they won, but there were a few moments in which I felt like they were capable of losing this matchup. Game 1 I had no concern for TT, they managed the map and avoided any real fights with Simplicity. Game 2, Simplicity beats TT to level 10, and then to first turn on Tomb of the Spider Queen. After that, Simplicity would never let go of their lead, tying up the series. Game 3 showed a more aggressive approach by TT, which didn't look good early on. Kure on Tyrael probably wasn't the best idea, but would pay off late game. If daneski didn't pop off when he did on Li-Ming as the immortal threatened their keep, I don't know if TT wins that game as they looked awfully shaky. Same goes for the last game on Towers of Doom. Simplicity a lot of the series were able to take it to TT. There were some moments I felt Justing didn't look comfortable at all, especially when he got caught late on ToD. Ultimately erho getting caught attempting to take top camp would be the final straw, but jee whiz. Give Simplicity credit, they played strong, stronger than TT anticipated.I did say, if Team Freedom were to beat Tempo they'd do it in five, and guess what. BAM! TF pulls off what some may consider an upset. I don't buy into that though, give credit where credit is due. They've been doing great things for awhile now, and I do believe now there's no question about their legitimacy. In this series I liked their drafts much better (I've got a lot to says on drafts), and felt they were always on par with what Tempo was doing excluding game 1. Game 5 was TF's strongest showing, as they managed to collect themselves after a disappointing game 4 in which they were winning for the majority of the game. What looked like an early lead for TS turned into TF's favor, as a well-timed Tass shield saved Ragnaros and netted two kills. Like TT against Simplicity, once TF got the turned in their gems on Tomb, it was too difficult for TS to overcome. So, let's talk about Tempo Storm.So about those drafts TS. They killed it game 1, made it so zugrug could never step up without getting punished. Game 2 I felt Cho'gall was a fantastic pick. Absolutely loved it. Only problem is it looked like they never practiced playing him. What was that build? Looked like Glaurung got the bomb quest at 4 and the clearly wrong talent mixed up. Runic Persistence? What the. You would think after the wild draft failed they'd go back to what they know best. Then you get game 3, pairing Abathur and Medivh. That doesn't work either. Game 4, Glau on Zeratul and psalm on Hanzo. Win. I could only imagine how this series would of went if TS didn't treat those games so ridiculously. Just didn't feel like they took TF as seriously as they did Team Twelve.1. Team Twelve, 1-02. Tempo Storm, 1-03. Team Freedom, 1-04. Gale Force Esports, 1-15. Simplicity, 1-16. HeroesHearth Esports, 0-17. SpaceStation Gaming, 1-18. LFM Esports, 0-21. Team Freedom, 3-02. Tempo Storm, 2-13. Team Twelve, 2-14. HeroesHearth Esports, 1-25. Simplicity, 1-26. LFM Esports, 1-27. Gale Force Esports, 1-28. SpaceStation Gaming, 1-2Every team shifted except for Tempo. After everyone's performance week 2, I feel this is the most appropriate placing. GFE could be switched with LFM, and Simplicity potentially could be swapped with HHE. All these teams are capable of climbing in the rankings; on any given weekend it could happen.This week around I'm going to try to be brief with these forecasts, just a quick little rundown. Here we go.Was that too quick? That's about as brief as I can get. Potential for Simplicity to upset Tempo, but other than that it's going to be a more predictable weekend (I say that now). Thanks for the read, and have a great day!