Heroes of the Storm: Team Dignitas triumphs in the Western Clash
The first offline competition of the eSport “Heroes of the Storm” Global Championship (HGC) League season took place in Katowice in Poland. The Europeans were a class above with a great victory of Team Dignitas. Initially relegated to the loser bracket, the latter pushed its way back to the top, salvaging some pride to win an exceptional final.
The Nomia Surprise
The first day of the competition started on an easy match for the Misfits team. The latter which is the number one in Europe faced Nomia from the Australia / New Zealand minor circuit. The Nomia adventure ended on the first day despite the team delivering a commendable performance by pulling off a victory from the heavily backed Misfits. At this point of the game, Team Dignitas won 2 to 1 against Team 8, while Tempo Storm won 2 to 0 against Infamous and FNATIC lead by 2 to 0 against Gale Force eSports.
The ultimate battle opposed two continents
The Western Clash was the right time to settle this recurrent friendly conflict in the eSports world. Previously, Team 8 and Gale Force were sent down to the loser’s bracket by Team Dignitas and FNATIC. Dignitas ended up in the semi-final against Misfits (0–3), while FNATIC met a new North American team: Tempo Storm. In the loser bracket, Team Dignitas ended up against Gale Force. The 3–0 victory was in favor of the European team, with the same mastery that FNATIC showed during its match.
Europe demonstrated its supremacy over America
Only the European teams were left to take the first three places of the competition. Before the Team 8’s duel against Team Dignitas, the third day began with the final of the winner bracket: Misfits vs. FNATIC. Winner, Misfits found Team Dignitas in the final of the loser bracket. It was Misfits itself which sent Team Dignitas there. The match began as the previous one with Misfits winning the first two races on Tour du Destin and Val Cursed. But then, Team Dignitas made an exceptional comeback on Infernal Shrine, Celestial Temple and Fields of Eternity. The Dignitas players won all three cards as they were led 0–2 to find themselves in the final against FNATIC. This elimination of the Misfits against these two competitors in the HGC League was huge news as well as a promise of some additional excitement in the regular season.
The amazing return of Team Dignitas
The last duel opposing FNATIC against Team Dignitas — the second European against the third!, started off beautifully for Dignitas on the BO5 by winning the first round on Tomb of the Spider Queen, and then the second on Towers of Destiny. On these two cards, Team Dignitas showed an excellent level of play. But these two picks were not enough in the third round: FNATIC had mastered the game enough to win. With a nil score of 2–2, the fifth and final round began on Dragon County. This time, it was Team Dignitas which took on the duo Falstad / Dehaka. They took a slight lead at the start of the game, enough to keep control of the rest of the match. At 5 against 3 with a Dragon Knight put to good use, Team Dignitas destroyed the nexus for one last time to win the competition!
