With the first of three fantastic days concluded in this year's Heroes of the Storm European Fall Regional #2, it appears Team Dignitas is still the team to beat. Dignitas started off the Group A series with a strong showing against ePunks, dismantling the opposition without dropping a match. Later in the evening the group came back to beat Fnatic 2-1 in a very close match that proved Dignitas still has some trouble with heavy frontline comps featuring E.T.C. as the main tank.
As for ePunks, losing against both Dignitas and Two Bees Determined showed that the squad is still nowhere near the upper echelon of competition, despite their success against the lower tier of professional teams. After being knocked out of the tournament during group stages, it's time for ePunks to go back to the drawing board.
Two Bees Determined, on the other hand, made some remarkable improvements in their first ever major event. The group picked apart ePunks and put together some close sets against Fnatic, almost overtaking the stalwart team thanks to their innovative Medivh drafting strategy where Adrian "adrd" Wojcik used the hero to its absolute maximum potential. While the team was knocked out of the tournament after two losses to Fnatic, TBD can go home with their heads held high.
After going over the clear winners and losers of Day 1, Fnatic seems to have fallen decidedly in the middle of the pack. While Fnatic was able to take a game off of arguably the best team in Europe during their 1-2 loss vs. Dignitas, it also struggled in both of the best-of-three showings against Two Bees Determined, just barely inching out the wins in the series victory. Rather than Fnatic showing up new and improved, it appears the team may have stagnated, although it also still seems to be the only squad that can go toe-to-toe with Dignitas. Regardless of its struggles on day 1, Fnatic still managed to make it through to the playoffs as the lower seed. The Swedes will face off on day 3 against the winner of Group B, which plays on Aug. 18.
Now that Team Dignitas and Fnatic have cemented themselves in the playoffs, it falls to Group B to determine the final two teams. Misfits, GoogleIshetZont, ExcelenteEleccion, and The Jabronis will do battle on day 2. While Misfits is looking like the favorite, there is no telling what ExcelenteEleccion and The Jabronis are capable of. Misfits stands to gain the most from a first place finish, as it will then face off against Fnatic, a team they have historically had little problem with. Should Misfits be forced to play Dignitas, however, it seems likely the team could bow out of the tournament sooner than expected.