This article is part of our Heroes of the Storm Recap series.
Group A
Team Dignitas became the first team to advance through Group A of the Heroes of the Storm Fall Championship, defeating Astral Authority 2-0.
Joshua "Snitch" Bennett of Team Dignitas was on fire in Game 1. Using Falstad, Snitch was hyper aggressive, taking risks early on that never seemed to pay off. During the mid game, that seemed to change as he took advantage of an opportunity where Astral Authority was clumped together in the mid lane, diving in and using his Mighty Gust heroic ability to literally blow Astral Authority away into teammate Thomas "Ménè" Cailleux, who was using Gul'Dan. From there Ménè took over with his Horrify heroic, splitting the team up, which allowed him to secure two kills for Team Dignitas. That eventually spelled doom for Astral Authority in Game 1 as Dignitas was able to hold onto their substantial lead.
Game 2 saw Ménè demonstrate his mastery of Gul'Dan, as he singlehandedly turned the match in his team's favor with his excellent Horrify ultimate. His first great heroic use was around the 11 minute-mark where he used Horrify to score a kill on Ben "Cattlepillar" Bunk's Dehaka in the top lane, giving his team a much needed experience boost. Later in the match, he executed another incredible Horrify that pushed Astral Authority's support player, Jun "Jun" Jang, far out of position, securing Dignitas a hard fought 2-0 victory.
Group A deciders
Team Dignitas took down Please Buff Arthas in the Group A decider series of the Heroes of the Storm Fall Championship, winning 2-0 to claim their spot in the semifinals.
The blowout started during the draft phase, where Team Dignitas captain James "Bakery" Baker denied PBA Jaina, a hero they've relied on throughout the tournament. This forced PBA to draft a second specialist hero in Zagara, which made Dignitas members nearly unkillable, as PBA did not have the burst to deal with the double warrior frontline. They went on to defeat PBA in a terribly one-sided match that ended in 14 kills to 1.
In Game 2, PBA tried to target ban Thomas "Ménè" Cailleux's Valla after he tore them apart in the first match. Ménè's response was to simply draft Li-Ming and proceeded to systematically delete each and every one of PBA's players in multiple teamfights. While Dignitas certainly had a dominant 2-0 showing, they were not without mistakes as Lawrence "Athero" Harper made a handful on Alarak, one of the newly released melee assassins. That might be a problem against some of the better teams remaining in the tournament, such as Ballistix or MVP Black.
Group B
Zero Panda will join Team Dignitas, advancing through the Heroes of the Storm Fall Championship Elimination round, defeating Denial 2-0.
Zheng "C" Xiangzhi was an absolute madman with Dehaka in Game 1. His MVP moment happened just two minutes into the match, where he used his Brush Stalker ability to flank the majority of the Denial team and secure a quick quartet of kills, setting his team up for a huge lead they would nurse through the remainder of the game.
Game 2 became a painful war of attrition as Zero Panda attacked Denial with smart calculated plays, exacting small penalties each time. The first example of this was early Level 3, where Denial was attempting to pressure Zero Panda's mid fort. Zheng "C" Xiangzhi -- once again on Dehaka -- Brush Stalked in and nabbed two easy kills on the enemy Malfurion and Jaina. Once in the lead, Zero Panda tightly held the reigns of the second match and did not let go until their Garden Terror knocked out Denial's core for a 2-0 victory and a trip to the winners bracket.
Group B deciders
Fnatic won a hard-fought match against Zero Panda during the Heroes of the Storm Fall Championship Group B decider match, taking the series, 2-1.
Zero Panda started out behind after Fnatic's Jonathan "Wubby" Gunnarsson intelligently drafted Rexxar, a solo lane warrior that Zero Panda was not equipped to deal with. After some very close teamfights Zero Panda was able to edge out an objective win and a huge Zerg wave that trampled Fnatics' remaining structures. Noticing the huge swarm, Zero Panda quickly started a teamfight that dragged out just long enough for Fnatic's core to be destroyed, as the European team was unable to get back in time to defend their base from the Zerg swarm.
Game 2 was perhaps the most even game of the night as Zero Panda started off with an early lead but had no answer for Fnatic's Valla being played by Dob "Quacknixx" Engström. Deep into the second contest, Quackniix saved the day after his teammate, Pontus "Breez" Sjogren, had his well-placed E.T.C. Mosh Pit heroic ability instantly canceled. Quacknixx was able to jump into the thick of it, whittling down Muradin to very low health, ensuring Fnatic would get a multi-kill that led to a Dragon Knight capture, and a Game 2 win.
The deciding match of the series came down to an amazing Mosh Pit near the end of the game by Fnatic's Breez, allowing his team to kill Guo "GM" Jiayi on Brightwing and start to wipe out the rest of Zero Panda's squad, securing the series win. With the win, Fnatic will face MVP Black during Saturday's semifinal contest for the right to advance to the Heroes of the Storm Fall Championship final.
