With so many games played in the hunt for one of two BlizzCon spots, it was difficult to whittle down the options, but we've selected just a few moments that help tell the story of the Americas Championship.

It's a collection of plays that evoke the hype, triumphs and failures of the event. Ranked from last to best, here are our top eight plays of the tournament.

8. Sonya enters The Void

Chosen more for the moment itself than its importance in the course of the game, the decision by Relics to set up a two-hero Sonya Leap with a Void Prison certainly took the casters by surprise.

Though the play resulted in only one kill, it was an exciting and unique moment in the tournament, and came from a team that the North American audience hadn't seen too much in competitive play. compLexity ultimately took the series 2-0, eliminating Relics from the competition.

7. Cattle gets bushwhacked

An exciting play from a close 1-1 series, this clip sees COGnitive basically kill Ben "cattlepillar" Bunk twice as Alexei "Blinks" Bazhenov pulls him out of the fire — only to have Mike "Glaurung" Fisk's Kerrigan pull him right back in.

Also of note is the fact that compLexity gets their heroic abilities right as the fight starts, and Philip "Jaximus" Carter uses his Void Prison immediately to give cattlepillar a chance to escape while dueling Jaina in the backline.

The day 1 series between these two teams was close and hard-fought — definitely worth a watch after the fact.

6. Tempo brings back the Old School dunkcleave

The decision by Tempo Storm to grab both Zeratul (a no-brainer) and Azmodan (somewhat less common) together in their series against compLexity was a throwback to the beginning of the so-called Age of Zeratul.

The idea was that Azmodan, using Thirst for Blood to stack passive damage on his Globe of Annihilation, could soften up the enemy's backline — allowing Zeratul to move in and clean up.

Tempo was one of the most dangerous practitioners of this style, and Taylor "Arthelon" Eder remains one of the best Azmodan players in North America, while Chris "Zuna" Buechter has shown his aptitude with Zeratul.

The style doesn't see much play today, mostly because Zeratul is almost always picked or banned. But Tempo executed it perfectly. The burst damage was too much, and Blinks had two allies killed while trying to cast his Ancestral Healing.

In this clip we see the power of Void Prison: both for setting up Azmodan's Globe, but also to allow the team to back up and deal with Anub'arak's Cocoon.

5. Glaurung goes ham

It's the kind of play that can be summed up with one word: "worth."

Glaurung is an aggressive melee assassin player, but he took that reputation to a whole new level as he relentlessly pursued the members of Relics over their wall, past their keep, and into their base.

Jeffrey "Iakona" Dolan, COGnitive's support player, almost joined Glaurung on the other side of the keep wall as he phase-shifted in moments before Illidan flipped over the wall. The shield granted by that move is a big part of what lets Glaurung hunt down the fleeing members of Relics despite the fact that his team remained on the safe side of the wall. iakona eventually Blink Healed over the wall, but rejoined his team shortly thereafter.

The play resulted in four heroes down for Relics, as the Punisher was allowed to continue its assault unperturbed.

4. Divine Shield can't stop Entomb

Divine Shield is a very powerful ability, and a big part of the reason that Uther is one of the most sought-after support heroes in the game.

The invulnerability and movement speed that it grants can mean the difference between losing a teamfight horribly or winning it handily.

But none of that matters if you're stuck in Leoric's house of horrors: as Zuna, on The Butcher, found himself at the end of game one of the Americas Championship final.

The result? Zuna eventually escaped, but his Furnace Blast only hit John "KingCaffeine" Lopez's Leoric.

Cloud9 turned the fight around as a result, going on to win the first game of the best-of-five series.

3. COGnitive stands their ground

The area around the boss, commonly known in the competitive community as the "throw pit," has seen its fair share of heartbreak. Here, COGnitive adds one more chapter to a legacy of pain.

Arriving late to the scene, COGnitive relied on Leoric's incredible sustain and durability to stand on the point and prevented compLexity from claiming the boss. Things got off to a very rough start as they lost Glaurung's Butcher immediately. But COG ultimately outlasted their opponents, claimed the boss, and marched to victory.

Support players should take note of iakona's positioning here: he was close enough to heal his allies with Brightwing's passive, he added autoattacks constantly, and he polymorphed Thrall right as the fight started in earnest, reducing compLexity's burst damage substantially. Not only that, but he saved Donald "Scylol" Dobbin with a well-timed Phase Shield right near the end of the sequence.

Not bad for a player that sat on Stellar Lotus's bench for a month, huh?

2. The Maw that shocked a nation

Maybe that's overly dramatic, and this play didn't immediately end the game, but Kun "iDream" Fang basically ruined all chances of Tempo Storm getting back into the game by killing Wade "Dreadnaught" Penfold and stealing all 15 of his doubloons.

On Blackheart's Bay, the doubloons represent structural damage. But at the end of the game, there is often a fair amount of player-inflicted damage in each lane. A doubloon turn-in after even a small team-fight victory can turn the tide.

iDream didn't give Tempo Storm that option. He used his Bolt of the Storm to close the gap and dropped Zagara's Devouring Maw on top of Dreadnaught. Keiwan "k1pro" Itakura followed up with Tyrande's Lunar Flare to keep him stunned. Even though Dread managed to get Ancestral Healing on himself, it's not enough. He falls, and his riches go over to the accounts of Cloud9.

1. Take the long way home

KingCaffeine is often considered the strongest warrior player in North America, and this play makes it easy to see why. He makes a snap call to block Zuna out with Entomb, forcing The Butcher's Relentless Onslaught to path away from his squishy backline and right into his welcoming skeletal arms.

The Butcher's Furnace Blast connects only with Caffeine, who is only too pleased to show The Butcher why he lives in Leoric's basement.

It was truly refreshing that Entomb got some use. It was a good pick against this composition in any case, but KingCaffeine brought it to a whole other level.

Josh Bury can't leap as high as Sonya, but he still likes to feel the wind in his hair. You can follow him on Twitter.