L5 [3-0] Supreme Mixtape      

The reigning BlizzCon champions formerly known as Ballistix had little difficulty in registering the first series win of HGC Korea. L5 showed great restraint in the early game and allowed Supreme Mixtape to capture an almost uncontested Curse in Game One and a full first Temple phase in Game Two. However, NaCHoJin’s Falstad was able to mitigate experience lost to objectives by split pushing. In what became a trend for the week’s play, L5 completely switched gears once they hit level 10 and outclassed their opponents in teamfights.

Supreme Mixtape’s tank player Judy showed some promise with particularly good early game ganks on ETC, but their ability to convert small leads into significant advantages is an area they will want to improve on. Game Three also showed a marked loss of composure; a large number of individual misplays forced them to bow out of the set perhaps more easily than they should have.

Mighty [3-2] MVP Miracle      

HGC Summer champions HongCoNo and dami played their first set as a part of the highly anticipated new MVP Miracle line up. However, the team had major synergy issues within the set, shown clearest by a devastating Chromie random pick in Game Two.

Mighty had an impressive set. Good team coordination with Joker’s Varian in Game One repeatedly hunted down ETC and killed him with well-layered crowd control. Only a very gutsy play by Sniper’s Dehaka managed to salvage the game for Miracle; Brushstalking into the midst of five Mighty members, he managed to live long enough for his team to reach the fight and capitalize on their superior positioning.

Game Two was a disaster for Miracle. Once again HongCoNo struggled, although being forced to play as a solo tank Dehaka due to the accidental Chromie pick did not help. Mighty began to dominate the set with a creative late Morales pick on Infernal Shrines against a team composition that struggled to reach her. Mighty could have easily taken the set in Game Four on Dragon Shire if not for an ill-considered Stage Dive on Miracle’s bottom keep, but they rallied in a closely fought final game on Battlefield of Eternity. Magi’s Falstad was particularly impressive. He showed little regard for his own life and continued to dive deep and pressure Miracle’s backline.

MVP Black [3-1] Tempest      

The most consistent team in the world over 2016, MVP Black looked ominous in this set, with their two new additions Ttsst and Reset revealing good synergy with the team already.

Black showed a familiar Tracer composition in Game One on Battlefield to secure the lead throughout most of the game and outfight Tempest’s new lineup. However, Tempest stayed in the game. Despite being down two keeps and almost losing the Immortal, Tempest were able to pull out an unlikely victory by catching out an impatient KyoCha and then successfully committing to a Core rush with the aid of Molten Core and Sanctification.

Black tightened the screws at this point. Tempest had few answers for Reset’s auto attack build on Valla, and Sake was also able to soak immense amounts of experience on Falstad—in fact, he rarely showed up for a fight throughout the entire game. Ttsst’s Varian in Game Three was particularly impressive, and over the course of the set, he convincingly outperformed a somewhat overaggressive Sign.

MVP Black [3-0] Raven      

Raven showed some promise throughout their first set of the series but were overcome by MVP Black. Similar to their first set against Tempest, Black bungled significant advantages in Game One. Raven was unable to properly match Sake’s split soaking ability on Falstad and fell behind early. However, Black synchronized Heroic abilities poorly in several mid game fights where they should have had an advantage. Luckily, they still managed to salvage the game once Merryday was able to reach level 16 and take Cleansing Touch on Kharazim, which effectively neutered Raven’s Varian.

Games Two and Three were much cleaner performances by Black. Their composition on Sky Temple was in a similar vein to something they ran against Tempest; Sake split pushed most of the game on Falstad, and Reset was allowed to go berserk as auto attack Valla. In all three games, merryday played Kharazim and showcased a hybrid build with Iron Fists and Divine Palm. This build allowed him to chase and finish off targets before dashing back to palm teammates taking fatal damage.

Tempest [3-0] GG      

Tempest had a strong showing in this series, convincingly beating GG’s raw, but at times promising, playstyle. Tempest’s new melee player ModernLife had a much improved performance.

