The strength of the European Heroes scene has become increasingly apparent in recent months. While Team Dignitas are still undeniably strong, they face increased competition from the likes of Misfits (formerly mYinsanity) and Fnatic, who both came into last week’s Fall Regional 2 at gamescom eager to secure a spot alongside Dignitas at BlizzCon.

Group Stage

Group A

Team Dignitas, who dropped only a single game against Fnatic, came out on top in Group A. This was an important factor in the way the tournament progressed throughout the week, as the second-seeded team would go on to play the winners of Group B—widely expected to be Misfits—in the Semifinals.

Two Bees Determined, a newer squad led by long-time Heroes of the Storm pro and BlizzCon 2015 runner-up Adrian “ADRD” Wojcik, put on a good show for the fans and took both of their sets to a third game, but eventually finished third in the group.

Group B

True to form, Misfits won their group with convincing 2-0 victories over both GoogleIshetZont and ExcelenteEleccion.

The second team to make it out of Group B, The Jabronis, took a less straightforward route to the Semifinals. After losing their first series against ExcelenteEleccion, they gained some momentum with a win against GoogleshetZont and ultimately avenged their loss against ExcelenteEleccion in the Losers’ Bracket Final.

Semifinals

The three teams generally considered to be the best in the region all made it to the Semifinals, where they were joined by up-and-coming squad, The Jabronis. With the last European spot at BlizzCon on the line, who would come out on top?

Team Dignitas vs. The Jabronis

BATTLEGROUND	WINNER	VOD
Cursed Hollow	The Jabronis
Tomb of the Spider Queen	Team Dignitas
Infernal Shrines	Team Dignitas
Towers of Doom	Team Dignitas

In a surprising start to the playoffs, The Jabronis took the first game against the reigning European Champions. Dignitas went against convention and drafted into a double-mage Li-Ming/Kael’thas composition, but The Jabronis kept their composure and looked solid as they scored a win against the favorites. Unfortunately for them, Team Dignitas bounced back in the second game and never looked back.

Fnatic vs. Misfits

BATTLEGROUND	WINNER	VOD
Sky Temple	Fnatic
Infernal Shrines	Fnatic
Cursed Hollow	Misfits
Blackheart's Bay	Misfits
Tomb of the Spider Queen	Misfits

The hotly-anticipated second Semifinal pitted the two favorites to join Dignitas against BlizzCon against each other and, while the outcome of this clash wouldn’t necessarily be decisive in that regard, the hype was building. As the runners-up at Regional 1, Fnatic needed only to make it to the final to secure their BlizzCon spot; Misfits, on the other hand, needed to win outright in order to avoid a tiebreaker playoff.

Fnatic looked to have the measure of their opponents in the early going, winning the first two games. Misfits were tenacious though, and completed the reverse sweep thanks in no small part to the performance of their melee assassin Simon “darkmok” Tabin, who played out of his mind.

Grand Finals

Qualifying for the Grand Finals wasn’t enough to guarantee Misfits a spot at the Fall Global Championship at BlizzCon; to qualify, they needed to defeat Dignitas in the best-of-five series or, failing that, win a tiebreak rematch against Fnatic.

Game One

BATTLEGROUND	WINNER	VOD
Cursed Hollow	Misfits

Masterful performances from both teams resulted in an exciting back-and-forth brawl that could’ve gone either way. Ultimately, it was Misfit’s darkmok playing Illidan who was the difference between the two teams; multiple times throughout the game, he was caught in Zeratul’s Void Prison, but was able to Metamorphosis blink out of the line of fire in a split-second to avoid Jaina’s Ring of Frost follow-up.

Game Two

BATTLEGROUND	WINNER	VOD
Battlefield of Eternity	Team Dignitas

Team Dignitas responded to the game one defeat like reigning champions, and destroyed Misfits’ core prior to attaining Storm Talents. Furthermore, they did so without suffering a single *****, thanks in large part to clutch use of Kharazim’s Divine Palm, courtesy of support and captain, James “Bakery” Baker.

Game Three

BATTLEGROUND	WINNER	VOD
Tomb of the Spider Queen	Misfits

Another game for darkmok on Illidan, and another win for Misfits. Game three wasn’t even close, as evidenced by the five-level advantage (17-12) that Misfits were enjoying when they moved on Dignitas’ core, which fell not long after the 13-minute mark.

Misfits’ Sylvanas, played by one of the best specialist players in the world in Dennis “HasuObs” Schneider, was teamed with Tyrael and Illidan to devastating effect. With this victory, Misfits knew that they were just one victory away from being crowned the European Champions and punching their ticket to BlizzCon 2016.

Game Four

BATTLEGROUND	WINNER	VOD
Infernal Shrines	Team Dignitas

Bouncing back like champions once more, Dignitas leveled the series without suffering a single *****. This followed a draft in which Misfits elected to ban Tyrael instead of Kerrigan, leaving her available to be drafted. Dignitas did just that, and what followed was a very one-sided affair.

Game Five

BATTLEGROUND	WINNER	VOD
Blackheart's Bay	Team Dignitas

From the moment the draft got underway, this match was unconventional. Misfits dug into their bag of tricks and drafted into a composition incorporating Tyrael, Greymane, and The Butcher. Since Blackheart’s Bay is a battleground on which early leads often snowball into victories, Misfits needed to get ahead early, but smart play from Dignitas, who avoided unnecessary team fights and amassed a lot of doubloons, denied them the ability to do so. Dignitas played their composition perfectly, and retained their title as Heroes of the Storm European Champions!

Congratulations Team Dignitas!

European BlizzCon Tiebreaker

Because Fnatic and Misfits were runners-up to Dignitas in the first and second EU Regionals respectively, it came down to a best-of-three tiebreaker to determine which of them would get to go to the Fall Global Championship.

Fnatic vs. Misfits

BATTLEGROUND	WINNER	VOD
Sky Temple	Misfits
Infernal Shrines	Fnatic
Cursed Hollow	Fnatic

The importance of this second Semifinal rematch to both teams was evident from the outset, but never more so than going into the decisive final game. Both teams were playing it so safe on Cursed Hollow that the first ****, which went in Misfits’ favor, didn’t happen until after the 25-minute mark! After the prolonged period of cautious play, it appeared that the whole game was going to come down to a base race, but Fnatic hearthed back to defend against Misfits’ all-in push, wiped the attackers, and booked their tickets to BlizzCon.

Congratulations to Team Dignitas and Fnatic. See you at BlizzCon!

References

Search Tags

Others in Heroes News Feed