First of all, congratulations to MVPBlack for winning the Global Spring Championship and taking home the first place trophy!

The first global championship of 2016 recently concluded with MVP Black(MVPB) lifting the trophy high. Their run was so dominant it left the Heroes community wondering if anyone could ever catch up to MVPB’s level. The Spring Championship was the first in a series of tournaments, culminating in the global championship at Blizzcon this fall. With top teams from every region fighting for their share of $500,000 USD, the championship in Seoul showed some of the best Heroes games to date and set the tone for year to come. Let's go back and take a look at what transpired in Seoul, South Korea.

Day 1: The Fall of Latin America, SEA and Oceania

The first day of the event set the lowest-seeded teams of each region against one another in two double elimination brackets, with each match a Bo3. The top two teams from each group then advanced to Group Stage 2. The first day would become the day that illustrated the immense difference between ‘major’ regions (EU, KR and NA) and ‘minor’ regions such as (LATAM, SEA, ANZ). With the results shown by TNL and EDG, the first day served as a premonition of the Asian dominance to come.

Group A

The results were as expected. In Group A, Team No Limit(TNL) ended up on top with a crushing victory over the Brazilian powerhouse Big Gods(BG) as well as Europe’s mYinsanity(mYi) with their solid rotations and aggressive plays. In the loser's match the Taiwanese team GIA went up against BG, narrowly securing themselves a victory and allowing them to move on to the deciding match. Awaiting GIA was mYi, who just had lost to TNL in the winner's match. Despite the momentum GIA had entering the match, mYi proved too strong a competitor, crushing GIA and advancing on to Group Stage 2.

Group B

Group B had much the same outcome as Group A. The Chinese team EDward Gaming(EDG) dominated their way through the group, first taking out the Australian/New Zealand team Negative Synergy(NS) before going on to the winners match beating one of the top North American team, Team Naventic(NVT). In the loser’s match, NS proved too strong for their opponent Renovatio I(RI). After suffering a loss to EDG in the winner's match, NVT met NS in the deciders match. NVT showed that they had no plans of getting knocked out early, taking the first game with a clutch backdoor core call to end the game. NVT then took the second game in a convincing fashion, making them the second team to advance from Group B.

Day 2: Asian Dominance

The second group stage had the same setup as the first day: two groups of four teams participating in a double elimination bracket to decide who would advance to the Finals of the Spring Championship. During Group Stage 2, the Chinese and Korean teams proved which was the top team in their respective regions. In the meantime, NA and EU duked it out, proving how close in skill level the two regions had become. As the second day progressed, a wake-up call rang through the heads of players and fans alike. A gap in skill between the Western and Eastern teams had emerged that neither fans nor players had anticipated.

Group A

Group A started off with former Blizzcon champions Cloud 9(C9) facing off against EDG. This series would prove to be one of the closest in the tournament. The first game on Sky Temple had C9 opening strong, using a combination of Stitches and Zeratul to secure takedowns, but through a very strong late game composition EDG managed to secure the win. In the second game, C9 made a strong draft against EDG using Falstad and Murky to punish their opponent’s Abathur-centered composition, evening up the series 1-1. The last game went back and forth between the two teams, but in the end EDG proved too strong and won the series. In the other match of the group, mYi faced off against the top Chinese team eStar Gaming(eStar). This series was rather lacklustre compared to the first of the group, with eStar displaying some very strong and aggressive plays that mYinsanity could not answer. In the end eStar took the series 2-0, advancing to the winners match against their countrymen on EDG.

Being the top seed from China, many expected eStar to take the series over EDG; however, EDG proved that they are not to be underestimated, taking the series 2-1 over eStar. On the loser’s side, NA champions C9 faced off against mYi. Many were predicting C9 to take the series with few problems, but mYi didn't go down easily. Showing solid form in the first game, mYi took an early lead in the series and it looked like mYi was poised to take the series, but it would not last. What followed the initial victory for mYi was a series of poor decisions and fights allowing C9 to come back into the set and take the series. After beating mYi, C9 had to go up against eStar in the deciders match. Unlike the games against EDG, the series against eStar did not look so close. eStar won a 2-0 victory despite strong plays from the previous world champions.

Group B

Group B consisted of the two Korean powerhouses TNL and MVPB as well as Team Dignitas(DIG) from Europe and NVT from North America. This group began with the favored-to-win MVPB against NVT in a series that would go on to become an example MVPBs dominance. After NVT gave MVBP an inch early game, MVPB took a mile and crushed their opponents 2-0 in the first match of the group. The second set between DIG and TNL was not quite as one sided. Winning the game on Infernal Shrines despite losing several Punishers in a row, DIG looked poised to crack open their opponent’s Korean armor. Unfortunately for DIG, TNL proved the stronger and more consistent team, taking the series 2-1.

For the winners match, just as the Chinese teams faced off against each other, the two Korean teams met. Unlike EDG, TNL could not overcome MVPB, getting crushed 2-0 by the eventual champions. On the loser’s side there was yet again another America vs Europe standoff. This time it was NVT against DIG. NVT started out strong on Infernal Shrines, getting early punishers and securing themselves a lead to eventually close out the game. Despite being a heavily momentum-based team, NVT could not ride their momentum any further. In the following games DIG warded off their opponents aggression, allowing them to take a 2-1 victory. For the final match of Group Stage 2, DIG had to play TNL once more. At this point, DIG was the final hope for a non-Eastern team to proceed to the Finals. Alas, the last series of the day didn't go any better than the first for DIG with TNL taking the series in a convincing fashion: 2-0.

