Heroes of the Storm HGC Finals Recap: Day 1

This year’s Heroes of the Storm HGC Finals kicked off on Oct. 25 with a Round Robin best-of-2 format. Winning one game is worth 1 point, winning a match 2-o nets 3 total points (1 point per game + 1 extra point for not losing). After this part of the tournament is over, the teams in each group with the lowest points will be sent home.

Each game has been summarized below next to links to the Twitch VODs for those who would like to watch the matches.

It should be noted that, due to the sheer number of matches, the games were split between two different Twitch channels. Channel 1 was the standard Blizzard stream with casters, but Channel 2 was happening simultaneously and was not officially cast.

These games are played on the current patch, with Mal’Ganis disabled.

Channel 1

Match 1: Luna Meow vs. Tempo Storm

Game 1: A hard and fast victory on Towers of Doom for Tempo Storm. Luna Meow put their best foot forward but Tempo’s coordination with Medivh portals proved to be too much for them.

Game 2: Luna Meow drafted a traditional double warrior comp while Tempo Storm forwent tanks altogether. Their double support comp with a Kerrigan/Uther frontline brought a massive amount of CC to the table and Luna Meow just couldn’t respond.

Match 2: Miracle vs. Team Liquid

Game 1: Liquid kept Miracle in a stranglehold on Towers of Doom all game by ruthlessly controlling the bottom lane. In the end, Miracle’s Diablo player got a game-changing stun on Liquid’s Tracer. Winning this fight gave Miracle the advantage they needed to win the game with only 2 health left on their core.

Game 2: On Volskaya Foundry Miracle’s Diablo powered through Team Liquid’s Li Ming damage with the level 1 talent Soul Shield and led his team to victory. Miracle used Mephisto and Hanzo to whittle down Team Liquid’s health bars over the objective and poke them out of the game.

Match 3: Gen G vs. Beyond the Game

Game 1: Gen G secured a 2-minute Dragon Knight and snowballed the game into a quick and brutal victory with Sgt. Hammer and main tank Tyrael.

Game 2: Gen G and BTG slugged it out evenly in the early game on Battlefield of Eternity. Towards the late game, Gen G managed to get 3 levels up and won 2 Immortals in a row to secure the win.

Match 4: Team Liquid vs. Luna Meow

Game 1: Team Liquid won this game after establishing a 3-level lead and marching a Protector to Luna Meow’s core.

Game 2: Team Liquid empowered Kerrigan on Infernal Shrines with Tyrael’s shields and Blaze’s Bunker. In the end, Liquid took down Luna Meow with a substantial level lead after winning a mid-game objective.

Match 5: Tempo Storm vs. Gen G

Game 1: Tempo Storm again drafted a no-tank/double support team that played very aggressively early game. Despite this, Gen G stuck to the traditional double warrior comp and won post-16 with the objective.

Game 2: Pulling out an Illidan and Lucio, two heroes that we don’t see often these days, Tempo attempted to out-macro Gen G throughout this second game. Once again, Tempo’s off-the-wall strategy was met and defeated by the world-class prowess of Gen G.

Match 6: Miracle vs. Beyond the Game

Game 1: This game on Volskaya had some explosive fights, but Miracle did an excellent job at making sure they always out-traded BTG. Eventually, this led to Miracle taking the game.

Game 2: Miracle won this one on Towers of Doom fairly handily. Their Tyrande player’s stuns rarely missed, and their aggressive play style proved too much for BTG to handle.

Match 7: Leftovers vs. The One

Match 1: This was a very even game on Battlefield of Eternity between these two teams. Experience and kills were even for the majority of the match, but The One got to level 20 talents before The Leftovers did and took the game.

Match 2: The Leftovers had a solid grasp on this game on Infernal Shrines, almost always seeming to have a level lead. Their Alextrasza gave them excellent control of the objective and, after a tense turnaround fight in the mid lane, the Leftovers secured their victory.

Channel 2

Match 1: Tempest vs. The One

Game 1: Tempest put on a clinic in game 1 on Infernal Shrines, scoring 21 kills to The One’s 0 kills. Their comp utilized Medivh portals and shields as a way to empower Kerrigan, and The One was not able to handle such aggressive play.

Game 2: The One held on much better in the early game on Sky Temple, keeping up neck and neck with Tempest. The game ended when The One took a boss and stole a camp in the bottom lane before pushing straight through a fort, a keep, and eventually to Tempest’s core. It was close, as The One got team wiped at the core, but their Arthas player was able to get one last hit before dying to secure the game.

Match 2: Dignitas vs. Leftovers

Game 1: This was a very back-and-forth game on Battlefield of Eternity up until Dignitas secured the 3rd Immortal and was able to use that advantage to snowball all the way to the Leftovers’ core.

Game 2: Dignitas won this one on Cursed Hollow with a Sgt. Hammer comp. Dignitas was able to get Leftovers on their back foot and constantly pushed them into defensive positions all game to secure the win.

Match 3: Heroes Hearth vs. Mindfreak

Game 1: Heroes Hearth did a very good job of making sure that they had a talented tier advantage before every fight this game. The result was a methodical win against Mindfreak. Interestingly enough, HHE played with solo support Abathur while Mindfreak played with double support Brightwing/Uther.

Game 2: Heroes Hearth played a hyper carry Valla comp into Mindfreak’s Stitches/Medivh kidnapping comp. While Mindfreak did get a couple of good pick kills, HHE came out on top with stronger macro play and Valla’s high damage output.