#1 - Tempest (KR)

Current HGC Ranking (KR): 1st

Last Week's Ranking: #1

Current HGC Record: 6-0

Current Map Score: 18-2 (+16)

Number of 3-0/3-1 Series: 4/2

The Tempest steamroll of the Korea scene continued on as forecasted in Week #4. So far for Tempest the only strange mark on their record is the single map loss to Feliz. A map loss to Ballistix is nothing to worry about and Tempest is poised to storm into Eastern Clash as the now confirmed #1 seed.

It's hard to pick any standout players or moments for Tempest this week since the games were one sided, but I think in particular Tempest has currently the best team fighting and skirmishing in the world. They can win in impossible situations and are scary to face on forced fight maps like Cursed Hollow and Infernal Shrines. Now what needs to be seen is if they can keep up with the macro machines that are Dignitas and Ballistix the rest of the season, it seems like any other team will lose off team fights alone.

#2 - Dignitas (EU)

Current HGC Ranking (EU): 1st

Last Week's Ranking: #3

Current HGC Record: 6-0

Current Map Score: 18-1 (+17)

Number of 3-0/3-1 Series: 5/1

Dignitas is just fantastic this season. While they suffered their first map loss this week to Team Liquid they stormed back steamrolling the rest of the series and then pummeling poor Fnatic into oblivion. The real crime of this phase is that Dignitas will not be competing at the Eastern Clash. Their victory over the Western Clash is not done but looks to be as close to as a lock as possible. Anything can happen, but for Dignitas anything but first at the Western Clash will be a disappointment.

Right now there's a very real possibility Dignitas is the #1 team in the world, but with the deeper competition locked away in Korea we have no way to know until Mid-Season Brawl really how deep the rabbit hole goes....

#3 - Ballistix (KR)

Current HGC Ranking (KR): 2nd

Last Week's Ranking: #4

Current HGC Record: 5-1

Current Map Score: 16-4 (+12)

Number of 3-0/3-1 Series: 4/1

Ballistix is back baby! What a week for this team. They entered the week with A LOT of scenarios where they could maybe miss Eastern Clash (none of them likely) but were able to take their fate into their own hands by beating Miracle 3-0 and KSV Black 3-1. They looked impressive vs KSV Black, with the only map loss coming by the way of a Samuro cheese with Rich at the helm. It was well executed, and led to one of the biggest macro breakdowns I have seen out of Ballistix since the Blizzcon Semifinals vs Fnatic Game 3. Outside of that however they looked dominant and KSV did not seem like they were on the same level.

Ballistix is now locked in for the Eastern Clash as Korea #2 seed and has a puffball match vs Gluck next week. They will be coming in riding a nice win streak and should be considered the #2 favorite at the Eastern Clash. Hooligan may have underperformed last week, but oh did he ever make up for it this week. He made major plays and brought out one of the sickest tour bus mosh pit plays ever seen in HGC. This young player has a very bright future ahead of him, and seems to be a true breakout star for Ballistix.

#4 - KSV Black (KR)

Current HGC Ranking (KR): 3rd

Last Week's Ranking: #3

Current HGC Record: 4-2

Current Map Score: 13-7 (+6)

Number of 3-0/3-1 Series: 3/1

Not a strong week for KSV Black. While they were basically locked into Eastern Clash, their match vs Ballistix is always a classic, and they fell flat. While their Samuro/Abathur comp in game two was cute, they just didn't look competitive vs Ballistix the rest of the series. They played sloppy, had slow rotations, and really just were not the KSV Black we have come to know and love. While I want to give them the benefit of the doubt and saying they may have been sandbagging for Eastern Clash, the Samuro comp seems like something you would hold onto for that event if that was the plan.

For the first time in a long long time there's a real question now if KSV is a true S Tier team that only loses to other S Tier teams, or maybe have they fallen to "only" a Tier 1 team? They have dropped maps to Blossom and have just looked uncompetitive vs Tempest and Ballistix. Motivation always seems to be an issue with teams that just win Blizzcon, and one can't help but wonder if the bug has bit KSV Black?

#5 - Tempo Storm (NA)

Current HGC Ranking (NA): 1st

Last Week's Ranking: #7

Current HGC Record: 5-1

Current Map Score: 17-8 (+9)

Number of 3-0/3-1 Series: 1/3

Full Disclosure: I did not watch Tempo's series this week. I was driving and listened in to it on audio only mode in my car, but I didn't physically see the actual games.

Tempo is now the first NA team to lock a slot into the Western Clash and they did it in a expected manner by beating LFM 3-1. The 1 loss again stands out to me. Tempo just keeps having these one off losses to teams I would not expect to even tread water vs them, and it's something that might get exposed on the international stage. Lose the first game vs Dig in a BO3 because you ran triple melee assassin and you could have lost your one opportunity to strike first blood vs them.

Tempo however looks like they will be a strong competitor at the Western Clash and Glaurung almost always turns up his play a notch at LAN's. I would not be surprised to see Tempo walk away Top 2, and could even see a route they win it all. However they still seem just a step off, and they need to clean up their series and drop less maps.

