The final qualifier for the Americas Championship, the next step on the Road to Blizzcon, is set to take place this weekend. The top 8 teams have been finalized and are ready to battle for the right to eventually represent the region at Blizzcon.
Among the ranks are old faces and new. Of the eight teams set to appear, three of them have qualified already. That means that, if those same three teams place at the top of this tournament’s standings, the remaining teams need to go as far as possible in order to have a chance at one of the two remaining spots.
Tempo Storm vs. Luminosity Gaming
Tempo Storm
It is still fair to call Tempo Storm the strongest North American team at this moment, but it isn’t accurate to call them untouchable. The squad that appeared to be basically unbeatable for a two-month stretch has started to show that it can bleed.
At the Town Hall Heroes invitational, Tempo lost a best-of-five in the grand finals against Cloud9.
Then, at Kings of the Storm VII, Tempo was sent to the losers’ bracket in the winners’ finals by compLexity Gaming before defeating COGnitive in the losers’ finals. They managed to reset the bracket and defeat compLexity in the grand finals, but it showed that this team is far from invincible.
It’s tempting to say that there isn’t much on the line here for Tempo Storm. They’ve already qualified for the Americas Championship and they’ve been routinely winning prize money. But their complete dominance of NA has started to look more like a solid, but human, stranglehold. This is their chance to remind their North American opponents why they’ve been the team to beat since June.
One interesting factor to consider with Tempo is their ability to work their way into different compositions. The recent Europe Open was often dominated by two-warrior compositions, something that Tempo is not known for running. While casting the Europe Open, Tempo Storm manager Jared “Zoia” Eggleston actually talked about how Tempo wasn’t rushing to make the switch to double-warrior.
If they did decide to start running it consistently, then it would likely be Chris “Zuna” Buechter running the second warrior - it dovetails somewhat with his current role, as he already plays melee when needed. Taylor “Arthelon” Eder is too important of an asset to put on warrior duty: his assassin play is great and his Azmodan is downright terrifying. Kurt “Kaeyoh” Ocher is potentially the strongest Zagara player in North America and is probably needed in the backline more than Zuna.
Luminosity Gaming
Formerly known as Goon Squad Inc., this team has proven itself repeatedly in recent competition. Characterized by an aggressive teamfighting style, they made top 8 for the first time at the July Open, where they defeated the now-defunct Cloud9 Vortex before losing to Tempo Storm and COGnitive Gaming.
On their way to the top 8, Luminosity defeated Pool Plato Some Tangos, who made it to the double-elimination portion in both June and July.
The predominantly Canadian squad is in a tough spot from a bracket perspective - they face Tempo immediately and, if they lose, will then face the loser of Murloc Geniuses versus COGnitive Gaming.
But this is a team that is capable of surprising opponents. Because of their seeding, they’ll need to do that in order to go deep enough to earn a spot at the Americas Championship in Las Vegas.
0 Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen