We are diving into Week 4 and the Western Clash of Phase 2 is looming over all of the teams. The race is very close for the 2nd and 3rd teams from Europe to qualify for the event, as Fnatic has secured the 1st spot already. This weekend will be very important for the standings, as each game win within a series could mean a team is one step closer to qualifying. With Team Dignitas currently sitting at rank 4, they will need to execute some clean games this weekend to rise in the standings. They face two teams this weekend: Playing Ducks, who are sitting at the 8th spot, and Fnatic, who are at the top of the pack.

Team Dignitas vs. Playing Ducks - Friday, July 14th at 11:00am PDT / 8:00pm CEST

These teams have only faced off twice in the past, with Team Dignitas winning both series, one 3-1 and one 3-0. The Playing Ducks have struggled a bit in this Phase to find their stride and this will definitely be a tough series for them. Team Dignitas showed last week with their win over Zealots that they are very flexible. They are able to draft double-support when needed, but can always rely on their comforting picks and preferred draft style to net them wins.

The two players to highlight in this series will be Thomas “Mene” Cailleux and Christoph “Cris” Gowitzke. Mene is known for his mages, but he has recently been flexing into other roles such as auto-attackers like Tychus and Greymane and second supports like Auriel and Tassadar. In Phase 2, Cris has been playing more auto-attackers to fit in with the popular double-support compositions. His most played heroes at the moment are Greymane, Cassia, and Tychus, but it’s always possible he may whip out his trusty Chromie if he can get it before Team Dignitas does.



Team Dignitas vs. Fnatic - Saturday, July 15th at 9:00am PDT / 6:00pm CEST

It’s always a good series when Fnatic and Team Dignitas face off! Since their extremely close games with Team Dignitas at the Mid-Season Brawl, Fnatic have so far been undefeated in Phase 2 of HGC. They have earned their spot at the Western Clash in Kiev, and for Team Dignitas, beating Fnatic would make it even more likely that they too will qualify. Since the middle of the pack is so close in rankings, it will be harder to judge who makes the 2nd and 3rd spots until this weekend’s games are over.

Between these teams, the player matchup often comes down to their flex players. Joshua “Snitch” Bennett has excelled in the flex role for Team Dignitas, being their usual go-to player for when they draft Greymane, Genji, Valla, Falstad, and Abathur. He is facing Fnatic’s Dob “QuackNiix” Engström, a player known for his Falstad play. QuackNiix also plays Greymane and Genji, which adds more drafting competition for comfort and strategic hero picks. Sometimes Fnatic will bust out a Lunara pick, something a lot of enemy teams have a lot of trouble countering. For Team Dignitas, they will need to draft very carefully against their #1 rival team. Both teams know each other’s draft and play styles quite well, so anything Team Dignitas can do to surprise Fnatic in the draft will work to their favour if they can execute it in the game.

As usual, you can catch all the action on the BlizzHeroes official stream on Twitch. Be sure to tune in, spam that #DIGWIN in chat, and cheer for the boys!

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/blizzheroes