#6 - Fnatic (EU)

Current HGC Ranking (EU): 2nd

Last Week's Ranking: #5

Current HGC Record: 4-2

Current Map Score: 14-8 (+6)

Number of 3-0/3-1 Series: 2/2

Fnatic vs DIG is normally a epic series of back and forth games that highlights the best EU Heroes has to offer. This week however Fnatic basically just rolled over and died to Dignitas. Which is both a testament to how good Dignitas is, and also now highlights the very real possibility that Fnatic may not be an S Tier team anymore.

EDIT: After talking to one of the Fnatic players I was made aware they did not switch shot callers this week. I will leave the next paragraph in as it more or less still stands. Fnatic got wrecked.

While a loss in performance is expected as they switched shot callers, the gap that was seen in those games were surprising to even Snitch, who was amazed post series how hard they had beat Fnatic. At this point, I don't know that Fnatic beats Tempo Storm or even Team Twelve/Team Freedom. They are locked into Western Clash but they have a long road ahead of them. They need to use their limited time before the event wisely and shore up the shot calling and sync issues that have been hitting them all season long.

#7 - Method (EU)

Current HGC Ranking (EU): 3rd

Last Week's Ranking: #8

Current HGC Record: 4-2

Current Map Score: 13-7 (+6)

Number of 3-0/3-1 Series: 3/1

Method has had a quick ascent to the #7 slot they are in now. They haven't had insane upsets, and outside of the Team Liquid victory, the season has been quiet for them. They are now locked into the Western Clash and I think will be one of the teams to watch at the event. While they may struggle, they have a massive potential to make a miracle run and upset some big names on a big stage.

Credit to scHwimpi who has been playing out of his mind good all season. You are always reminded this is a guy that's been to the top and it was earned, not any luck of getting carried, he's just simply a terrific player.

#8 - Team Twelve (NA)

Current HGC Ranking (NA): 2nd

Last Week's Ranking: Unranked

Current HGC Record: 4-2

Current Map Score: 15-10 (+5)

Number of 3-0/3-1 Series: 1/2

This week was a blessing for Team Twelve. Not only did they beat Freedom and Heroes Hearth lost to GFE, Freedom also lost to Spacestation Gaming. Last week the Western Clash odds for Twelve were looking grim, and now suddenly they are in situation where they can not only go, but very well may go to the Western Clash as the #2 seed from NA. All they need to do is close out a series vs Spacestation next week and they are on their way to Katowice.

It's not often in competition this level you get thrown a life jacket, Team Twelve needs to take this opportunity and run with it. All focus will be on Justing leading his team through a crucial series next week, he is the backbone of the team and the one that needs to be the light in the storm.

#9 - Team Freedom (NA)

Current HGC Ranking (NA) - 3rd

Last Week's Ranking - #6

Current HGC Record - 4-2

Current Map Score - 15-10 (+5)

Number of 3-0/3-1 Series: 1/2

Week #4 was an epic disaster for Team Freedom. A 3-1 loss to Spacestation followed by a 3-2 loss to Team Twelve is bad. Like shocking bad. However they have an match vs Simplicity next week. If they win (like they should), they will go to Western Clash and have time to reset from this disaster of a week. They likely will still qualify with a loss next week, but I feel the loss of momentum and confidence will be too steep a hill to climb. They expected to be Top 3, instead they lost to the #8 team in the league. Rough.

#10 - Blossom (KR)

Current HGC Ranking (KR): 4th

Last Week's Ranking: Unranked

Current HGC Record: 4-2

Current Map Score: 13-11 (+2)

Number of 3-0/3-1 Series: 0/3

Blossom secured themselves a ticket to the Eastern Clash this week with a 3-1 victory over Gluck. Blossom has all the hallmarks of a up and coming top Korean team, but outside of Tempest/Ballistix/KSV it never actually pans out. I really hope Blossom can find the confidence and teamwork to contest the top Korean teams and be a real threat at international and global events. There is a lot of positive signs, and that map win in Week 3 vs KSV Black is still the best sign yet.

Wiz continues to be the backbone of this team and he can be the factor that leads them to the land of Tempest/Ballistix/KSV. If he can continue to keep improving and inspire his teammates he can bring them up in level to match what would be needed to compete with those teams.

NOTES:

HGC China and minor regions is not included in these rankings.

Chinese teams are plagued by visa issues for international and global events that make speculating on their strength a moot point as they often have incomplete teams for these events. Until this is resolved (see: never) they won't be included in weekly power rankings.

The minor regions are also not included. Minor regions are hard to gauge in strength as typically they have one team that is always leaps and bounds above the rest, but fails to perform at an international/global event. Taiwan seems to be the only exception, and it's typically been in situations where major regions are underperforming (see: NA 2016). These events are also pretty hard to follow and between a full time job it's hard enough keeping up on KR/NA/EU.

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