EsportsJohn Profile Blog Joined June 2012 United States 4833 Posts Last Edited: 2017-01-28 16:09:31 #1 Heroes Global Championship

Week 1 Recap By: Emperor, im a roc , and inimical





HGC Europe Brackets and schedules on Liquipedia HGC Europe Brackets and schedules on Liquipedia HGC North America Brackets and schedules on Liquipedia HGC North America Brackets and schedules on Liquipedia

The Heroes Global Championship finally launched, and it did not disappoint! Breaking over 20k concurrent viewers on Saturday and boasting more than 25 hours of gameplay, the opening weekend of HGC was nothing short of a huge success. The production value was top notch, the casters were energized and excited, and some of the best games we've seen in months were played. Of course, ten to twelve hours of esports content per day every weekend is difficult to keep up with, even for the most dedicated Heroes of the Storm fan. Don't worry, though—we've got you covered! Our weekly recaps include a summary of all the matches played and predictions for next week's matches to keep you up to date on all the action!



This week was filled with a bizarre mix of one-sided stomps and unbelievably high level full-game series worthy of consideration for "the best series of all time"—and, of course, tons of highlights for both. In Europe, Misfits cemented their position on top of the region's three giants (Misfits, Fnatic, and Dignitas), and Team expert became a real contender for one of those spots. North America saw a few cringe-worthy games, but Tempo Storm and Gale Force eSports look as strong as ever. Despite last minute roster changes for Team 8, they also look surprisingly strong and might upend the status quo.



The matches this week tried to define the metagame but were unsuccessful. Drafts were all over the place (some good, some bad), and what seemed to work splendidly for one team or region didn't work well for the next. The diversity of picks was fascinating and a positive direction for the game overall, but we're far from being able to accurately predict drafts from one game to the next. The one sure thing is that Ragnaros and Tassadar are kings right now, both sitting above a 60% win rate.



Friday, January 20

Team Dignitas [0-3] Misfits

Misfits made Ragnaros look broken on Day 1. Dignitas sported some solid rotations during the first game of the series on Towers of Doom and gained an early lead, but with Heroics hitting the field, Misfits turned things around with their wombo combo composition featuring Void Prison, Sulfuras Smash, and Ring of Frost. The first game was only a forecast of things to come. Dignitas continually refused to ban Ragnaros and allowed Misfits to play the maps the way they wanted, resulting in a quick 3-0.



Team expert [3-0] Playing Ducks (Diamond Skin)

In our Power Rankings, we pegged Team expert and Diamond Skin to be the contenders for the top spots, but the coordination and trust displayed by Team expert far surpassed that of Diamond Skin and took even the most hardcore of fans by surprise.



Medivh and the plays adrd enabled for his team defined the series. The most notable play came in the second game on Towers of Doom. Escorting a Sapper camp through bottom lane, BadBenny went for a



Tempo Storm [3-2] Team Naventic

The first two games of the series were not close. Naventic looked disorganized, giving up picks to Tempo Storm left and right and quickly falling behind in the series, but they stepped up their game and came out swinging on Battlefield of Eternity. Showing their continued confidence in Varian as a solo tank, Naventic played a well-coordinated game and capitalized on overcommitments from Tempo Storm by intelligently playing the map and securing the win. In Game Four, Tempo Storm drafted the old school Kerrigan/Uther combination on Infernal Shrines, but their risky draft didn't have the intended impact. Naventic consistently won teamfights on the Shrines and held a dominant lead throughout the game to tie up the series.



Game Five on Braxis Holdout was the peak of the series. Naventic did a wonderful job of using the durable trio of Rexxar, Johanna, and Lt. Morales to sit on the Beacon, stall the objective, and force Tempo Storm’s unorthodox Zarya/Leoric/E.T.C. composition to engage into them. Despite a clever late game boss call from Naventic, Tempo Storm was able to wrap up the series with a 3-2 victory.



Team 8 [3-0] No Tomorrow

Glaurung and Justing set the pace of this series for Team 8 with their exceptional play; Justing’s Diablo looked unkillable in all three games, and Glaurung worked miracles with Medivh on the first two maps, forcing a target ban in Game Three.



