Wednesday, February 15, 2017

#HGC NA Power Rankings After Four Weeks

At this point, NA is such a mess, that you cannot even successfully rank who is top and who is bottom. The best you can do is divide them into three groups. Why? Well, take just the top three teams, as an example:

  • Tempo Storm beat Team 8, but lost to GFE
  • Team 8 beat GFE, but lost to Tempo Storm
  • GFE beat Tempo Storm, but lost to Team 8 and Team Freedom
How do you pick a clear leader out of that mess? The only thing you can really say is that these are clearly the top three teams, but beyond that, the best you can do is nod towards which team has momentum right now, and that's all this is trying to do.

The Mess At The Top: Tempo Storm 5-1 (15-9); Team 8 5-1 (17-6); Gale Force eSports 4-2 (16-8)

 With GFE topping Tempo over the weekend, and Tempo not having looked especially dominant, It's really easy to say that GFE is the strongest team in NA right now, based on momentum. Yes, Team 8 beat them, but the longer the season goes on, the more the "four flex and a support" seems to be working. The only wrinkle is the 2-3 loss to Team Freedom, a team that has looked strong and then turned in major disappointments (we'll get to that).

Team 8 is the most consistent team at the top, fewest losses, and a very strong defining strat based around who Glaurung is playing. Whether he's on Medivh, playing almost as good as adrd in EU, or back on his trademark melee assassins, Team 8 is always scary.

Tempo Storm, having been swept by GFE, looks like they are in a little bit of trouble. Before the match with GFE, they looked consistent, but not in charge. Their victory over Team 8 had shown that they we living up to the hype. GFE sweeping Tempo Storm may be a wake up call because something needs to happen.

Here's the real problem: these three teams are representing NA at the Western Clash, and right now, none of them will be able to take a map off of Misfits, FNATIC, or Team Dignitas. Top level NA HotS would struggle against the 4-6 teams of EU. The only team I see being competitive at the clash is Team 8. Something needs to change before NA sends their best to Poland.

The Very Interesting Middle:  B-Step 3-3 (12-12); Superstars 3-3 (11-11)

 The match between B-Step and Superstars this week was a bright spot for NA. B-Step won a match they were supposed to win, as Superstars were playing without Faye, who was and still is very sick, and while Nightmare filled in and played out of his mind, no one believed Superstars could over come this. And yet, they almost did! Superstars, in convincing fashion, took the first two games off of B-Step and had a 2% core wipe that would have been a series win without one of the best range carries in NA.

B-Step and Superstars have shown flashes of brilliance, and they can hang with the big dogs in NA. Both teams need to use the time between Week 5 and Week 6 (which is end of February to mid-April) to figure out how to move forward. These could be the best two team in NA just learning how they need to be.

Oh Somebody Kill Me Please! I Want To Die!: Team Freedom 2-4 (11-15); No Tomorrow 1-5 (6-16); Team Naventic 1-5 (6-17)

 Why I have I named this group this? Well...


Seriously, watching the bottom of NA #HGC League play is just awful. It's almost a punishment after watching EU.

So, yeah, start Sunday with a classic, followed by Tempo turning in a weak performance, and the last match of the weekend was No Tomorrow vs. Team Freedom. Yuck. And not to leave Naventic out of this, they turned in their routine stinkers, like Zuna, somehow getting picked off on Medivh, in the middle of nowhere because he was out of Raven form for... reasons?

Bad drafting, bad positioning, what looks like serious tilting, and a series of clusterfuck moments make watching these three teams play just... painful. Set aside Team Freedom taking down GFE, and none of these three have looked like they belong here. Naventic isn't scary; they got swept by Superstars, as Faye was already getting sick. Team Freedom and No Tomorrow lack an identity, and while there are good players on all three teams (and everyone of these 15 players are worlds better than I will ever be), as a fan of NA, this is why the scene is so week.

In EU, the teams have to prepare for the bottom. Synergy and beGenius don't make a lot of mistakes; they just get out played, little by little.

In NA, games from No Tomorrow, Team Freedom, and Naventic are full of mistakes, misplays, and letting Tassadar through without picking him up on the first pick. Don't judge a region by the top; judge it by the bottom.

After all that...

So, in this mess, how would I actually rank NA? Well, don't hold me to it, but...

1. Team 8
2. Gale Force eSports
3. Tempo Storm
4. B-Step
5. Superstars
6. Team Freedom
7. No Tomorrow
8. Naventic

And that's if I use 1-8. If I were to rank it as I please, well, you just finished reading that, didn't you?

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