Two bohemoths of the Heroes of the Storm scene face off in the first international Heroes of the Storm events in the Grand Finals of the MSI Masters Gaming Arena.
MVP Black have been the kings of Korean Heroes of the Storm, and Tempo Storm has been nothing short of dominant in the American scene. Which one of these giants will come out on top of one of the first international Heroes of the Storm tournaments?
Map One: Tomb of the Spider Queen
Tempo Storm denied vision by banning Zagara first. MVP Black responded by banning Kael'Thas. TempoStorm then first picked Zeratul. MVP Black was true to their regional roots, and chose Leoric, however, they followed up their tank pick with Azmodan, a hero which Tempo Storm popularized. Tempo Storm responded with strong overall heroes, Johanna and Jaina. Perhaps fearing the double tank composition, MVP Black banned Anub'Arak, and Tempo Storm responded with a ban on Uther. MVP Black, again sticking with their regional meta, chose the versatile Valla. Tempo Storm then rounded out their composition with Tyrande and Malfurion, looking for vision, lockdown, and blowup. MVP Black responded by finishing their team with Rehgar as their support.
The first kill went to Tempo Storm at the 2:40 mark and it was an important kill on Azmodan, denying him the ability to farm his Q stacks. MVP Black used the big bodies of their warriors to take the next pick, denying Tempo Storm's Johanna from retreating and taking a small level advantage. Another huge kill on MVP Black's Tyrael denied the Korean team's ability to turn-in, and Tempo Storm took the chance to turn-in themselves and equalize the levels. At seven and a half minutes in, both teams hit level ten with the only sizeable advantage having been gained by Tempo Storm in the form of a fort kill. MVP Black turned around a huge fight nine minutes in, taking what looked to be a dire situation and turning the tide, killing three Tempo Storm heroes in the process, including a huge Azmodan globe onto a retreating damage dealer. A globe which was only topped by a long rang dunk a moment later killing Tempo Storm's Zeratul. Leoric has been dominant in the Korea meta since his release, and MVP Black showed why through the use of amazing March of the Black King heroic abilities. MVP Back took a sneaky boss with only two players at level 19, running a perfect counter timing to Tyrande's owl vision. However, even with the boss pushing, a very strong Void Prison from Tempo Storm lead to a three kill fight.
Despite Tempo Storm looking as though they'd found a window to pull the game back, MVP Black was able to turn in as well as deny Tempo Storm the ability to finish a turn-in they desperately needed, effectively killing any post-fight momentum. MVP Black then planned another clutch kill on Tyrande and then another on Zeratul, and the game was effectively over.
Map Two: Sky Temple
MVP Black banned out Kael'Thas with their first ban, and Tempo Storm responded by banning Uther, a support who has been extremely strong across all metas. MVP Black then picked Zeratul, keeping it out of Tempo Storm Zuna's very capable hands. Rather than choosing Leoric for themselves, Tempo Storm drafted Johanna and Zagara, a powerful duo on Sky Temple. MVP Black of course then chose Leoric, and followed it up with Jaina. In the second ban phase, Tempo Storm banned Malfurion, and MVP Black banned Rehgar, forcing both teams into more non-traditional supports. Tempo Storm followed up their early specialist pick and supplemented it with Valla and Nazeebo. Brightwing then made her triumphant tournament return as MVP Black's fourth pick. They then rounded out their composition with, no surprise, a second warrior Arthas. Tempo Storm final picked their own support with Kharazim. With both teams forced out of their comfort zones, the winner of map two will be the one who adapt to their support's qualities the best.
Despite several close calls early on, both teams reached level six without a single takedown. As the action picked up after level ten, we saw plays out of MVP Black's Brightwing that are mostly only reserved for Zeratul: blinking around the map with clutch heals and a surprising amount of damage. MVP Black took the first major engagement at the eight minute mark in the form of a four-to-one kill fight which earned them a solid two level lead. An enormous boss steal at the twelve minute mark by MVP Black also resulted in an entire team wipe of Tempo Storm. Using their three level advantage, and a Void Prison placed outside of the respawn door, MVP Black chunked down the core with ease and took game number two.
Map Three: Dragon Shire
After getting rocked by Leoric in the first two games, Tempo Storm finally first banned him. MVP Black then opted to ban Zeratul. Kael'Thas was Tempo Storm's first pick, and MVP Black chose Johanna and Uther with their first picks. Tempo then added a Jaina and a Muradin and then opted to use their second ban on Zagara. MVP Black, having done their homework on Tempo Storm, chose to ban Tyrande. MVP Black added a Nazeebo and a Valla to their composition, while Tempo Storm chose to round out their roster with Rehgar and Tassadar. MVP Black, again, to no surprise, added an Arthas to give their composition two warriors.
Teams traded kills early, both with three kills two minutes in. MVP Black was able to secure the first Dragon, however, the early level dragon wasn't able to achieve a great deal of structural damage. MVP Black again took a strong lead in the early game, with a solid one level advantage only four minutes in eight to seven. At only six minutes in, MVP Black took their second Dragon Knight of the match, killed two Tempo Storm players in a fight, and destroyed the bottom lane keep at only seven and a half minutes into the game. Tempo Storm was able to turn the momentum in their favor thirteen minutes in, as they earned three hero kills on MVP Black. However, that fight didn't translate into a dragon of their own, or even structural damage, but it did bring them back into line in experience, equalizing at level eighteen. An extremely well planned rotation by MVP Black at the seventeen minute mark found Tempo Storm out of position. MVP Black wiped hero after hero on their way to the core, and took game three.
Result: MVP Defeats Tempo Storm 3-0
In a sight, thus far unseen, Tempo Storm was simply outmatched at every turn. MVP Black brought the Korean two warrior meta to the forefront, and displayed some interesting and unconventional builds. MVP Black's rotations, and ability to turn fights around, forced Tempo Storm into uncharacteristic mistakes. Although Tempo Storm has shown they can turn around games from behind, MVP Black was dominant early, middle, and late as they put on a masterclass in Heroes of the Storm.
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