The climax of the series was Game Two on Infernal Shrines. No Tomorrow secured a convincing lead for much of the game, but Justing capitalized on every misstep from his opponents and set up kill after kill with his Diablo stun combo while Glaurung facilitated Misfits made Ragnaros look broken on Day 1. Dignitas sported some solid rotations during the first game of the series on Towers of Doom and gained an early lead, but with Heroics hitting the field, Misfits turned things around with their wombo combo composition featuring Void Prison, Sulfuras Smash, and Ring of Frost. The first game was only a forecast of things to come. Dignitas continually refused to ban Ragnaros and allowed Misfits to play the maps the way they wanted, resulting in a quick 3-0.In our Power Rankings, we pegged Team expert and Diamond Skin to be the contenders for the top spots, but the coordination and trust displayed by Team expert far surpassed that of Diamond Skin and took even the most hardcore of fans by surprise.Medivh and the plays adrd enabled for his team defined the series. The most notable play came in the second game on Towers of Doom. Escorting a Sapper camp through bottom lane, BadBenny went for a fearless Mosh Pit inside the death zone and still made it out alive. Diamond Skin finally wised up and banned Medivh in the third game, but it didn’t matter; expert took the series without a single loss.The first two games of the series were not close. Naventic looked disorganized, giving up picks to Tempo Storm left and right and quickly falling behind in the series, but they stepped up their game and came out swinging on Battlefield of Eternity. Showing their continued confidence in Varian as a solo tank, Naventic played a well-coordinated game and capitalized on overcommitments from Tempo Storm by intelligently playing the map and securing the win. In Game Four, Tempo Storm drafted the old school Kerrigan/Uther combination on Infernal Shrines, but their risky draft didn't have the intended impact. Naventic consistently won teamfights on the Shrines and held a dominant lead throughout the game to tie up the series.Game Five on Braxis Holdout was the peak of the series. Naventic did a wonderful job of using the durable trio of Rexxar, Johanna, and Lt. Morales to sit on the Beacon, stall the objective, and force Tempo Storm’s unorthodox Zarya/Leoric/E.T.C. composition to engage into them. Despite a clever late game boss call from Naventic, Tempo Storm was able to wrap up the series with a 3-2 victory.Glaurung and Justing set the pace of this series for Team 8 with their exceptional play; Justing’s Diablo looked unkillable in all three games, and Glaurung worked miracles with Medivh on the first two maps, forcing a target ban in Game Three.The climax of the series was Game Two on Infernal Shrines. No Tomorrow secured a convincing lead for much of the game, but Justing capitalized on every misstep from his opponents and set up kill after kill with his Diablo stun combo while Glaurung facilitated incredible escapes with perfectly timed shields and portals. Despite the close game, Team 8 convincingly closed out the series without dropping a map.



Saturday, January 21

beGenius [1-3] Synergy

The difference in skill between the two teams was clear by the first game. Synergy opted for an old school Illidan composition while beGenius focused more on meta picks with a pocket pick Li Li to counter Illidan, but Synergy quickly overpowered beGenius with superior play.



From there, Synergy went for a classic Void Prison/Apocalypse/Ring of Frost wombo combo in their second game, but beGenius positioned themselves beautifully and never got caught in the combo. It looked like beGenius was back in the series, but Synergy vanquished their hopes by preventing any opportunity for a comeback in the last two games and took the series in convincing fashion.



Fnatic [3-1] Tricked eSport

Fnatic was undeniably one of the best teams this weekend and used a wide variety of strategies and compositions in their games. From insane global styles to pocket pick Chromie to laser build Azmodan, Fnatic was all over their opponents with new and unexpected strategies.



Tricked nonetheless put up a surprisingly good fight despite their underdog status. Fnatic ran circles around them in the first two games with superior drafts, but Tricked fought back in the third game on Dragon Shire. Fnatic's peculiar Xul/Azmodan combo wasn't able to pick up enough steam in the early game, and Tricked was able to handily



Superstars [3-1] Team Freedom

Overall, Team Freedom did little to punish Srey for his over-aggressive positioning and gave up camps and objectives without any meaningful resistance, giving Superstars the first two games of the series almost uncontested.



It wasn’t until Game Three that Team Freedom started showing signs of life. Superstars committed to killing a single target but were repeatedly shut down by KilluZiioN’s Crystal Aegis, and Team Freedom finally started punishing overextensions. Freedom held their own in an exciting Game Four but still rarely punished Srey for engaging alone with Stage Dive. In the end, Superstars narrowly won with a shaky Core rush to close out a series that should have been much closer.



Gale Force eSports [3-2] B-Step

B-Step consistently came out on top in 5v5 fights throughout the series, but GFE demonstrated stronger decision making skills in each game, earning advantages outside of teamfights that would eventually win them the series. Although B-Step won fight after fight on Towers of Doom, GFE smartly used their global advantage to out rotate, out soak, and outplay B-Step in the macro game. However, back-to-back Artanis swaps into Mosh Pits (



It was the same story in game five. B-Step got a decisive pick on Khroen but then threw away their advantage with a hesitant boss call that gained nothing. Even after getting more kills in teamfights, B-Step executed a classic throw at the boss pit and gave the series to GFE. The difference in skill between the two teams was clear by the first game. Synergy opted for an old school Illidan composition while beGenius focused more on meta picks with a pocket pick Li Li to counter Illidan, but Synergy quickly overpowered beGenius with superior play.From there, Synergy went for a classic Void Prison/Apocalypse/Ring of Frost wombo combo in their second game, but beGenius positioned themselves beautifully and never got caught in the combo. It looked like beGenius was back in the series, but Synergy vanquished their hopes by preventing any opportunity for a comeback in the last two games and took the series in convincing fashion.Fnatic was undeniably one of the best teams this weekend and used a wide variety of strategies and compositions in their games. From insane global styles to pocket pick Chromie to laser build Azmodan, Fnatic was all over their opponents with new and unexpected strategies.Tricked nonetheless put up a surprisingly good fight despite their underdog status. Fnatic ran circles around them in the first two games with superior drafts, but Tricked fought back in the third game on Dragon Shire. Fnatic's peculiar Xul/Azmodan combo wasn't able to pick up enough steam in the early game, and Tricked was able to handily win teamfights throughout the game. Unfortunately, the comeback didn't last for long. Returning to a more standard composition, Fnatic wrecked Tricked in the final game and took the series 3-1.Overall, Team Freedom did little to punish Srey for his over-aggressive positioning and gave up camps and objectives without any meaningful resistance, giving Superstars the first two games of the series almost uncontested.It wasn’t until Game Three that Team Freedom started showing signs of life. Superstars committed to killing a single target but were repeatedly shut down by KilluZiioN’s Crystal Aegis, and Team Freedom finally started punishing overextensions. Freedom held their own in an exciting Game Four but still rarely punished Srey for engaging alone with Stage Dive. In the end, Superstars narrowly won with a shaky Core rush to close out a series that should have been much closer.B-Step consistently came out on top in 5v5 fights throughout the series, but GFE demonstrated stronger decision making skills in each game, earning advantages outside of teamfights that would eventually win them the series. Although B-Step won fight after fight on Towers of Doom, GFE smartly used their global advantage to out rotate, out soak, and outplay B-Step in the macro game. However, back-to-back Artanis swaps into Mosh Pits ( including one legendary full team Mosh Pit ) on Infernal Shrines crushed GFE in game three.It was the same story in game five. B-Step got a decisive pick on Khroen but then threw away their advantage with a hesitant boss call that gained nothing. Even after getting more kills in teamfights, B-Step executed a classic throw at the boss pit and gave the series to GFE.



Sunday, January 22

Tricked eSport [0-3] Team expert

The name of the game was rotations. Team expert was almost always ahead in rotations, which put an immense amount of pressure on their opponents and allowed them to win trades and early objectives. From there, it was easy for them to snowball the series.



Team expert punished Tricked repeatedly for even the smallest mistakes throughout. For instance, Tricked played several solid teamfights and secured level 20 first in the second game on Sky Temple, but an overextension was all it took for expert to take a good trade and end the game with boss. Simply put, Team expert played at the top of their game and dominated the series.



