EPT<h1 style="line-height: 1.1em;">What We Learned from the ESL Major League Season 3 Playoffs
</br></h1><h2 style="text-align: center; margin-top: -5px;"></h2><div id="author">by Xingua </div>
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The professional Heroes scene continues to grow with the top North American teams facing off for the third straight weekend in a row. Following the August Open’s Round of 8 and MSI’s Masters Gaming Arena, last weekend brought us the ESL Major League Season 3 Playoff so now, it’s time for another “WWL.” The playoffs featured the top four teams from North America facing off in a double elimination bracket with all matches formatted as best-of-fives. This was our first chance to see how the recent dominance of MVP Black may have changed the status quo in the American region and it did not disappoint.
Everything was progressing as usual with Tempo Storm knocking Cloud9 down to the Lower Bracket, and then meeting them again in the Finals. Tempo Storm jumped ahead with two wins, including a nailbiting win with their core hovering at four percent. Suddenly, Cloud9 switched things up and went on a six-game winning streak, resetting the bracket and beating Tempo Storm in the second finals during this last month.
This tournament had some incredible games with every team showcasing new builds, heroes, and strategies. While they did apply new strategies inspired by the MGA, teams also seemed to have been hiding their most innovative ideas for the Regionals on the Road to BlizzCon, coming up on September 19th and 20th. The prize pool for the ESL Playoffs was $10,000 which is not too shabby, but the Americas Championship is ten times that at $100,000, and both the first and second place teams will head to the World Championship at BlizzCon where another pool of $500,000 awaits. As the prize money grows, the competition becomes more intense, and the American teams know they still have European and Asian teams to worry about in November.
As usual, the stats for the this tournament were compiled by Dthehunter, and can be found here.
He also broke down stats by team, so you can analyze how individual teams are drafting here.
VODs are not currently available for the Playoffs, but you can watch the full broadcasts for Day 1 and Day 2 on Twitch. I definitely recommend the final series between Cloud9 and Tempo Storm, which starts around 4:27:00 on Day 2.
Let’s get into it and see what new things we’ve learned before Rexxar (maybe) changes everything:
<h2>The Cool Kids’ Table</h2>
In last week’s MGA WWL, we talked about the 100% involvement rates of Uther, Zeratul, Kael’thas, Leoric, and Johanna. This week, teams continued to prioritize those heroes with both their picks and bans, but Johanna slipped a bit and missed two drafts. I’ve been over the strengths of each hero in previous columns, but let’s do it again for the newcomers.
Uther: Great burst healing (AoE and single target), great utility with his stuns, and Divine Shield is able to save lives, reset fights, or prevent interrupts.
Zeratul: Best melee Assassin in the game, incredibly annoying to monitor, Void Prison can set up team fights or allow escapes.
Kael’thas: Best ranged Assassin in the game, insane AoE damage after Level 13, though that has been tweaked in the latest patch.
Leoric: Top Warrior, aggressive bruiser style suited for double Warrior, two viable Heroics, and super short death timer.
<h2>The Almost-as-Cool Kids</h2>
As mentioned above, Johanna fell a bit out of the 100% involvement club, but she’s still a top pick for teams. Jaina is another former 100% involved hero from back in the July Open is still a heavy favorite in drafts, and teams are experimenting more with her using talents like Icy Veins, Frost Shards, and Ice Lance to improve her single target burst, and Ring of Frost continues to be considered a possible Heroic pick. Valla is also seeing a resurgence as she has been a popular damage dealer going all the way back to the Alpha. She never fell completely out of favor, but she’s now being picked ahead of other heroes that were ahead of her earlier this summer.
Rehgar and Malfurion continue to be capable healers, and should be on any Support player’s roster. They both provide good sustain in teamfights, and Tranquility and Ancestral Healing are just a tiny bit below Divine Shield. At this point, it’s more of a player preference between the two unless you desperately want a single target burst heal that Rehgar’s Heroic can provide. We did see Cloud9’s Dunktrain running an old-fashioned, aggressive Rehgar build against COGnitive, taking Feral Lunge and Blood for Blood, which turned Rehgar into a pretty scary chaser.
<h2>Specialist Meta Over Already?</h2>
Only 2 weeks ago, we saw Cloud9 running triple Specialist compositions and cutting through Forts like butter. Nazeebo and Zagara were both 100% involved in the final rounds of the August Open, but now the top Specialists have fallen way back as Zagara dipped to 75% involvement, and Nazeebo has fallen all the way down to 29%. Both heroes are still viable, and Cloud9 actually made Nazeebo’s toad build look strong in the Finals. They are dipping as NA teams are focusing on different strategies and don’t favor as many ranged damage dealers as before. Instead they are favoring new compositions...
