Tempest
(Lockdown) Falstad
It was in the Losers’ round 1 of the playoffs of the Heroes of the Storm Super League 2016 - Season 2 that the world first discovered how good Lockdown was on the gryphon. Since then, Tempest is undefeated when Lockdown plays Falstad (the one loss to TNL with Tempest having Falstad saw duckdeok on the hero, and Lockdown on Thrall). Observing this, MVP Black banned Falstad in three of the four games during the Super League Finals, but the effort was in vain - Tempest rolled over them anyways.
Tempest played Falstad both times the enemy team didn’t steal or ban him during the 2nd Group Stage of Dreamhack All Stars - Summer, and won both games in extremely convincing fashion.
Link to full build.Lockdown’s build is a hybrid build - the whole idea is to throw out as many Q’s as he possibly can, opting for Secret Weapon instead of Boomerang for the extra range and picking Epic Mount at 20 for map mobility.
MVP Black
(Sake) Kael’thas
As mentioned in this article, Sake is a masterful Kael’thas player. After neglecting him for a bit, MVP Black is back to prioritizing KT in a big way during Dreamhack All Stars - Summer, picking him in every game except one (and that was the one game they lost).
You might have noticed that Sake has changed his build since the release of the article on his Kael’thas play. He now runs the gravity lapse build with sun king’s fury, although there are a couple things to note: first, while he usually runs netherwind at 4, he sometimes (like shown above) picks Energy Roil at 4, particularly vs. melee heavy compositions. Pyromaniac is the 100% pick at 13, with Arcane Power picked up at 20 over the Rebirth he used to pick (warning: because MVP Black reached level 20 only once during Dreamhack All Stars - Summer, sample size is a serious issue).
eStar Gaming
(XingC) Greymane
eStar Gaming is famous for their extremely aggressive compositions, and perhaps no hero better captures the all out aggression than Greymane. XingC loves playing the hero, and eStar loves drafting Tyrael or Uther to help enable the crazy aggression. eStar will sometimes even draft Abathur to get a 2nd Greymane, and this one doesn’t even care if he dies! If you aren’t ready to face this high-level aggression, prepare to get annihilated off the battleground. Truly scary stuff.
XingC doesn’t care about survivability except for the obligatory stealth talent Eyes in the Dark at level 4 - it’s all about the damage (Wizened Duelist at level 7, and Executioner at level 16). A word of caution - don’t try this all in build with Greymane if you don’t know what you’re doing.
mYinsanity
Lunara
mYinsanity has always loved this hero - even when she was totally out of the meta. In fact, it probably isn’t a stretch to say that Lunara is back in the meta because of mYinsanity’s stellar play on this hero. Unlike the other three teams, whose signature hero is played by a specific player, any one of Darkmok, Nurok or HasuObs can be placed on the hero, without any loss in performance.
There’s nothing surprising about the standard Lunara build mYi uses, although their game against Tempest saw them try to use Splintered Spear at Level 7, Leaping Strike for the heroic, and Star Wood Spear at Level 16. That did not work out for them though, as Tempest still took the game fairly convincingly. Also, the level 20 talent is unclear - but then again, win or lose, mYinsanity has never gotten to Level 20 with Lunara during this event.
Previewing the Playoffs
MVP Black vs. mYinsanity
With their 4-0 map score against Team Dignitas during Group Stage 2 of Dreamhack All Stars - Summer, mYinsanity has left no doubt who the #1 team in EU is. They will face a tall task in the semi-finals, though, as their next opponent is the defending World Champions MVP Black. While MVP is obviously heavily favored here, mYinsanity is known for their innovative drafts, so who knows what crazy new drafts mYinsanity has up their sleeves? This is a Bo5 semi-final, so it would be a shocking upset if MVP Black doesn’t advance here.
Tempest vs. eStar Gaming
This one is a heavyweight battle between two of the top 3 teams in the world. Tempest is the Korean Champions from Super League, while eStar Gaming is the clear #1 team in China. Though the battles promise to be fiercer than ever, the edge has to go to Tempest, seeing that they have already accomplished what eStar never has despite more opportunities to do so: beat World Champions MVP Black in a match (during 2016).
Should MVP Black and Tempest advance to the Finals as expected, the finals will be the ultimate clash of the titans. Will MVP Black show that their 0-4 loss to Tempest in the Super League Finals was a fluke? Or will Tempest show that every dynasty falls? Find out by following the action on Twitch, starting at 3:15 am PT tomorrow.
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