The opening week of the Heroes of the Storm Fall Championship, and group stage to the finals at BlizzCon, concluded with only eight teams left in contention for a piece of the $1,000,000 prize pool. The lineup was a global affair with teams from South Korea, China, Taiwan, Australia, Europe, North America, Latin America, and Southeast Asia, all with unique play styles and various strengths.
After the opening week, the four eliminated teams were Burning Rage, Reborn, eStar Gaming, and Imperium Pro Team. In addition, there were four teams pitted in elimination matches with only two spots available: Team Dignitas, Astral Authority, Denial Esports, and ZeroPanda.
The best of opening week:
MVP Black
The South Korean juggernaut MVP Black was flawless during the opening week games. The team many touted as the favorites for BlizzCon was dominant and scary regardless of its opponent. MVP dismantled opponents at record speeds with recorded victories of seven and 11 minutes long. For MVP Black, the name of the game is team fighting and draft adaptability. This is a lineup that realistically can play any such composition well and fight any team to an advantage regardless of the situation. It's both a comeback mechanic and a stay-ahead tactic and keeps MVP Black as the de facto favorite to win the tournament.
The only real flaw in this lineup is its macro play. In its games against Denial eSports and Please Buff Arthas, MVP Black left objective control and priority to its opposition while focusing on grouped fights and kill count. If there was a weakness to exploit, it could come in the form of a macro-heavy team with a laser-focus on controlling the map over positioning in fights.
Ballistix
The other South Korean monster team, Ballistix was a train through its matches. If MVP Black was the favorite, Ballistix was the close second that flew under the radar. This was a team that played perfect Heroes of the Storm under immense pressure. The lineup routinely traded out its base buildings for the long con -- pressure on important neutral objectives, lulling and baiting out advantageous team fights in the open, and superior pathing throughout the map. Ballistix rolled through every team and never found itself in an actual deficit.
Ballistix looked every bit as powerful as MVP Black, and in some case more so, and played a superb macro game that overwhelmed opponents. The team's greatest strength may be its patience and defense; Ballistix may very well be the champion of BlizzCon.
The dark horse teams:
Fnatic
Fnatic was the team that played the best games and performed the strongest for Europe. What was once a team that stood behind the shadow of Team Dignitas, broke out with a fearless style coupled with conservative draft compositions and educated ban picks. Fnatic fought early and often and brought the fight to its opponents. The lineup constantly overwhelmed and surrounded core targets to crush neutral objectives afterward. What was more encouraging for Fnatic was its frenetic pace poised a difficult matchup for the majority of the team's matches. Fnatic may be the best chase down team left in the tournament and stand a great chance to qualify out of the remaining group stage matches.
The holes within the team's game play were punished by an arguably better team, Ballistix, and could very well continue to be an issue. Fnatic's aggression was a double-edged sword during the opening week. Ballistix split and isolated Fnatic's team fight with relative ease and used the team's aggression to force disadvantageous fights.