Match 1: Tempo Storm vs. Team Naventic
Tempo Storm started out with an early lead 1-0 on Tomb of the Spider queen implementing their Greymane/Tyrael duo, giving us flashbacks to the 2016 meta with their drafts. Excellent Mosh Pits and turn-in control secured Tempo the win.
Naventic chose Cursed Hollow as their battleground choice for game two. Despite this advantage, Naventic looked deflated playing poorly from the beginning of the game. Even with a draft that seemed a little odd, Tempo Storm managed to take game two for a 2-0 lead.
In game three Tempo Storm went back to the Tyrael/Greymane duo on Battlefield of Eternity. Naventic had a duo of their own prepared for this game, drafting the popular Tassadar and Tracer duo and complimented it with the rest of their comp nicely. Even with this draft, Tempo Storm maintained dominance until a really nice Twilight Dream by Kenma led to three deaths and a game-ending core rush for Naventic.
In game four Tempo Storm picks Infernal Shrines, resorting to the strong Tyrael pick, only this time with map favorite, Kerrigan. Gul'Dan proved to be a solid counter to this duo with Naventic during team fights, holding Horrify until just after Sanctification ends. This strategy led to incredibly high value Horrifies on grouped up members, helping give Naventic a the win, tying the series 2-2.
Going to a game five, Tempo Storm chose Braxis Holdout. Tempo seemed to lose starting at the draft screen. The game was back and forth for the full 26 minutes. The match came down to a final team fight that Tempo Storm won on the back of a stage dive onto Morales, deleting the support and ending a game-winning core push by Tempo.
Match 2: No Tomorrow vs. Team 8
This first match between No Tomorrow and Team 8 on Tomb of the Spider Queen started the fight over Medivh. The drafts for the series can be found here. It became clear as Glaurung showcased his skill for the hero with Team 8 controlling the game and only losing one fort. Team 8 took a 1-0 lead in the series.
Game two saw Medivh picked during first rotation for Glaurung in combination with Malfurion, this time on Infernal Shrines. A three specialist composition is unheard of but Team 8 piloted it to victory with shrine control, pushing power, big plays from Gluarung, and the late game power of Nazeebo.
No Tomorrow decides not to let Glaurung have Medivh again, banning him for this match on Cursed Hollow. Team 8 instead runs a standard composition with the Tassadar/Tracer duo, establishing control of the game from the beginning. During these beginning matches, Team 8 let us know they can both their favorites and conventional draft picks, making Team 8 a dangerous team to play against.
Overall, it was a great day of matches, setting a great expectation for this season of HGC moving forward.