Misfits [3-2] Fnatic

Misfits and Fnatic played a memorable tiebreaker series at GamesCom last year to decide who would go to BlizzCon, so this series was sort of a revenge match for Misfits. Nonetheless, both teams were incredibly even throughout the entire series. This series was by far this weekend's finest, and it was an excellent way to cap off the successful launch of HGC.



Right off the bat on Tomb, Fnatic showed their prowess in Game One. Both teams played almost perfectly evenly, trading takedowns and objectives, but one mistake was all it took for Fnatic to secure boss and end the game. The next two games were back and forth as each team took turns dominating teamfights. Misfits surprised everyone by picking Nazeebo as their primary damage dealer in the fourth game on Dragon Shire, but the solid poke from the gingerbread man was



B-Step [1-3] Team 8

With the departure of Chu8, there were a lot of questions concerning the future of Team 8 in HGC. Surprisingly, B-Step wasn't much of challenge for them. B-Step's failure to adopt the Asian strategy of exploiting Glaurung’s supposedly small hero pool cost them. Instead, B-Step ended up drafting quite poorly and gave their opponents Ragnaros every game.



Team 8 won the series 3-1 though the games were fairly even. B-Step played passively and committed to questionable calls and odd engagements, but they never played downright horribly. The troubling aspect for B-Step is they weren't facing a top NA team and struggled much more than expected. After a positive weekend for Team 8, though, the only way to go is up.



Team Naventic [0-3] Gale Force eSports

Gale Force has struggled against Naventic in the past, and coupled with social media drama, this series sure wasn't going to disappoint—and for GFE fans, it didn't. Naventic simply didn't show up. GFE quickly ran up the takedown count to double digits against a seemingly powerless NVT. Equinox's Tracer single-handedly ravaged Naventic on Battlefield of Eternity, and Khroen ended up playing an excellent Muradin and silencing critics who called him a "Li-Ming one-trick".



But there are still cracks in GFE's armor. While leading 28-4 in core damage on Towers of Doom, GFE made some key misplays that spurred a miraculous comeback from Naventic. GFE managed to win a final teamfight to take the map with 3 hit points left on their Core, but Naventic's ability to take 25 core health uncontested with their backs against the wall was impressive. Unfortunately, it was too little too late for Naventic; the series went easily in their opponent's favor. As for GFE, tightening up their late game is a must if they expect to compete at the international level during the first Clash. The name of the game was rotations. Team expert was almost always ahead in rotations, which put an immense amount of pressure on their opponents and allowed them to win trades and early objectives. From there, it was easy for them to snowball the series.Team expert punished Tricked repeatedly for even the smallest mistakes throughout. For instance, Tricked played several solid teamfights and secured level 20 first in the second game on Sky Temple, but an overextension was all it took for expert to take a good trade and end the game with boss. Simply put, Team expert played at the top of their game and dominated the series.Misfits and Fnatic played a memorable tiebreaker series at GamesCom last year to decide who would go to BlizzCon, so this series was sort of a revenge match for Misfits. Nonetheless, both teams were incredibly even throughout the entire series. This series was by far this weekend's finest, and it was an excellent way to cap off the successful launch of HGC.Right off the bat on Tomb, Fnatic showed their prowess in Game One. Both teams played almost perfectly evenly, trading takedowns and objectives, but one mistake was all it took for Fnatic to secure boss and end the game. The next two games were back and forth as each team took turns dominating teamfights. Misfits surprised everyone by picking Nazeebo as their primary damage dealer in the fourth game on Dragon Shire, but the solid poke from the gingerbread man was enough to turn the tides in a long standoff around bottom Shrine and win the game. The intense series culminated in long stalemate on around the boss on Cursed Hollow, where both the skill and mental fortitude of each teams was tested. Despite having a Tribute on the map, both teams were forced into a late game staring match that ended in a fateful teamfight.With the departure of Chu8, there were a lot of questions concerning the future of Team 8 in HGC. Surprisingly, B-Step wasn't much of challenge for them. B-Step's failure to adopt the Asian strategy of exploiting Glaurung’s supposedly small hero pool cost them. Instead, B-Step ended up drafting quite poorly and gave their opponents Ragnaros every game.Team 8 won the series 3-1 though the games were fairly even. B-Step played passively and committed to questionable calls and odd engagements, but they never played downright horribly. The troubling aspect for B-Step is they weren't facing a top NA team and struggled much more than expected. After a positive weekend for Team 8, though, the only way to go is up.Gale Force has struggled against Naventic in the past, and coupled with social media drama, this series sure wasn't going to disappoint—and for GFE fans, it didn't. Naventic simply didn't show up. GFE quickly ran up the takedown count to double digits against a seemingly powerless NVT. Equinox's Tracer single-handedly ravaged Naventic on Battlefield of Eternity, and Khroen ended up playing an excellent Muradin and silencing critics who called him a "Li-Ming one-trick".But there are still cracks in GFE's armor. While leading 28-4 in core damage on Towers of Doom, GFE made some key misplays that spurred a miraculous comeback from Naventic. GFE managed to win a final teamfight to take the map with 3 hit points left on their Core, but Naventic's ability to take 25 core health uncontested with their backs against the wall was impressive. Unfortunately, it was too little too late for Naventic; the series went easily in their opponent's favor. As for GFE, tightening up their late game is a must if they expect to compete at the international level during the first Clash.







