We saw a lot of surprising team compositions and close games that came down to slivers of core health on the first day of the Heroes of the Storm North America Fall Regional #2 live from PAX West. The day began with a Cho’gall draft from Murloc Geniuses and ended with the defending champions advancing from the lower bracket with Sgt. Hammer in their comp. Denial eSports were the first team to advance to the playoffs after their underwhelming performance at the last regional motivated them even further to make it to BlizzCon.
UPPER BRACKET
The action kicked off with Murloc Geniuses up against Team Name Change, and the current NA frontrunners came out strong with a Game 1 win on Infernal Shrines. However, the perfect run that many pictured for Murloc Geniuses began to fall through as TNC forced a third game after a strong showing on Sky Temple.
We're going to a game #3! #HGC pic.twitter.com/jeKBVWcSuK
— ESL Heroes (@ESLHeroes) September 2, 2016
Murloc Geniuses ended up taking Game 3 and moving on in the upper bracket. The always calm shotcaller Ben “Cattlepillar” Bunk ensured that he wasn’t feeling any pressure.
"I never feel pressure!" - @cattlepillar #HGC pic.twitter.com/MymycNBEP0
— ESL Heroes (@ESLHeroes) September 2, 2016
While Murloc Geniuses failed to show the same dominance they displayed at the first Fall Regional, the opposite was true for Denial eSports. After a disappointing debut at the Fall Regional #1 in Burbank, this time around the wolfpack started off strong with a 2-0 win against Dumpster Tier Superstars and moved on to the upper bracket finals against Murloc Geniuses.
The battle began with a Game 1 win for Denial eSports on Sky Temple.
The #WolfPack of @Denialesports take down 4 to go for the win! #HGC pic.twitter.com/cdbZ0BZ682
— ESL Heroes (@ESLHeroes) September 2, 2016
Game 2 Towers of Doom was looking good for Murloc Geniuses as they took the first Bell Tower with ease, but Denial pushed back and the level leads went back and forth until the wolfpack won with a strong last push.
Wow! @Denialesports takes down four from @murlocgeniuses! #HGC pic.twitter.com/ULcSIrAPST
— ESL Heroes (@ESLHeroes) September 2, 2016
With Denial performing as well as so many originally expected them to, Mike “Glaurung” Fisk told Tim “Trikslyr” Frazier in a post-win interview, “I was super disappointed and heartbroken last event, to the point where I’ve never focused so hard for an event. To all our fans, we let you guys down last time. This is the third year that I’ve had the chance to go to BlizzCon. I’m not gonna miss it this year, I’ve missed it twice.”
Find out what @Glaurung_tv had to say after @DenialEsports beat @Murlocgeniuses! #HGC pic.twitter.com/RgFXbK2XvD
— ESL Heroes (@ESLHeroes) September 2, 2016
LOWER BRACKET
Dumpster Tier Superstars and Team Name Change were the first to play in the lower bracket. TNC took Game 1 after a close fight, and the battle moved on to Game 2 Tomb of the Spider Queen.
Just when it looked like DTS were about to push things to a Game 3, TNC saved their core at 2% health and moved on to the lower bracket finals to battle for a spot in the playoffs against Murloc Geniuses.
Can't get closer than that! @tncHotS moves on! #HGC pic.twitter.com/eNhjZeOdj8
— ESL Heroes (@ESLHeroes) September 2, 2016
Team Name Change were in the same predicament as the Burbank Fall Regional, once again battling the returning champions in the lower bracket group stage finals. TNC put up a good fight on Cursed Hollow, but the Stitches and Medivh combo from Harrison “Psalm” Chang and Manny “Fury” Medina was too much for them to handle.
Game 2 went much more quickly, and Murloc Geniuses advanced from the lower bracket just as they did in the first Fall Regional. Will they be able to take it all again?
Wow! @Murlocgeniuses wipe out @tncHotS! #HGC pic.twitter.com/hyeUabsYE1
— ESL Heroes (@ESLHeroes) September 3, 2016
COMING UP
Congratulations to Denial eSports and Murloc Geniuses for advancing to the playoffs! Be sure to tune into the ESL Heroes of the Storm Twitch channel today at 10AM PDT to watch Gale Force eSports, Team Naventic, Astral Authority, and Imported Support battle it out in Group B.
For live social coverage and the latest updates about the North American Heroes of the Storm Fall Global Circuit, follow ESL Heroes on Facebook and Twitter. You can also follow Blizzard’s Heroes of the Storm social channels on Facebook and Twitter and add your voice to the conversation by using #HGC.