The Group Stage of the HGC Mid-Season Brawl has come to a close, and Team Dignitas secured 2nd place in their group. After 5 tough series and a tense tiebreaker, the team heads into the upper bracket of the Playoffs. Here’s a quick recap of the games from the Group Stage!

Team Dignitas VS eStar 0-2

Going into this series, Team Dignitas did not expect the secret powers hidden within eStar. In fact, eStar surpassed everyone’s expectations by finishing the Group Stage with 1st place in Group B. Both games were a struggle for Team Dignitas, who drafted to get their map-specific comfort picks. Unfortunately their Kerrigan on Infernal Shrines was countered by eStar’s D.Va and Tyrael disruptions and they lost Game 1. Game 2 on Dragon Shire was a much closer match-up, but XingC’s Valla play paired with Auriel and Uther made the game quite challenging for Team Dignitas. Hard fought until the end, Team Dignitas fell in Game 2, ending the series 0-2.

Team Dignitas VS L5 2-0

Team Dignitas exceeded expectations when they were able to convincingly 2-0 the Korean superteam known as L5. The drafting was very confident from Team Dignitas, as they were able to get many of their favourites in both games.

In Game 1, they drafted Anub’arak, Li-Ming, Greymane, Kharazim, and Arthas, all extreme comfort picks for the team with great synergy for a slow/stun then burst set-up. L5 were very strong for most of Game 1 and they seemed to dominate the map pressure with their globals. But Team Dignitas used Greymane’s effective wave clear and semi-mobility to stop any pressure from catapults on their core. As the game went on, L5 continued to make small mistakes that Team Dignitas were quick to capitalize on. What seemed like the most impossible comeback, with no structures and a core constantly under pressure, Team Dignitas pushed their way through to L5’s core with an Immortal. Amazing shot-calling and well-coordinated kills at the core secured Team Dignitas Game 1. (As a side note, James "Bakery" Baker had an amazing kill onto L5's Malfurion seen in the gif below.)

Game 2 on Cursed Hollow felt much smoother for the team. Their confidence showed in their draft, as they picked Abathur, Uther, Dehaka, Greymane and Stitches. They delayed tributes and allowed Abathur to push the lanes out safely, causing L5 to have trouble keeping up with experience. After a clutch Stitches Hook from Jérôme "JayPL" Trinh and kill, a boss push in the top lane, and Joshua "Snitch" Bennett on Genji harassing L5’s backline, Team Dignitas were able to down the core and take Game 2. It was a very important win for the team.

Team Dignitas VS Soul Torturers 2-0

In Game 1 on Sky Temple, Team Dignitas made use of an Abathur composition with Tychus and Illidan. On large battlegrounds like this, Abathur can pressure lanes freely during objectives and snowball the game quite quickly. With a boss push in the bottom lane and the team capitalizing on the out of position members of Soul Torturers, Team Dignitas won the Game 1 in under 7 minutes. Game 2 was on Tomb of the Spider Queen and Team Dignitas once again were able to draft some of their comfort heroes, such as Kael’thas, Tychus, and Malfurion. Similar to the previous game, Team Dignitas captured the boss and pressured mid lane while it pushed top lane. After getting a few picks on some enemy players, Team Dignitas moved in to help the boss push to the core, winning Game 2.

Team Dignitas VS Tempo Storm 1-1

The NA vs EU rivalry was strong in this series. The draft from Team Dignitas in Game 1 on Battlefield of Eternity enabled them to have constant pressure in lanes from Thomas "Mene" Cailleux's cheeky Sylvanas play. It also allowed the team to stall out the objectives and get ahead on experience. As well, the silence ultimates from both Malfurion and Sylvanas denied Tempo Storm’s Genji and D.va from escaping during many of the teamfights. Once Team Dignitas secured an Immortal around the 7 minute mark, the Sylvanas passive let them rip through Tempo Storm’s bottom keep. From there they focused the core with the Immortal and took Game 1 before Tempo Storm even hit level 10. Game 2 was much closer, as Tempo Storm drafted an ideal composition for the large battleground of Cursed Hollow. They denied Team Dignitas the Abathur by picking it up themselves and also surpised everyone with a Chen pick. Chen and Genji on Tempo Storm were able to harass Team Dignitas’ backline very effectively with the addition of the Abathur symbiote hat. Unfortunately this caught Team Dignitas off guard, and Tempo Storm won Game 2, making the series 1-1.

Team Dignitas VS Red Canids 2-0

Game 1 in this series proved that on Sky Temple, giving Team Dignitas a strong composition with Abathur can be fatal. Team Dignitas employed the same strategy on this battleground as they did against Soul Torturers: use stuns to quickly blow up enemies and create pressure, so Abathur can soak safely. Team Dignitas picked up the boss and escorted it down the bottom lane, managing to get some key kills with excellent Drags from Kenn "Zaelia" Rasmussen on Dehaka. With those kills, Team Dignitas overwhelmed Red Canids at their core. Game 1 ended with a Team Dignitas victory in under 7 minutes total game time. Game 2 was a much closer. Red Canids drafted a Team Dignitas-esque composition with Stitches, Malfurion, and Greymane, while Team Dignitas put their faith in Mene’s Kael’thas and Snitch’s Genji. Teamfights were a lot more even in terms of takedowns on each side. Unfortunately, the stream had some technical difficulties and went offline, but Team Dignitas secured Game 2 and took the series 2-0.

Team Dignitas VS L5 (TIE BREAKER FOR 2ND PLACE) 1-0

What would have been a day off for Team Dignitas, turned out to be a bo1 tiebreaker match against L5 to see who would get 2nd place in the group, and thus be seeded into the winner’s bracket. The game was played on Towers of Doom, with Team Dignitas drafting Anub’arak, Genji, Greymane, Arthas, and Kharazim. While the game was very even in terms of experience, Team Dignitas had the upper hand in securing objective shots on L5’s core. They had excellent delay from Genji on attempted altar captures by L5. Every teamfight was insanely close, with both teams trading kills and having clutch heals. Even with the teamfights leaning more towards L5's favour later in the game, Team Dignitas kept winning altars. An epic final fight at the single altar spawn in the bottom lane ended with Team Dignitas eliminating 4 members of L5. They captured the altar and won the tiebreaker, relieved to once against defeat the dominant Korean team.

PLAYOFF BRACKET PREVIEW

The Playoffs bracket will take place from Saturday June 17th until Monday June 19th. All matches will be a bo5, until the Grand Finals, which will be a bo7, with the team who won the upper bracket getting a 1 game advantage.

Team Dignitas must prove they can take down the other Korean powerhouse, MVP Black. Black won their group stage in 1st place, going 9-1, while Team Dignitas ended theirs in 2nd place with a score of 7-3. This is the time for EU to make their statement on the global stage! If Team Dignitas can win their series against MVP Black, they will face either eStar or Fnatic as their next matchup.

The Playoffs action starts this Saturday at 10:00 AM CEST / 1:00 AM PDT, with Team Dignitas scheduled to be the final match of the day around 7:45 PM CEST / 10:45 AM PDT. Tune in this weekend on the BlizzHeroes channel to cheer on the boys!

Twitch: BlizzHeroes