Tempo Storm, the reigning Summer Global Champions, will not return to defend their title at the most prestigious international tournament, BlizzCon.
MVP Miracle once again defeated Tempo Storm with a 3-2 victory, eliminating them from the Super League tournament and denying them a trip to BlizzCon.
In their previous match in the group stages, MVP Miracle upset Tempo Storm, 3-1. However, since the upset, Tempo Storm slowly regained momentum and nearly defeated the top Korean team, MVP Black. Moreover, the previous match occurred before the recent Machines of War patch. Although the new map Braxis Holdout and the new hero Alarak were not available, the various balance changes, reworked heroes, and the mount speed changes altered draft strategies and hero priorities.
Similar to the MVP Black and L5 series, both teams highly prioritized the newly reworked Valla. In each game, Valla was either picked or banned in the first rotation. On the other hand, Li-Ming and the recently nerfed Falstad appeared in only one and two games, respectively. The stakes were high as the loser would be eliminated from the tournament and lose their chance to qualify for BlizzCon.
Game 1
In game 1 on Infernal Shrines, MVP Miracle triumphed easily.
- Tempo Storm’s solo support Auriel could not deal with MVP Miracle’s Kerrigan stuns.
- As a result, Kerrigan secured early kills in the team fights, forcing Tempo Storm to concede every Punisher.
Game 2
Tempo Storm rebounded in game 2 on Dragon Shire to tie the series 1-1.
- Perhaps for the first time ever, the first two picks in the game were Valla for Tempo Storm and Sgt. Hammer for MVP Miracle.
- While Sgt. Hammer destroyed MVP Miracle in their series against L5, Sgt. Hammer did not have similar success in this game.
- Tempo Storm’s Valla and Muradin constantly pushed MVP Miracle’s Sgt. Hammer out of the team fight, allowing Tempo Storm to collapse on other heroes.
- With Tempo Storm’s victory, Valla was now 2-0 in the series.
Game 3
Tied 1-1, Tempo Storm brought some heroes to Sky Temple that have fallen out of the meta: Sonya and Kael’thas.
Tempo Storm’s Sonya and Kael’thas selections paid off as they dominated game 3.
- After being picked first in the previous two games, Valla received her first ban.
- MVP Miracle drafted a 5-melee composition, but their strategy backfired as Tempo Storm countered with Sonya and Kael’thas.
- Sonya’s Whirlwind obtained maximum value against MVP Miracle’s heavy melee lineup.
- Moreover, MVP Miracle could not kill Kael’thas, who was protected by shields from Tassadar and Brightwing.
Game 4
In game 4 on Battlefield of Eternity, MVP Miracle survived elimination, tying the series 2-2.
- Despite drafting their patented Greymane-centered composition, Tempo Storm could not put the necessary pressure onto MVP Miracle’s Sgt. Hammer.
- As a result, the siege tank dominated and controlled the later Immortals.
Game 5
The final map was Cursed Hollow. With their tournament lives on the line, MVP Miracle drafted a composition with extensive map control and awareness. Conversely, Tempo Storm bet everything on the Lost Vikings as their final pick.
- With Abathur and Brightwing, MVP Miracle effectively countered the lane presence of Tempo Storm’s Lost Vikings.
- Furthermore, MVP Miracle’s Medivh gave the team substantial map awareness by maintaining vision of Tempo Storm’s 4-hero roaming squad.
- As a result, Medivh prevented Tempo Storm from acquiring lane rotation kills.
- In the deciding play of the game, MVP Miracle took the bottom boss and risked their tournament life with an all-in rush towards Tempo Storm’s core.
- You can watch the audacious core rush here.
BlizzCon qualification match
With the loss, Tempo Storm will not defend their Summer Global Championship at BlizzCon. On the other hand, MVP Miracle will play L5 to determine who will secure the final Korean spot at BlizzCon. The winner of that match will play MVP Black for the Super League Championship. Tune in to OGN Global on Sunday, September 25 at 11:00 CEST to see who will join MVP Black as the two Korean representatives at BlizzCon.
You can view the most current results of Super League here.
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