<h2>Welcome to our new Korean Overlords!</h2>
MVP Black showcased how devastating double (or triple) Warrior could be during the MGA, as Asia and EU have been favoring this composition throughout the summer. North America had been resisting the urge to switch, instead favoring heavy ranged compositions like Tempo Storm has showcased in many tournament wins. However, now that teams have seen the double Warrior in action they seem to be relenting as both Tempo Storm and Cloud9 often rolled out double Warrior comps in their 11 games against one another. Half of the compositions for the Playoffs featured two Warriors, as compared to virtually none in the August Open. The front line control it sets up for teams is devastatingly disruptive, and skilled ranged Assassins can pick apart enemy teams rather than the usual American burst style. This may have been the top American teams trying out this strategy in a low-stakes tournament, but with the success Cloud9 saw with it, they might make the full switch come Regionals.
Arthas, Anub’arak, Tyrael, and even ETC all saw significant jumps in their play rates, and we even saw a brief Stitches appearance. Two of the last three heroes for the game are were Warriors and Artanis is one of the next two, so this trend will probably continue all the way to BlizzCon. In return, as the other Warriors saw more popularity, this explains why some heroes have taken dramatic steps down in their pick-rates.
<h2>Did Abathur Stump Tempo Storm?</h2>
Abathur is one hero that definitely benefits from double Warrior, as the games tend to be slower so his ability to slowly push an enemy to death really shines in longer games. He also has amazing synergy with bruisers like Leoric and Arthas, who are already making an impact on the Meta. Typically Ultimate Evolution is used on a damage dealer who isn’t strongly reliant on talents to be great (think Jaina or Illidan), but Cloud9 ran a deadly double Arthas against Tempo Storm that casters Cooby and Solidjake were quite impressed with. The double root from two Howling Blasts created insane lockdown, shutting down any attempts to get through and reach their Assassins. They credited Fan’s Abathur play as having a big impact in Cloud9 winning six consecutive games, then the tournament, and that’s a weakness Tempo will need to address before the Americas Championship arrives.
Abathur has had his ups and downs on the professional scene, but now seems to be on the upswing again. Ultimate Evolution’s short CD allows it to be up for most team fights, and players are building around his Vile Nest talent to slow fleeing enemies or set up ganks. Putting an Abathur Symbiote on high survivability, low damage heroes turns them into a huge threat. Leoric or Sonya with Symbiote, for example, can push down a lane if not stopped, while Murky and Symbiote set up a instant-kill combination with Octo-Grab.
<h2>Jimmy Rain Man!</h2>
Raynor had a surprising jump in popularity after long being treated as an afterthought in the Nexus. This may have been another change prompted by MVP Black who made him shine in MGA. He was played in six games, often by players who main melee damage dealers, but had an underwhelming showing with only one win. His sustainability with Adrenaline Rush and knockback from Penetrating Round make him able to go toe-to-toe with heavy bruiser comps that are coming back into fashion. His Heroic of choice is Hyperion, which lets you push down a Fort or Keep while zoning out the enemy team, and puts out solid AOE damage in fights.
The most popular build over the weekend focused on buffing up his self healing at Level 1 and 7, and boosting his auto attacks with Focused Attacks, Giant Killer, Berserk, and Nexus Frenzy. His auto attacks can melt through even the toughest Warriors, so teams often chose our cigar-smoking Terran against double Warrior comps in the tournament.
<h2>Hero Diversity</h2>
One of the major complaints as the Heroes professional scene has grown is that the team compositions have been extremely stale, with the same heroes drafted repeatedly. MGA shook things up a bit but still had ten heroes that weren’t played in any of the 16 games. The shake-up continued in the Major League Playoffs, as only six heroes weren’t played in any games, though teams may be saving their top strategies for the Americas Championship. The heroes that weren’t played at all in these Playoffs were Chen, Diablo, Nova, Falstad, Tychus, and Brightwing, but we finally saw glimpses of Thrall, Stitches, Gazlowe, and Li Li. Heroes needs this composition diversity to keep drafts and strategies from growing stale and, as players begin looking at regions outside of North America, new experimental compositions will become the norm. The increase in prize money being awarded at competitive events will draw more teams into the scene, and hopefully will lead to further innovations and diversity in the competitive hero pool.
Dusting an unusual hero off can really throw your opponent off as they may not have practiced against them in a while and it may disrupt their team comp if you know something they don’t. Cloud9 started their amazing comeback by picking up Sonya as their last pick, which left Tempo Storm no stuns to break her Whirlwind. This decision as well as her choice of Mercenary Lord gave Cloud9 a huge lead in siege damage and she tore through enemies with a Divine Shielded Whirlwind on Tributes. Thinking outside the box is not only more fun for the viewing audience, but can create advantages if your opponents think they know your plan of attack. Cloud9 sealed their tournament victory by putting iDream on The Butcher for the first time ever in tournament play, and they rode his meat truck to their sixth dominant win in a row.
