How do the teams in HGC 2017 North America stack up going into Week 2?
My Rankings going into Week 1:
- Tempo Storm
- Team Naventic
- Gale Force eSports
- B Step (formerly known as Denial eSports)
- No Tomorrow
- Superstars
- Team 8
- Team Freedom
The Post-Week 1 Power Rankings
1. Gale Force eSports (2-0)
Results: Defeated Naventic 3-0; Defeated B Step 3-2
They rose to prominence during the Summer Season by winning the 2nd Summer NA regional over Team Naventic to book their ticket to Dreamhack Summer.
And then, with a chance to impress the world, they flopped epically. Instead of making a name for themselves, they made a name for Taiwanese team Please Buff Arthas, making them the first team from a minor region to make it to the 2nd Group Stage when Michaeludall on Zeratul misused his Void Prison heroic, failing to use it on the core to stop the Please Buff Arthas core rush. Later on, they added Fan, who many consider the best player in North America, in order to make a serious push for BlizzCon. This lead to hype that they were a North American super team... and ended with the team having one of their worst performances to date.
Clearly, Gale Force eSports entered HGC 2017 with a LOT to prove, especially when we heard that their new addition Equinox was only sometimes tanking and that their ranged assassin player Khroen will sometimes be main tanking. But despite facing an incredibly hard schedule in week 1, they have risen to the occasion, first edging out B Step 3-2 and then emphatically destroying their Team Naventic rivals 3-0.
2. Team 8 (2-0)
Results: Defeated No Tomorrow 3-0; Defeated B Step 3-1
Just before HGC 2017 began, Chu8 elected not to participate in HGC 2017 to focus on streaming and was replaced by Prismaticism. Would you believe me if I told you then that after week 1 they would be 2-0 with a 6-1 map record? I think you would have called me insane.
Seriously, the amount of improvement this team has shown since the qualifiers is nothing short of incredible - only Tempest out of Korea last year might have shown the same level of improvement over such a short time, and Tempest had way better players on their roster. Even more astonishing, had Team 8 not thrown Game 1 against B Step that they were leading by a lot, they might have very well been 6-0 this week.
So how has Team 8 done it? The answer is two-fold: Glaurung has played insanely well, but so has the rest of the roster. This means that they are not relying on "Glaurung carry us" compositions to win games, which has allowed Team 8 to out draft their opponents. They have managed to secure Ragnaros almost every single game...which just boggles the mind, until you realize that teams may very well be overconcerned with banning out Glaurung (see B Step with the Medivh bans, after Glaurung showcased a brilliant Medivh versus No Tomorrow).
3. Tempo Storm (1-0)
Results: Defeated Naventic 3-2
Formerly under the Astral Authority name, this team has been the best team in North America since the first Fall Regional in 2016. While this roster doesn't have the biggest names, they more than makeup for that with their excellent teamwork and strong drafting (in North America, that is). Their performance at BlizzCon and the Gold Club World Championship left a lot to be desired which has led to many people underestimating this team's strength.
That being said, I'm not sure they have a strong read on the current meta. They started out on fire, winning the draft and running through Team Naventic for a quick and decisive 2-0 lead. And then from there, everything went south. Tempo Storm started making weird decisions in draft, and then compounded those errors in game. Team Naventic had leveled the match 2-2. Tempo Storm and Naventic then played a back and forth Game 5, which featured some brilliant play but also some head-scratching decisions. Although it wasn't pretty, in the end Tempo Storm outlasted Naventic and won the match.
Going into HGC 2017, I was one of those who put Tempo Storm at #1 over the other three major North American teams on the basis that they had been the best in North America and that the other teams should prove that they are better. So why have I dropped them to #3 after the first week when they won their only match? The answer is that the above two teams played more matches than Tempo Storm this week, and looked way more impressive doing it. It sure doesn't help that their opponent Team Naventic looked absolutely terrible against Gale Force eSports either...
