Heroes of the Storm

BlizzCon HGC Finals Recap: Day 1

11/03/2018

Day 1 of the BlizzCon HGC finals is over, and we’ve seen some intense Heroes of the Storm games! Here are the details, and it should be noted that Mal’Ganis is still disabled.

Match 1: Gen G vs. The One

Game 1: Game 1 started out slow. Both teams played a very safe game with The One nabbing a kill and a small advantage to start the game off. After securing the first Immortal, Gen. G gained level 10 and took control of the game while The One worked to catch up. Despite their efforts, The One could never close the EXP gap between themselves and Gen. G and lost to their opponents.

Game 2: The One took a very aggressive fight on Gen. G’s side of the map and more or less lost it, giving Gen. G the first Shrine on this Immortal Shrines game. There were many intricate and impressive fights throughout this game, but even when The One won a fight, it seemed like Gen. G got value out of it. This led to Gen. G winning, The One taking the loss at a 3-level deficit.

Match 2: HeroesHearth Esports vs. Team Liquid

Game 1: HeroesHearth took a lead after securing a couple of kills at the first objective on this Towers of Doom game. They held on to that lead, getting far more shots on Team Liquid’s core than Liquid could get on theirs. Liquid was able to catch up, however, and give us a very tight neck-and-neck game. In the end, HHE won a post-level 20 team fight and was able to secure the win after wiping Team Liquid.

Game 2: Another super close game, this time on Dragon Shire. HeroesHearth generally has very good macro, but this game Team Liquid was able to rule the map with their Lost Vikings pick. HHE played a great game, but no matter what they did, Liquid was able to keep an EXP advantage. The game ended in a base race, with Team Liquid coming out on top.

Game 3: Team Liquid gained the upper hand this game on Tomb of the Spider Queen and eventually got the first turn in. HHE pushed back, but Team Liquid was able to hold on to their EXP lead to such an extent that they nearly always had a level lead over HeroesHearth. This led to a win on Team Liquid’s part.

Match 3: Tempo Storm vs. Dignitas

Game 1: In this Volskaya game, Tempo drafted a strange tankless comp with Murky, Samuro, Abathur, Junkrat, and Falstad. They attempted to out-macro Dignitas, avoiding fights and trying to use their globals to get surprise kills. Unfortunately, this plan failed and Dignitas ran over Tempo Storm with a traditional composition.

Game 2: Tempo Storm took a more standard approach this game, mixing it up only with a Lost Vikings pick on Towers of Doom. They put up a fight but always ended up conceding the objective, which eventually lost them the game.

Match 4: Miracle vs. Tempest

Game 1: Tempest had very good team fighting this Towers of Doom game, but Miracle was able to secure an EXP advantage with their use of Dehaka and his global ability. After a shaky early game, Miracle took full map control by taking the Tempest’s bottom tower and began to win team fights very handily. This culminated in Miracle winning one more team fight and capping three different Alters for the win.

Game 2: In this Battlefield of Eternity game, Miracle had the upper hand almost constantly. There were many explosive fights, but regardless of their effort, Tempest could not keep their structures from falling. Despite Tempest’s level of play, their structure disadvantage allowed Miracle’s late-game Immortal to just walk to their core.