The Winter 2016 North American Championship kicked off with exciting matches. Seeing TSM play novel comps – including Ozo – was thrilling to see, nevermind pulling them off with so much success. The closer matches of the day in Series 3 and 4 were absolutely nailbiting, especially game 3 of NemH v. HHK. We’re sure the action won’t let up for the rest of the weekend, and we’re certainly excited to see the rest of it!
Series 1: Team SoloMid vs. Rage Pingers
TSM, formerly Alliance, boasted an extremely strong showing tonight, dominating both games in the series while playing innovative team compositions. TSM flexed their muscles by demonstrating their incredibly deep hero pools, fielding a seldom-played Reim in the first game and a never-played Ozo in the second. An incredibly gifted team both cerebrally and mechanically, it’s not hard to see why TSM is the number one seed coming in.
View the recaps of each match in the series here!
Series 2: GankStars Sirius vs. Vertigo Black
A team formerly known for their intensely aggressive play, GankStars Sirius has shown that they also know when to hold back instead of making overly greedy plays. FooJee’s growing pains from being the newest addition in GSS seem to have melted away after two more weeks of practice with his team, culminating in impressively in-sync plays and two clean wins for GSS.
View the recaps of each match in the series here!
Series 3: HH Velocity vs. Liberation X
This series featured high-energy games with excellent play by both teams. Both teams displayed excellent mechanics, but had some small hiccups where they played too greedily or didn’t seem to be quite in sync with each other. By the end of it, however, HHV pulled off two exciting wins with better synergy and target focus.
View the recaps of each match in the series here!
Series 4: Nemesis Hydra vs. HH Kinetic
Both teams played extremely well today. NemH dominated in the first game of the series, then the roles were reversed when HHK secured an Adagio pick in the second game. In the third game, however, NemH managed to pull out a win by drawing the game out for Krul to really shine and by taking advantage of positioning mistakes by HHK’s carry. The series concluded with an insane comeback by NemH, with them winning the series 2-1.
View the recaps of each match in the series here!
Keep an eye out for our preview for tomorrow’s matches, which will come out momentarily.