As an American, I've always respected Europe at one of the greatest countries in the world. Let's rank their HOTS teams. Dignitas Tier I debated if Dignitas would get their own tier. Right up until they took Gen.G to a decisive game 6 with the best macro play I've ever seen in my life on Towers of Doom. Play I honestly would have never thought was even possible. So Dignitas gets their own tier.



1) Team Dignitas (Elo: 1878) - Phase 1 Results: 13-1 40-8 1st Place - Mid Season Brawl Runner-up, Western Clash Champion. No roster changes.



Dignitas was a big favorite entering Phase 1 of 2018, and they did not disappoint. Dignitas was consistent, improving, and just found ways to win. They established themselves as by far the best team in Europe early, and never let go. Further, they are the only team in Europe without a roster change, meaning they should be able to hit the ground running (not to say roster changes are bad, just that they don't have to rebuild synergy). Dignitas is going to remain the favorite in Europe until someone takes it from them. But there are contenders. Contenders Tier These teams are immediate contenders for Blizzcon and Western Clash. Given how much these teams traded games off each other in Phase 1, it is going to be interesting to see how this shakes out. These teams also made significant roster changes. Honestly, I rewrote the order of these teams several times. This order could easily change and I would have a hard time disagreeing.



2) Fnatic (Elo: 1584) - Phase 1 Results 10-4 33-15 2nd Place - 5th/6th Place Mid Season Brawl, 4th Place Western Clash. Roster changes: OUT - QuackNiix, BadBenny, IN - scHwimpi, LastHope



This could be a risky pick to put Fnatic so high. Fnatic is easily the highest ranked team to bring in such a professionally unknown player as LastHope. LastHope is high on the EU Hots leaderboard, but has no HGC professional experience. His only match history are bracket losses in Open Division and Qualification settings. That said, Fnatic clearly trusts LastHope, and given the organization's history, I'm willing to bet they made the right choice, though it remains to be seen. If LastHope works out for Fnatic, this could open the door for a new cast of HGC Pro players. With that, I think this roster is very strong, and I look forward to seeing what they do.



3) Method (Elo: 1593) - Phase 1 Results: 8-6 29-22 3rd Place - 7th/8th at Mid Season Brawl, 7th/8th Western Clash. Roster changes: OUT - scHwimpi, Arcaner, IN - BadBenny, adrd



Method is actually returning to a roster that (as Team Expert) finished 3rd/4th at Blizzcon, 2nd at Western Clash, and 3rd in Europe's Season of Phase 2017. With BadBenny and adrd back, Method should be able to maintain their competitive status in Europe. BadBenny should be able to slot back into Tank well, while ADRD can always bring some craziness. Add to this a returning cast of improving players, especially cursen's continued improvement in the support role, and I think this team could make some noise in international play again.



4) Zealots (Elo: 1572) - Phase 1 Results: 7-7 26-29 5th Place, 4th place in MSB Qualification Playoff, losing to Method in the final round of the playoff 3-2. Western Clash Runner-up. Roster changes: OUT - adrd, mopsio, IN - QuackNiix, robadobah



Zealots was the only team to beat Dignitas in regular season play in Europe last season, but struggled with consistency in a very tough European scene. After barely missing Mid Season Brawl, Zealots replaced mopsio at tank with robadobah, and added QuackNiix. I think the core of this team, Shad, Cris, and Zarmony, could really gel around QuackNiix, but we'll have to see. Zealots was a pleasant surprise when they first joined HGC, and have continued to be a competitor since. But this is going to be a tough season, as Europe is insanely deep. There is very little margin for error to make Blizzcon. One thing to note about Zealots: they historically play very well in brackets.



5) Team Liquid (Elo: 1561) - Phase 1 Results: 8-6 29-24 4th Place - 5th Place MSB Qualification Playoff, lost 0-3 to Zealots. Roster changes: OUT - Splendour, IN - Arcaner



In Phase 1 of HGC Europe, Team Liquid, then Misfits, looked unbeatable, starting 7-0. However, at Western Clash, a poorer than expected performance left them at 3rd place. Since then, Team Liquid has never again found that Phase 1 2017 form. Team Liquid has been one of the hardest teams to predict week to week. Team Liquid added Arcaner and moved Nurok into the support role. Role swaps have worked in Europe in the past (see Zaelia moving to support for Dignitas), but they have also led to struggles (see BadBenny moving to offlane for Fnatic). Team Liquid's fortunes likely reside with Nurok's transition. Low Tier These teams are unlikely to move into contention for western clash, or especially Blizzcon. Likely, 2 of these 3 teams will face the Crucible.



6) Monkey Menagerie (Elo: 1474) - Phase 1 Results (as Tricked esport): 5-9 20-32 6th Place - 6th in MSB Qualification playoff, losing 0-3 to Zealots. Roster changes: OUT - GranPkt, IN - Splendour



Monkey Menagerie (formerly Tricked esport) has finished each season 6th, or tied in match wins with the 6th place team, in all 3 seasons of HGC so far. I don't likely see this changing. Now as Monkey Menagerie, they replaced GranPkt (who now finds himself teamless) with Liquid's long time support Splendour. Will this change finally enable Tricked to pull those upsets to get into top 4? We'll see, but I'm doubtful.



7) Granit Gaming (Elo: 1448) - Phase 1 Results: 3-11 15-36 7th Place: Defeated Worst Positioning (as Diamond Skin) 4-0 in the Crucible to maintain HGC position. Roster Changes: Out - robadobah, Roskmeg, In - Meinkraft, RaiDbawZ



Formerly Diamond Skin, Granit Gaming signed with the organization that sponsored the runner-up Open Division team. Diamond Skin, then as Playing Ducks, initially saw moderate success in HGC Europe, finishing 5th in the opening season in 2017. However, in both Phase 2 2017 and Phase 1 2018, as Diamond Skin they had to defend their HGC spot in the Crucible. Granit Gaming has, over the last year and a half, struggled to keep up with the rest of the very competitive HGC Europe. While they appears to be a good team relative to the global setting, Europe is simply too deep. The additions of Meinkraft and Raidbawz add likely two of the best amatuer players in Europe, with RaidBawz having some HGC experience with TGG. But it's a very steep ladder to climb to avoid the Crucible.



8) Leftovers (Elo: 1404) - Phase 1 Results, 2-12 12-38 8th Place: Defeated Granit Gaming (a different team from the team formerly known as Diamond Skin) in the Crucible 4-1 to retain spot in HGC Europe. Roster changes: OUT - Lauber, IN - Mopsio



Leftovers was the 3rd team in Europe to win their way into the league via the Crucible. While they faired better than The Good Guys, who were relegated after only a single season, they still find themselves at the bottom of Europe. Leftovers showed improvement over the season, but still struggled to close out maps to secure wins. I think building experience will see Leftovers do better than 2 match wins this season, but I don't see them escaping 8th place because of the depth of Europe. Still, this will be a very hard team to beat in the Crucible.