Week 2 Preview By: Emperor and im a roc The Heroes Global Championship finally launched, and it did not disappoint! Breaking over 20k concurrent viewers on Saturday and boasting more than 25 hours of gameplay, the opening weekend of HGC was nothing short of a huge success. The production value was top notch, the casters were energized and excited, and some of the best games we've seen in months were played. Of course, ten to twelve hours of esports content per day every weekend is difficult to keep up with, even for the most dedicatedfan. Don't worry, though—we've got you covered! Our weekly recaps include a summary of all the matches played and predictions for next week's matches to keep you up to date on all the action!This week was filled with a bizarre mix of one-sided stomps and unbelievably high level full-game series worthy of consideration for "the best series of all time"—and, of course, tons of highlights for both. In Europe, Misfits cemented their position on top of the region's three giants (Misfits, Fnatic, and Dignitas), and Team expert became a real contender for one of those spots. North America saw a few cringe-worthy games, but Tempo Storm and Gale Force eSports look as strong as ever. Despite last minute roster changes for Team 8, they also look surprisingly strong and might upend the status quo.The matches this week tried to define the metagame but were unsuccessful. Drafts were all over the place (some good, some bad), and what seemed to work splendidly for one team or region didn't work well for the next. The diversity of picks was fascinating and a positive direction for the game overall, but we're far from being able to accurately predict drafts from one game to the next. The one sure thing is that Ragnaros and Tassadar are kings right now, both sitting above a 60% win rate.



We're still in the trial period of the league where teams are separating into top, mid, and lower teams, so it's hard to say anything with confidence, but based on last week's performance, Misfits and Fnatic are rising to the top in EU while Gale Force eSports and Team 8 are leading the scoreboards in NA. On the opposite end of the spectrum, B-Step and Naventic have surprisingly sunk to the bottom of the rankings in NA, and Tricked eSport in EU is struggling to get some points on the board.



Compared to last week, there aren't quite as many exciting matchups scheduled; nothing beats the Philadelphia 76s vs Miami Heat hype between Dignitas and Misfits. Still, there's plenty of room for upsets in the coming week as teams with mediocre results in Week 1 try to dig themselves out of the hole and get an edge on their competitors early in the season.



Europe

Friday, January 28 Team Dignitas vs Synergy



Playing Ducks vs beGenius

Saturday, January 29 Team Dignitas vs Tricked eSport



Misfits vs Playing Ducks

Sunday, January 30 Fnatic vs Synergy



Team expert vs beGenius



Dignitas is still one of the strongest teams Europe has to offer despite their brutal beating from Misfits in Week 1, but Synergy and Tricked eSport will have an uphill climb in their struggle for victory based on their performances.



