First of all, congratulations to Fnatic for taking the event and showing great understanding of the new map!

Last Thursday, top two European powerhouse teams Fnatic and Team Dignitas (DIG) went head-to-head on the new Battleground, Warhead Junction. Read on for a recap of the clash, as well as a look forward on what Warhead Junction might mean for the meta in the next patch!

Warhead Junction

Warhead Junction is a new Battleground set in the StarCraft universe. Previously used as a production facility for nuclear warheads, it is now solely attended by a glitchy Adjunctant giving out the remaining warheads like candy. By collecting the warheads spawning around the map one gain the ability to launch a nuke on the opposing team’s structures for massive damage. Should a player die with a warhead in their possession the warhead will drop, allowing the enemy team to pick it up.

• First spawn at 2:00– two warheads spawn: one North, one South
  
• Second spawn contains four warheads
  
• Every spawn after the first starts 2:55 after the last warhead was collected from the previous drop location
  

Controlling the points where the nuclear warheads will drop is the key to success on this Battleground. Outside of objective play the Battleground has a standard three lane setup, opening up options for split pushing and ganks with the vast space between lanes. Due to its sheer size and the recent mount speed nerf, split pushing-oriented compositions and strategies are especially common on this map.

Following the StarCraft theme, Warhead Junction’s mercenary camps also differ from the norm. The Siege camps consist of two Hellbats that fights at the frontlines, while the Bruiser camp consist of three Goliaths and a Raven which will shoot seeker missiles at regular intervals. For Bosses, Warhead Junction contains two Swarm Host mobs that continually spawn explosive locust until taken down.

Game 1: The Power of Global Nukes

In the first draft we saw the influence of the Battleground’s size, with DIG banning out The Lost Vikings as well as Zagara. Furthermore, Fnatic aimed to punish the Sgt. Hammer and Sylvanas picks from DIG with global mobility by picking Brightwing and E.T.C. Despite Fnatic's best efforts to punish Sylvanas, DIG displayed no weakness. Using Stitches’s hook, DIG got several pickoffs on the rotating members of Fnatic. These pickoffs allowed DIG to keep pushing, eventually taking the first fort of the game.

In the mid game the teams traded Bosses, but due to the Hero lineups from both teams and the fact that DIG was faster, Fnatic had to hearth back and position defensively. DIG ultimately got the Keep, but due to a slight overextension Fnatic netted themselves three takedowns. With Fnatic winning the fight, the level lead flipped in their favor despite structural disadvantage.

Taking the talent lead at 16, Fnatic pushed DIG into the defense, allowing them to take four warheads in a row. With the possibility of such strong siege potential from Fnatic, DIG starts roaming to make sure Fnatic dont have the opportunity to use them. Trying to bait DIG, Fnatic started the boss with Quackniix on Lunara purposely showing himself on the map. When the bait was successful, Fnatic used their global mobility to the fullest. Starting with a Stage Dive from E.T.C, Fnatic subsequently launched three nukes on the core and ended the game.

Game 2: Snowballing

During the second draft, DIG clearly learned from the backdoor executed by Fnatic the previous game. They secured themselves both Dehaka and Falstad to match Fnatic’s E.T.C and Brightwing once more. The first five minutes of the game were rather uneventful, with both teams playing it slow and carefully. About a minute later Fnatic caught DIG out of position, securing themselves three takedowns. DIG tried to stabilize with the nuke they’d collected, but still ended up with a later level 10.

Evening out the game, DIG tried sneaking the bottom Boss. Unfortunately, this cost them the top Keep as Fnatic opted to sneak top and use a nuke to aid their push. The rest of the game, Fnatic had superior rotations and positioning allowing them to stay a talent ahead, eventually securing the game.

Game 3: Making a Comeback

Following the two previous games, many of the same heroes once again made a return to the battleground. Among the most popular were E.T.C, Brightwing, Sgt. Hammer, and Li-Ming. Mobility and waveclear were definitely prioritized.



DIG was the team with the superior rotations this game, always staying one level ahead. After securing themselves several takedowns, DIG took down Fnatic’s bottom Keep and continued to solidify their lead. Fnatic attempted to catch DIG out of position, but with a solid Void Prison from Zeratul the fight swung once more in DIG’s favor. With two kills, DIG claimed two out of the three spawning warheads on the map then followed up with a push through the bot lane. DIG ended it with the remaining nukes in their possession.

Game 4: The Void

Starting with a favorable trade, two deaths for three kills, DIG used their first warhead to take down Fnatic’s top Fort. After snowballing to level 10 DIG pushed their advantage, landing a nuke that left Fnatic’s top Keep vulnerable. As DIG later barreled down on Fnatic’s Keep, Wubby displayed the power of Zeratul on the map using Void Prison to nullify the nukes from DIG. Despite the strong defensive plays, DIG were able to secure themselves the Keep before backing off.



After landing a backdoor nuclear strike, Fnatic’s Wubby was caught before he could make his escape. Not hesitating for a second, DIG went to the top Boss. With the boss secured DIG came crashing at the core of Fnatic. Despite strong Void Prison usage, Fnatic did not have enough to defend, evening up the series 2-2.

Game 5: Return of the Vikings

After consistently being banned every single game, The Lost Vikings(TLV) made an appearance in the final game of the series.To counter the experience soak as well as the strong four-man from DIG, Fnatic combined the global mobility of E.T.C, Brightwing, Falstad and Dehaka with the pushing power of Sylvanas.

Showing no weakness, Fnatic managed to keep up with the experience soak of TLV into the later stages of the game. As Fnatic threatened the top Keep of DIG, Fnatic seemed poorly positioned and DIG took the chance to go on the offense. Unfortunately, despite taking a good trade, DIG overextended and ultimately lost their Keep. The game ended in similar fashion to the first game, with two backdoor nukes from Fnatic allowing them to take the game and the series.

Warhead Junction and the Meta Going Forward

Considering the nature of the objective, one can quickly grasp why the games ended the way they did. Spotting a solid 40 core damage, the nuclear warhead can be used on any target with the only drawback being its limited cast range and cast time. With this in mind it becomes painfully obvious how well it synergies with heroes that possess global mobility, as they remove the fundamental weakness of the map objective: being in position to use the nukes effectively.

In addition, Warhead Junction is one of the largest maps currently available. This allows split pushers like Zagara, Xul, and Sgt. Hammer to thrive. This turns out to be another boon for heroes with good mobility as they are the best answer to split pushers with their ability to rotate and set up ganks on the fly.

Ultimately, Warhead Junction is a map that brings out the most extreme examples of what the future meta in Heroes of the Storm might look like. With the recent mount speed nerf, the resurgence of Falstad and Zagara as first pick material and the large maps currently in the map pool, both split push and global mobility seems poised to gain more focus in the pro scene.

Another trend that's exciting to follow is the rise of more sustain-based compositions in contrast to the burst meta previously dominating the game. One of the largest factor in this rise has been the buffs to Malfurion as well as the meta allowing for better synergies with sustain-heavy Support Brightwing. Yet another important factor that can not be overlooked is the rise of Heroes such as Sgt. Hammer and The Butcher that thrive in long lasting fights.

While these predictions might make sense, ultimately this is nothing more than an educated guess. As the top teams in each respective region familiarize themselves with the new Battlegrounds and patches, things might end up differently. For now, saddle up your Gryphon because split pushing, global mobility and sustained fights have re-entered the Nexus.


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