DIGHeroes HGC Western Clash Phase 2 Recap

The boys did it again! This past weekend DIGHeroes became the two-time Western Clash Champions, not even dropping a single game in their tournament run at Blizzard Arena in Burbank, California. Looking confident and clean as ever, the team breezed through the Upper Bracket all the way to the Grand Finals, earning them a 1-game advantage in the best-of-7 against Leftovers. This win has also earned EU an extra slot for a team to attend the World Championship at BlizzCon in November.  Let’s have a look at some of the highlights of Team Dignitas’ 11-0 run at the Western Clash of Phase 2.

In terms of hero meta, the tournament was largely dictated by Team Dignitas. They made a strong case for lesser-seen heroes like Maiev, Raynor, and Stukov. Yrel was, of course, the favourite for Jonathan "Wubby" Gunnarsson, which was no surprise as she has been very popular during EU League play. Jérôme "JayPL" Trinh stuck to Johanna in 5 out of the 11 games, as her blinds, shields, and ability to self-cleanse with Iron Skin made her nearly impossible to kill or to lockdown. Kenn "Zealia" Rasmussen’s Support pool over the tournament was quite spread out.

We saw 4 Stukov games, often when Deckard was unavailable, then a couple Uther games. Zealia’s ability to not only keep teammates alive and safe but also shotcall important engagements made him a valuable playmaker for the team. Joshua "Snitch" Bennett as the flex of the team played 7 different heroes, with Maiev being his standout hero in the 3 games she was played. For Vilhelm "POILK" Flennmark, Sgt. Hammer and Raynor were surprisingly his most played Heroes. There were many doubts about the strength of Raynor during EU League play, but the sheer amount of damage Raynor can dish out to enemy front liners proved its worth.

Image courtacy of Blizzard Entertaiment.

Team Dignitas’ first match was against Team Octalysis on Day 1. In Game 1, Team Dignitas had a 3 level lead. Team Octalysis tried to get value from Stitches, but Team Dignitas showed their comfort playing against Stitches by playing a smart macro game where they avoided situations where his hook could be effective. A push with a Webweaver wave allowed Team Dignitas to end the game decisively. In Game 2, Team Octalysis drafted a composition that looked like it came straight from the Team Dignitas playbook. An early game Punisher on Infernal Shrines allowed Team Dignitas to set the pace for most of the game. In the late-game, Team Octalysis made a call to go for core, but Team Dignitas defended and turned around the teamfight with an important Entomb from Wubby on Leoric. Team Dignitas took the series, 2-0.

On Day 2, Team Dignitas faced off against Method. Game 1 was really close in terms of levels and pace, but Team Dignitas clutched the win. In Game 2, Method pushed down the bottom lane with a Punisher and tried to end the game, but with 3 catapults on their core, Team Dignitas prevented them from winning the base race and won Game 2. Game 3 we saw Snitch on Zeratul. After getting a team-wipe against Method with a 3 level lead, Team Dignitas pushed to the core to win the series, 3-0.

On Day 3, the final day of the tournament, Team Dignitas first faced off against North America’s last hope, Team Freedom. Team Freedom started Game 1 off very strong, getting some early-game kills against Team Dignitas. Things began to even out after a re-engage with POILK on Chromie using Temporal Loop to make sure they got the kills on Team Freedom. The game remained even, with Team Freedom even leading in kills, but Team Dignitas played a patient game while sieging bottom lane. It looked like a shaky core call, but Team Freedom’s focus on Zealia as Uther in their defence was exactly what Team Dignitas wanted and they were able to take Game 1.

In Game 2, Team Dignitas dished out the ranged damage by drafting Sgt. Hammer and Raynor. These two Heroes helped to get even more structure value when pushing with the Webweavers to get Team Dignitas a substantial lead. Constant macro control over the turn-ins and avoiding teamfights allowed Team Dignitas to snowball Game 2 into a win with a 4 level advantage.

In Game 3, we saw Snitch’s Zeratul once again. After the dominant performance of Team Dignitas in Game 2, Team Freedom really put up a good fight, keeping tower shots extremely even up until the last one. A crucial trade on Forts in the late game gave Team Dignitas the complete advantage going into the last Shrine phase. Because Team Dignitas opted to take Team Freedom’s bottom Fort while Team Freedom took the top, Team Dignitas was able to get 3 free shots on the core by pushing in a Sapper camp. The final teamfight came down to an important Stay Awhile and Listen from Zaelia on Deckard combined with POILK and JayPL both stopping Muradin from interrupting Wubby as he captured the shrine. Team Dignitas took the series 3-0 and advanced to the Grand Finals.

A team that not many expected to see in the Grand Finals, Leftovers fought their way through the Lower Bracket to face Team Dignitas in this best-of-seven. Game 1 was a rough start for Team Dignitas even though they were close on levels they were down in kills. Leftovers got the first two Immortals as well. Team Dignitas turned the game around after securing an Immortal and some kills in top lane. In the final push for core, Team Dignitas’ Immortal was distracted by the mid-fountain and wall, but that didn’t stop the team from pressuring the core and taking it down to win Game 1. In Game 2 on Volskaya Foundry, Leftovers picked up Gazlowe as their final hero in the draft with hopes that the completely off-meta pick would catch Team Dignitas off-guard. Their strategy didn’t work out, as Team Dignitas punished Gazlowe every time he stepped in too close. The game was won with an impressive 15-0 for Team Dignitas and a 3 level lead.

Game 3 started close in terms of levels, but every inch Leftovers gave in terms of macro battleground control, Team Dignitas was quick to take. Team Dignitas was able to get a boss in the bottom lane, as well as the Curse battleground objective, allowing them to push the top lane to apply a lot of pressure on Leftovers’ keeps. JayPL on Stitches got some important late-game Hooks that not only helped get kills on Leftovers but also once saved POILK on Sgt. Hammer. JayPL strayed away from the normal Slam build an opted for more tankier talents. In a crucial teamfight near the bottom boss, Mopsio of Leftovers stepped in too close to nearly all of Team Dignitas waiting stealthily in a bush. With that kill and another kill onto Leftovers’ Malfurion thanks to a well-timed Hook from JayPL on Stitches, Team Dignitas took the bottom boss, downing the Keep very quickly before it arrived and marched onto Leftovers’ core to take Game 3.

The best DIGscord shoutout from Snitch during the winner's interview.

Winning 3 games against Leftovers with the 1 game advantage from Winner’s Bracket, Team Dignitas became the Western Clash Champions of Phase 2. They couldn’t have done it without the amazing support of the fans, so another round of thanks to everyone who cheered with Bits on Twitch, used the hashtag #DIGWIN on Twitter, and all the DIGscord fans. League play returns on August 24th, with Team Dignitas’ first game on Saturday August 25th. We’ll see you all soon, thanks again for the support, and Wowee!