On the other hand, Misfits and Team Expert are poised to stay ahead of the pack. Misfits faces off against against Playing Ducks (AKA Diamond Skin) in a match that should go clearly go in Misfits' favor. Team expert also has an easy series against beGenius, the clear underdog of HGC EU. The match between beGenius and Playing Ducks can serve as either a saving grace for either team as they try to desperately pick up points.



The team that can go either way is Synergy, currently sitting at 1-1 overall. Against beGenius, Synergy showed some promising coordination and tactical play. However, their upcoming opponents are on a whole different level. The matches against Fnatic and Dignitas will prove whether Synergy has the ability to keep up with the titans or if they will be pushed aside going forward. Unless they show proficiency with new hero compositions and crisper play next weekend, it's hard to imagine them winning.



North America

Friday, January 27 Tempo Storm vs Team Freedom



No Tomorrow vs Superstars

Saturday, January 28 Tempo Storm vs B-Step



Team Naventic vs No Tomorrow

Sunday, January 29 Gale Force eSports vs Team Freedom



Team 8 vs Superstars



While the Superstars won their first match, there were clear cracks in their armor ready to be exploited by No Tomorrow and Team 8 next week. The same is true for Team Freedom, who will have the toughest schedule in Week 2. They will need to play much more confidently this weekend or else they will get blown out of the water by the powerhouses that are Tempo Storm and Gale Force eSports.



Team Naventic went into the first week with confidence, but after losing both of their matches, it will be on them this weekend to prove that they are still contenders as they go up against No Tomorrow.



Lastly, while many long-time fans expected to see success from the veteran roster of B-Step, they dropped both of their series in week one. They will have to fight an uphill battle against Tempo Storm next week, or they will see themselves at the bottom of the standings for North America.



We're still in the trial period of the league where teams are separating into top, mid, and lower teams, so it's hard to say anything with confidence, but based on last week's performance, Misfits and Fnatic are rising to the top in EU while Gale Force eSports and Team 8 are leading the scoreboards in NA. On the opposite end of the spectrum, B-Step and Naventic have surprisingly sunk to the bottom of the rankings in NA, and Tricked eSport in EU is struggling to get some points on the board.Compared to last week, there aren't quite as many exciting matchups scheduled; nothing beats the Philadelphia 76s vs Miami Heat hype between Dignitas and Misfits. Still, there's plenty of room for upsets in the coming week as teams with mediocre results in Week 1 try to dig themselves out of the hole and get an edge on their competitors early in the season.Dignitas is still one of the strongest teams Europe has to offer despite their brutal beating from Misfits in Week 1, but Synergy and Tricked eSport will have an uphill climb in their struggle for victory based on their performances.On the other hand, Misfits and Team Expert are poised to stay ahead of the pack. Misfits faces off against against Playing Ducks (AKA Diamond Skin) in a match that should go clearly go in Misfits' favor. Team expert also has an easy series against beGenius, the clear underdog of HGC EU. The match between beGenius and Playing Ducks can serve as either a saving grace for either team as they try to desperately pick up points.The team that can go either way is Synergy, currently sitting at 1-1 overall. Against beGenius, Synergy showed some promising coordination and tactical play. However, their upcoming opponents are on a whole different level. The matches against Fnatic and Dignitas will prove whether Synergy has the ability to keep up with the titans or if they will be pushed aside going forward. Unless they show proficiency with new hero compositions and crisper play next weekend, it's hard to imagine them winning.While the Superstars won their first match, there were clear cracks in their armor ready to be exploited by No Tomorrow and Team 8 next week. The same is true for Team Freedom, who will have the toughest schedule in Week 2. They will need to play much more confidently this weekend or else they will get blown out of the water by the powerhouses that are Tempo Storm and Gale Force eSports.Team Naventic went into the first week with confidence, but after losing both of their matches, it will be on them this weekend to prove that they are still contenders as they go up against No Tomorrow.Lastly, while many long-time fans expected to see success from the veteran roster of B-Step, they dropped both of their series in week one. They will have to fight an uphill battle against Tempo Storm next week, or they will see themselves at the bottom of the standings for North America. Strategy