GG immediately showed some creativity in draft by picking Nazeebo on the first map. The GG composition was successful at racing to finish the Immortal, but the reckless way in which they pursued this led to an unusual game: GG won most of the objectives, but Tempest snowballed the game in their favor with massive kill streaks.

In Games Two and Three, Tempest opted for an interesting counter to Falstad in the Korean meta: duckdeok’s renowned Sylvanas. He effectively shadowed WooJae’s movement across the map and showcased his individual skill in skirmishes. GG were unable to match Tempest’s skill and discipline in teamfights, and Tempest’s prioritization of Li-Ming paid out huge dividends.

L5 [3-0] Mighty      

L5’s unparalleled ability to convert small advantages into major leads was in full display in Game One. Early fights went in Mighty’s favor, but a single mistake from Joker allowed L5 to take an uncontested boss, a Curse, a keep, and three level lead. L5 put their foot on the throat and ended the game several minutes later by taking an aggressive boss and using Molten Core on Mighty’s fallen top keep as the boss pushed into Core.

Mighty had a much stronger showing on Infernal Shrines in Game Two. L5 prioritised Kerrigan for Jeongha, which they utilized with mixed success. They effectively controlled most Shrine phases, but Malfurion struggled to provide enough burst healing to keep Kerrigan alive in fights. Mighty played at a slight level disadvantage for most of the game due to the amount of structures that L5 were able to take with Punishers, but there were always windows back into the game for Mighty—at least, until Noblesse initiated a late game pick onto Magi’s Falstad.

Game Three showed a return of the patient L5. Recognizing that their compositions needed Heroic abilities to fight, they remained disciplined enough to give up the first Immortal in favor of soaking experience and delay the second Immortal until they reached level 10. After that point, Noblesse’s Varian was able to effectively take over the game and find reset targets for Li-Ming. Mighty’s composition lacked a Cleanse against L5’s brutal post-10 burst combo, and the rest was history.

Mighty [3-2] GG      

This battle of the two mid-tier teams turned out to be the most epic series of this week’s HGC Korea. Unlike many of the top echelon teams that have been focusing on global split pushing and overall macro play, both GG and Mighty rely on teamfighting and mechanical outplays as their primary path to victory. While many suspected the series to be neck-and-neck, the intensity and level of play showcased by both teams were far higher than anyone expected so early in the season.

Mighty blasted off with a Greymane comp on Cursed Hollow similar to the one they tried against L5 the day before. GG was on the verge of losing the series in Game Four after losing the first two Punishers on Infernal Shrines, but with their backs against the wall, they managed to swing the momentum back in their favor with precisely executed Void Prison/Apocalypse combos. The final game started with GG having full control of the early game, but Mighty got the last laugh thanks to a couple of excellent engagements by Joker.

L5 [3-0] Raven      

L5’s match against Raven turned out eerily similar to their match against Supreme Mixtape on Friday: Raven could keep up with L5 when it came to head-on teamfights and early game rotations, but L5 always pulled ahead with their crisis management and macro. Any small victory by Raven only resulted in minor experience leads or a tower or two, but L5 converted every win into objective control or a talent tier advantage and never once let go of their momentum.

MVP Miracle [3-2] Supreme Mixtape      

After a disappointing performance against Mighty on Friday, MVP Miracle was hoping to use this series as a fresh start to build confidence for their new roster. Unfortunately, things didn't go as cleanly as they would have hoped.

Miracle started the series strong with a patient victory on Dragon Shire in Game One. Feeling confident, Miracle allowed Zarya through the bans, and Supreme Mixtape did not hesitate to pick up N0CHAT’s favorite hero. What followed was a terrifyingly pink "protect the Hammer" composition backed by Morales and triple front line from Supreme Mixtape which Miracle’s back line was unable to deal with. Miracle ended up with another disastrous draft in Game Three, opening with an early Illidan pick which got little to no value against Supreme Mixtape’s Johanna-Ragnaros front line. On the verge of another humiliating loss, Miracle was able to amend their drafting mistakes in Game Four and Five to squeeze out their first series win, but it wasn't easy.