Disclaimer: This is an opinion. All players in the HGC are good enough to be in it, I am by no means calling anyone out



Hello everyone! My name is Argy and for those that don't know me, I am the Production manager and in game observer for HeroesHype and the Open Division. Today I wanted to do something fun. Every year after the NFL draft, the commentators give each team a grade. They do this based off how the teams addressed their needs going into training camp and how effective their picks can be. For this blog, I'll separate EU and NA. I don't know enough about the KR rosters outside of top 4 to give a good idea of what they will do.



EU



A

Method : You could tell though that during the Western Clash they had big issues to fix. I give them an A here because they have addressed the biggest issue from phase 1. While both Athero and Arcaner did a respectable job at the tank position, Badbenny is a definitive upgrade in that slot. The team did lose schwimpi which is honestly a big loss, his play during phase 1 I believe is the main reason they did so well. Adrd has always been known as a very smart, intuitive player and one that can draft better than most anyone. His hero pool has also increased compared to that of phase 2 last year.



Leftovers : Picking up Mopsio is a slam dunk for this team. Mopsio has shown great improvement over 2017 and he is a top tier tank this year. I believe that if your team has a strong tank player, you have a good shot at doing well in HGC.



B

Monkey Menagerie : Trading 1 support for another I think this is an overall upgrade. Splendour has proven to be a consistent support player over the past 2 years, with small slumps. This change will give the team another playmaker and what I believe will be a more confident team fighting style.



Fnatic : Fnatic has had a lot of ups and downs over phase 1. Everyone knew Badbenny had huge shoes to fill after Wubby left. Benny played well, but never looked comfortable in the role. So it makes sense that they decided to swap him out. LastHope is someone I am unfamiliar with. I am sure most know who he is in EU since he has been at the top of the GM leaderboards. But I never saw him compete in the EU Open so I have no clue how good he is. I am intrigued to see him in the offlane. Fnatic also picked up Schwimpi, who is returning after 6 months away. I believe schwimpi will fit in a lot better to the team dynamic than Quack was and while it will be weird to see Fnatic without their captain, I am positive this will be better for both parties.



C

Diamond Skin : Diamond Skin is an interesting team to look at for their changes. Both Raidbawz and Meinkraft played fantastic over the course of the EU OD. Personally I am excited for both of them to step up into the big leagues. My big concern however is that step up. Just like in other sports, going from amateur to pro is difficult. The game is played at a faster speed than they might be used to (though Raidbawz does have previous HGC experience). At the same time, A new tank on your team will always take some adjusting.



Team Liquid : TL picked up Arcaner and Nurok is swapping to the support role. First, replacing Splendour is no easy task. I think it will take some time for Nurok to fill that position to the same effectiveness.

EDIT: Arcaner is going back to his dps role, and will not be playing off lane. I think this will be an easier swap than other role swaps with him only having swapped to melee/tank for a shorter period of time. With the updated info, I will be moving TL up to C



D.

Zealots : Losing Mopsio and picking up Robadobah is a downgrade on paper. I don't have too much to say on that. It'll be tough. They also lost adrd and picked up Quackniix. During phase 1 Quackniix struggled. He mentioned on stream recently that he struggled with motivation issues during the first phase. It was noticeable. His other problem was the hero pool. His and Mene's never meshed well and he had issues finding a good fit outside of 2-3 heroes. I am hoping that he finds a second wind in his new team and bounces back. I'll be watching vigilantly.







NA



A

LFM : As I said earlier, if your team has a good tank, your team has a good shot of doing well. This is no exception and LFM hit the jackpot. For anyone watching the NFL free agency this winter, you would know about the Kirk Cousins deals going around. Fury is the Kirk Cousins of the HGC. He is a top tier warrior with lots of experience at international events. He will help make LFM a contender in my opinion. The wild cards here are the dps players. Droplets was the star of the NA OD in the last few weeks. He only played a few heroes however so we will see how flexible he is come phase 2. Figgy is also going back to his old role, which I think will be good in the long run, but how long will it take for him to readjust.



B



No Tomorrow : NT showed some promise once they acquired Jin. Now, they have picked up a proven support in Akaface. As well as Tomster did while he played the role, Akaface is stronger. This pick up also allows Tomster to return to his original role of off lane. Will we see the return of T-God? I hope so. The big loss for them is Equinox as their shotcaller. That will be their hardest ordeal going into phase 2.



C

Team Octalysis : I gave OCT a C because I felt that overall, they didn't really move in power at all. Kure and Daneski had shining moments in phase 1 but the team never reached their goals. They did have a decent showing at WC but their goal was MSB and they fell just short. With the addition of Drated they get a fresh player eager to prove himself at the top level of NA. He was the star of LFM and is now getting his chance in the spotlight. Prismaticism is going back to ranged instead of off lane. I want to see him 1 trick chromie and put fear into his enemies eyes with that 50 kd.



D

Team DJ : 3 role swaps. Michael has never played support before this phase in a competitive setting (outside of scrims/in house leagues) so his test is the most difficult. Bkid hasn't played tank in nearly a year. Kure is swapping back to off lane, which we know is not his preferred role. There are a lot of factors pointing against success for this team. Will they be able to figure it out in time and become a force to be reckoned with?



Simplicity : I don't know if it has been confirmed anywhere, so I'm just assuming here. TigerJK joins the team as a support, which he played for HGC 2017 with NT/SSG. k1pro is swapping off of support and going back to his original role of dps, and Zuna is the off laner. To be honest I am skeptical at the move. Not because Tiger is a bad player, but because the only reason that I can think of to pick up a support is that k1 didn't want to play it anymore. If Zuna is in the solo lane, then his impact drops. He can be such a strong player in a 4 man setting, and I believe he is their shotcaller. When the shotcaller is in your solo lane, things become more difficult. I think SIM will struggle to find their footing in phase 2 part 1.