Power Rankings

Preseason 2017

By: PROlane

The returning regional powerhouses start off the year on top heading into the inaugural HGC season. As the only returning squads from the 2016 season, the three teams leading our rankings from North America and Europe should be no surprise.

We've broken our rankings down into three tiers: Titans, Contenders, and Underdogs.

The Titans are the top teams we expect to do well throughout the season. We were unanimous in our rankings for both regions with the exception of a single vote for B Step above Gale Force in North America.

The Contenders category consists of teams we consider to be in the best position to contest the top teams for a spot in the first Clash. Again, we were nearly unanimous in these rankings.

The Underdogs consists of teams that we just haven't seen enough from yet. The bottom two teams from each region will be forced to stave off HGC elimination against the top tier teams of the Open Division in the Crucible, and these squads could possibly be in danger when the Spring Season concludes.

Europe

Titans

1. Fnatic

Quackniix

Breez

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Smexystyle
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Wubby

The top three teams in the region—Fnatic, Misfits, and Dignitas—are always contesting one another, but Fnatic appears to have all of the momentum heading into the 2017 season. Quackniix and his boys became the first Western team to take down MVP Black and even went toe-to-toe with Ballistix during BlizzCon. They've shown remarkable progress in Europe during 2016, and we don’t expect that trend to stop.

	2. Misfits
Blumbi Splendour Darkmok HasuObs Nurok	Misfits are right in the mix of the top three in Europe. Despite coming into the Spring and Summer seasons strong last year, they only narrowly missed a trip to BlizzCon after losing to Fnatic in a nail-biting tiebreaker match. They have the longest standing roster in the region, and with a chip on their shoulder, they looked poised for revenge in 2017.

3. Team Dignitas

Bakery

JayPL

Ménè

Snitch

Zaelia

Out of the top teams, Dignitas gets the low rung on the ladder simply due to recent roster changes. They boast a total of four regional championship wins last year, the best results in the region, but the revolving door of tank/flex players in the last few months has set them back considerably. Nonetheless, Zaelia has already proven himself a fine acquisition. Fans can anticipate a long, hard fought battle among the juggernauts of Europe throughout the year.

Contenders

	4. Team expert
bLaDe adrd BadBenny Cursen Nic	Formerly Two Bees Determined, Team expert features a steady roster with several well known names in the European scene. Anchored by former Team Dignitas flex player, adrd, and his outside-the-box drafts, Team expert looks like one of the few Contenders that could actually steal a spot in the first Clash from the top three. They’ll be a team to watch out for.

	5. Diamond Skin
chriZplosion Cris nande SportBilly WolfJoe	Diamond Skin is another squad to keep on the radar. After being benched, former Liquid player Cris set out to prove he could qualify for HGC over his former team—and succeeded. Merging with ePunks, a fairly successful (but underperforming) team, Cris brought just enough top tier skill and shotcalling to push Diamond Skin up in the rankings and make them a real challenger for the top spots.

Underdogs

BeGenius • Synergy • Tricked eSport

All three of these squads are relatively new and hard to place at the moment. Despite boasting some top notch players, particularly on Team Synergy and Tricked eSport, there isn’t enough evidence to conclude that these teams will stand out this season.

North America