<h2>Stray Observations:</h2>
- It looks like Kharazim has still not made an impact on the North American scene, as he was only played in one game: another loss. This time compLexity tried a new approach, pairing him with another Support, Tyrande, then took Seven-Sided Strike as his Heroic and upgraded it at Level 20. The damage from his Heroic actually swung a couple of team fights, but ultimately he was not enough to win the match. We’re still waiting for a way to play him in the existing professional Meta, but teams continue to avoid him as a solo Support.
- The powerful control combination of Uther and Zeratul went 2-0 in the Playoffs, but most teams tried to avoid it. CompLexity let Cloud9 run it twice, and lost both games. Friends don’t let friends give their opponents Zeratul and Uther!
- The end of the first game between Cloud9 and Tempo Storm in the Finals was incredible. It actually gave two simple tips that everyone should hold in their back pocket for close games. KingCaffeine used Leoric’s Entomb to block the entrance of Tempo Storm’s base so they couldn’t run out to defend their Core as they respawned. On the other hand, Zuna used Zeratul’s Void Prison to “freeze” his own Core to prevent fatal damage being dealt while his teammates rushed across the map. These aren’t surprising concepts, but to see them both used within minutes of each other was awesome and a good reminder to unfamiliar players.
- ETC built on the momentum he got from MVP Black playing him in MGA, and was used in three games in the Playoffs. His Dance set up great team fights as the nerf to Cleanse made it harder for opponents to interrupt (before they could pre-Cleanse, run in and stun). It can be used to set up giant team traps when timed correctly, or can offset an enemy Void Prison trapping the rest of your team. We saw some cool counterplay with him when Tempo Storm and Cloud9 faced off in the Semi-Finals. Obviously, putting Uther’s Divine Shield on ETC before he casts gives protection to make sure it’s uninterrupted, but Cloud9 tried using Tyrael’s Sanctification to become immune to the CC and dive in to kill or interrupt ETC immediately.
- If you’re looking for a power gank composition, go for Kerrigan and Johanna for the endless grabs and stuns. Cloud9 added a Tyrande as well for good measure. They were killing Glaurung’s Raynor before his Adrenaline Rush could do anything.
- Jaximus from compLexity picked Thrall in one game. Thrall’s not great, but I love that Jaximus doesn’t care about what’s popular and picks heroes he thinks will be good, using builds he likes. Innovation is great, especially in the stale North American Meta. One day Thrall will have his moment, one day…
- Have we talked about how good Calldown: MULE is on Sky Temple? It’s talked about so much in tournaments that it’s worth mentioning again. Because the Temple blasts don’t do splash damage, a MULE can do a great job of defending your structures when you are losing Temples. It’s almost a must-pick on that map, so always keep in mind the heroes that have it when drafting: Abathur, Gazlowe, Malfurion, Tassadar, Tyrande. It can win you games!
- Infernal Shrines was not allowed in this tournament, so we didn’t get to see it in competitive play. Blizzard is saying it is bugged and are working on fixes to make it less snowball-y, so hopefully we can see it at the Americas Championship. It’s a map with an interesting concept.
- Early thoughts on Rexxar are that he seems very dificult to control well and is very squishy if you avoid Misha. I don't know if he's going to change the Meta much, but we'll have to see how the pros handle him.
- At this point you might have to give Cloud9 the edge in the upcoming Americas Championship. They looked great in their six game win streak, as Dunktrain switching back to melee seems to have reinvigorated their whole team. Tempo Storm looked out of sorts in their final games with Cloud9, and their limited hero pool is definitely an issue. Zoia (their manager and caster for the first half of the tournament) admitted that they need to work on their early game rotations and team compositions if they want to win BlizzCon. Two teams qualify for BlizzCon at the Americas Championship, but the top 4 teams face off in a sudden-death single-elimination bracket at the end. That means if Cloud9 or Tempo Storm have a single bad game, their whole Road to BlizzCon would be over. I hope they both make it since they have both been very dominant all year, but I’m preparing for the drama if they face each other before the finals or get eliminated prematurely. Either way, it should be fun!
- As always, make sure to check out Dthehunter on Twitter @Dthehunter2510 for more statistics on these tournaments. He continues to add more content to his spreadsheets (like the team breakdowns above) and would love replays of all tournament games so he can do talent statistics too. Help him out!
- Let me know if I missed anything from the Major League Season 3 Playoffs down in the comments below, or follow and tweet me @Xingua. And don’t forget my esteemed editor @Vaalia_, who thinks three-ring binders are nifty.
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<div class="snippetwrap"></div><div id="footer">Writer: Xingua
Graphics & Format: shiroiusagi, Vaalia
Art Credit: Blizzard
Editor(s): Vaalia</div></div>
