After some close calls, and some decisive victories, Team Liquid and ATN Fancy advance forward from the group A bracket.
Team ATN Fancy v You dun goofed
The first game in this series showed us that the monk is very comfortable being a solo support. Able to heal his allies through Kael'thas's massive damage, ATN outlasted their opponents and brought them down. The really interesting stuff began in game number two though. With a very defensive draft, ATN Fancy chose to hunker down with a Hammer pick. Something that fell off the meta for a long time, but is now making a comeback, Hammer brings some of the best zone control in the game. Without the dive to reach her effectively, Dun goofed was chipped away.
Mozzarella might have earned their spot in the main event, but their work had only just begun. Team Liquid drafted one of their signature strategies on Sky Temple, prioritizing The Lost Vikings, Abathur, and Illidan. With this strategy TL was able to keep the XP lead, giving them a massive advantage in team fights. Here, the monk's weakness was shown. Without the lockdown to keep Illidan under control, he was able to shred through Mozzarella leaving nothing behind but a smoldering core. Game two saw a very rare Raynor pick on the side of Mozzarella in an attempt to melt though the double frontline tanks. It was not enough, however, and TL was able to keep the map under their control.
Team Mozzarella v You dun goofed
Game one showed the synergy monk has with diving. Being able to be where your team needs healing the most means much higher chance for survival. Mozzarella took this game, but Goofed's hidden strategy was yet to be revealed. With a double healer and Muradin to protect their prized Hammer, Goofed was able to hold their ground against the aggressive Illidan Abathur comp from Mozzarella. Brightwing even made an appearance, able to polymorph the Illidan before he could do any substantial damage. Mozzarella learned from this though, and in game three they drafted an Anub'arak and Tyrael to act as dive buddies for Illidan. Unable to defend Hammer from this amount of pressure, Goofed fell before them.
Team Liquid once again drafted their tried and true Sky Temple comp, but ATN Fancy wasn't about to let them have the full combo. With an Abathur ban, they felt confident they could take TL on their home turf. Surprisingly enough, Fancy stood toe to toe with the titans of EU, winning several teamfights against them, but being unable to close out the game. The longer it dragged out, however, the larger chance TL had to win. Unfortunately for Fancy, they were wiped and TL went straight for the kill. It was a similar story in game two, with both teams on equal ground. Fancy tried to push in to TL's core but the Kael'thas defense was too strong. After wiping Fancy, TL rushed their core and ended the series.
Liquid may have advanced in first place, but there was still that tempting second place spot that would advance another team forward. With a surprise Thrall Abathur comp, ATN looked like the underdog in the early game, falling slightly behind Mozzarella. But they picked up the pace, knocking down their foes with the power of the elements. Double the Orcs means double the power. Realizing the power of the Abathur, Mozzarella banned him out first. Confident in their Illidan play despite that, ATN ran with it. With the monk to heal him, and Muradin and Anub'arak to lock his targets down, Fancy was able to pick apart Mozzarella and secure their spot forward.
The first group may be finished, but the tournament is far from complete. Tomorrow, we will see Na'Vi, Roccat, Kinguin and Evil Murkies compete for the coveted spot in the finals. You can catch all that action at twitch.tv/khaldor at 18:00 cest. If that's not enough, we still have two more group stages after that where giants such as Fnatic, Virtus.Pro, Bob?, MYM and more will go head to head for a slew of cash and hardware prizes.
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