The Heroes of the Storm Fall Championship will conclude at BlizzCon on Friday and Saturday, with the winning team as the recipient of the $300,000 first-place prize.
The remaining group stage will determine the final four teams of the tournament. Finally, the last four teams will participate in a single-elimination bracket to crown the BlizzCon and Fall Championship champion.
The favorites: South Korea
The only two teams that locked in their spots in the final four bracket were South Korean lineups MVP Black and Ballistix (formerly L5). Both teams should be considered the favorites, with an edge to MVP Black.
Ballistix played surgical and disciplined Heroes of the Storm against each of its opponents; the lineup may arguably be the most well-rounded and patient team in the tournament. Ballistix would routinely control the map and the important neutral objectives with favorable trades and prioritizing the big-team fight instead of smaller rotational skirmishes.
As for MVP Black, this was a team without real exploitable weakness. The South Korean juggernaut took down its opponents with such quick speed that it was tough to analyze its play outside of just dominant. MVP Black was the best team-fighting group and did not need patience or great map control because it stomped out games before the 20-minute marker.
The upstarts: Europe
Both of Europe's greatest hopes, Fnatic and Team Dignitas, are still in the running for the final four bracket, but it will take a mix of consistency and good luck for either team to sniff the championship.
Both Fnatic and Team Dignitas suffer from inconsistent play from game to game, where it's either swift decision-making and great team fighting or aimless movement and overextensions for pick-offs. The best chance will come from Fnatic, as the team is already in the decider match for Group B. If it defeats the winner of ZeroPanda (China) vs. Denial Esports (USA/NA), it will make it to the final four.
However, even if both EU teams make it through the rest of the group stage, they will still have to contend with the most consistently dominant team in the scene and the team that recently defeated it.