4. Superstars (1-0)
Results: Defeated Team Freedom 3-1
Playing under the name Dumpster Tier Superstars before they changed their name as required by Blizzard, Superstars has always been a reliable top 8 team, but has never really broken through to be one of the best in North America. They got off to a great start against Team Freedom, cruising to an easy 2-0 lead. A bad draft featuring zero waveclear on Tomb of the Spider Queen led to an obvious loss, but they were able to rebound in Game 4 and close out the match.
Overall, it was a very solid showing. So long as they can do this week after week, they should be able to avoid even the chance of being relegated without difficulty.
5. B Step (0-2)
Results: Lost to Gale Force eSports 2-3; lost to Team 8 1-3
Initially created as Crescendo, this team contains three members of 2015 BlizzCon Champions Cloud9, which understandably led to some hype. They didn't really deliver, although they did do enough to get to BlizzCon and secure a sponsor in Denial eSports.
Unfortunately, they had a very lackluster showing, not registering any kills versus either of the Korean teams they played and being easily crushed by ZeroPanda. Since then, they have replaced Glaurung with McIntyre and lost their sponsor. They hoped to have a significantly stronger showing in the HGC 2017 Phase 1.
It certainly hasn't been the case so far. They lost a close series to Gale Force eSports and that is only when KingCaffeine pulled a god-tier 5 man mosh pit to help them take a game they had no business winning. But they just looked terrible against Team 8, constantly losing the draft, failing to properly engage and having poor team fights. I think they lose 3-0 if Team 8 doesn't pick Azmodan and then throw a big lead.
6. Team Naventic (0-2)
Results: Lost 2-3 to Tempo Storm; lost 0-3 to Gale Force eSports
Without a doubt one of the best North American Heroes of the Storm teams in 2016, they've nonetheless been on a slow downward spiral, seeing constant roster turnover and generally deteriorating results. This culminated in missing BlizzCon, the first international tournament they missed since they were formed early in 2016.
Anchored by brothers Zuna and Kenma, they hoped to make a revival by securing signing bkid from Gale Force eSports to be their dedicated warrior player, the first time the roster has had one since erho was kicked months ago for toxicity (he's now on No Tomorrow). I'm afraid it hasn't worked out so far - they were getting blown out by Tempo Storm until Tempo Storm's drafting and game play deteriorated, and their performance against Gale Force eSports was just awful - even back to back massive throws from Gale Force eSports in Game 3 could not get them a win in that match!
Going forward, it is pretty clear that there are both draft and gameplay issues to be resolved. Tassadar had a 100% winrate in HGC this week with an extremely high banrate, yet Naventic mysteriously allowed him to be repeatedly picked by their opponents. In game, they also repeatedly gave up picks and lost teamfights because players would be grossly out of position. This team has the potential to be among the best in North America, but they will be the worst if they don't fix these issues.
7. Team Freedom (0-1)
Results: Lost 1-3 to Superstars
Team Freedom qualified to HGC 2017 mostly because they had an easy bracket in the 2nd qualifier. Unfortunately, they started off their match against Superstars extremely poorly. Sure, they found some decent footing in Game 3, but the match loss seemed inevitable as Superstars was able to close them out.
Although they probably have the weakest members individually, there seems to be some promise that they could improve as a team enough to be able to seriously compete with many of the teams in North America.
8. No Tomorrow (0-1)
Results: Lost 0-3 to Team 8
I just don't understand what happened. They looked so impressive in the qualifiers, taking a game off of Team Naventic in impressive fashion and showing off good decision making and team fighting. I barely saw any of that team vs. Team 8 (there was one or two glimmers, but those quickly disappeared). Was the No Tomorrow from the qualifiers kidnapped and replaced by aliens?
At any rate, No Tomorrow better quickly re-discover their form if they want to seriously compete and avoid being potentially relegated from the HGC.
The HGC 2017 action continues Friday, January 27 @ 2 pm PST.
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