Final Day: The supreme champions

After the first two group stages, what remained were two Chinese and two Korean teams. After North American team C9 won Blizzcon, the Spring Championship brought a new order of Eastern domination. Thus the final questions to be answered were: Which region is the best between China and Korea? And who truly are the current world champions? These two questions would end up being answered with a Single Elimination bracket Bo3 Semifinals, with a Bo5 Finals.

Semifinals

Starting the final day off was EDG vs TNL, originally known as the underdogs of their respective countries. TNL opened strong on Dragon Shire with solid rotations, securing themselves a lead they never let go of and giving them the victory. However, from game two onward, the series turned in favor of EDG. Going into Tomb of the Spider Queen EDG showed strong Tyreal and Thrall play, giving them a combination of defense through Sanctification and offense with Sundering that TNL simply couldn't handle. After crushing TNL in the second game EDG went on to put the final nail in the coffin for TNL by repeatedly collecting seeds on Garden of Terror, giving them superior sieging potential.

On the other side of the bracket, tournament favorite MVPB went up against eStar. Having not dropped a single map during the entirety of the tournament, MVPB had no intentions of stopping their spree. The first game on Infernal Shrines was rather close and, after taking a good post-level 20 fight, it looked like eStar was off to a good start. Despite winning the team fight, the catapults and Punisher coming down from the bottom lane allowed MVPB to win the base race. The second game was over in a flash as MVPB drafted a superior composition on Battlefield of Eternity. Abathur allowed them to soak both lanes effectively while fighting over the Immortals, giving them the advantage they needed to press for the win only 15 minutes into the game.

Finals

The title of world champion as well as $150,000 USD ultimately stood between EDG from China and the Korean favorites MVPB. MVPB looked like the best team by a large margin throughout the tournament and the last series did not alter that perception. Infernal Shrines was the map to start the series off. The trades went back and forth, eventually ending up in a basetrade situation where MVPB edged out a win thanks to catapult pressure at the bottom lane. In the second game EDG opted for a rather unusual draft on Dragon Shire going for an old school Sgt. Hammer pick to go along with their healer, Morales. MVBP was however not phased. By rotating and using Stitches hooks MVBP managed to secure enough kills to take gamer number two in the series. The third game of the series on Sky Temple was a simple display of strength from MVPB. Controlling the temples from the get go through strong rotations with Li-Ming Zeratul and Muradin as well as exceptional positioning and team fight execution MVPB secured the third game comfortably winning 3-0 over EDG. In the end MVPB were the team to lift the trophy, and they did so without losing a single map the entire tournament.

Looking Forward

Looking back at the Spring Championship, the tournament proved that many (including myself) might have underestimated the Eastern teams, both Chinese and Korean. Pre-tournament many expected Europe and North America, especially C9 and DIG, to have a chance at claiming the Spring Championship trophy. Instead we got an all-Eastern semifinals with most games looking very one sided.

The “Lesser” Regions

Coming into the Spring Championship most people expected a crushing defeat for the teams from Latin America, Oceania, and South East Asia. They were not wrong, with all of these regional teams getting knocked out during the first day of the tournament. It looks like these three regions still have work cut out for them in order to compete on the same level as the rest of the Heroes scene. Whether that is possible without further infrastructure invested into these regions for Heroes is yet to be seen.

Light at the End of the Tunnel

Some glimmer of hope does still exist! In the second group stage C9 were very close to beating EDG with some very strategic drafts and aggressive compositions. As an example, C9 used Stitches and Zeratul in tandem to secure pickoffs on Sky Temple that made it look like they would take the game. Managing to secure Falstad against Abathur on EDG also proved that the drafting of C9 is nothing to disregard or disrespect. Furthermore, both series between DIG and TNL were very close. In the second game of the first series on Infernal Shrines, DIG had to give up several of the early Punishers but despite this still managed to keep up in experience and won through superior team fights. Contrary to what the results indicate, the second series that day was not one sided either, with DIG looking like they were going to take the first game on Tomb of the Spider Queen. In addition, in an interview with Team Liquid, MVPB Sake rated Europe as the strongest Heroes of the Storm region with North America and China not far behind. This bodes well for the potential Western recovery.

Taking It to the Next Level

In the aftermath of the tournament many has asked themselves: can Europe and North America recover? And is MVPB truly unbeatable? Regardless of the answer to these question, it seems the Western Heroes team have taken this as a wake up call. In similar vein to the Korean training regimes Naventic has allegedly imposed a daily Hero League grind requirement, making sure their mechanics are being polished outside of daily scrims. Team Dignitas has gone even further, advertising a paid analyst position whose job description entails looking at tournament matches, noting strategies, compiling Hero performance statistics and more. Whether this will be enough for Western Heroes teams to catch up remains to be seen, but it is a good sign to see a higher level of commitment than what has previously been the standard.

The Next Clash

Coming up next is the Summer Regionals that will determine who moves on to the Summer Global Championship at Dreamhack Summer in Sweden. First out is the Chinese Gold League with the rest of the regions following suit with their own qualifiers. With home turf advantage and Sake’s prediction that Europe is the strongest region, one have to wonder if the story this Summer will be one of Europe's rise to power or an overthrow of foreign dominance. Regardless of who wins and who bites the dust, a total of $1.2 million USD is on the line this summer, so expect some high level Heroes action in the months to come.


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