The Western Clash is the first international event of the year and Team Dignitas are poised to take the win! Having won the Phase 1 Western Clash in 2017 and also the 2016 ESL Heroes of the Storm Championship before the HGC League was up and running, Team Dignitas have a long and positive history with Katowice. It was at the 2017 Western Clash that the team showcased their newest addition, Kenn “Zaelia” Rasmussen, who surprised everyone with his skills and preference for not wearing shoes while playing. This will be the first Western Clash experience for Vilhelm “POILK” Flennmark, but after watching him adapt so quickly to the big global stage at GCWC, there are no worries for any LAN jitters. This year the team are going in with full confidence and a hunger to win.

The format for this Western Clash is a bit different from last year. First of all, only the top 4 teams from NA and EU are invited to play. The Minor regions will not be attending the Western or Eastern Clashes, but we will see them at the two big events: the Mid-Season Brawl and the HGC Finals at BlizzCon. There is a fun twist to the Clashes as well - the winners of the Clashes open up an extra slot for their region to compete at the Mid-Season Brawl. If Team Dignitas were to win the Western Clash, EU would be able to send 3 teams to the Mid-Season Brawl: the team who finished on top of the League would automatically go, and then the 1st place and 2nd place team from the Playoffs would also go.

The rest of the format is standard. The teams are seeded into the bracket according to their League standings, with EU 1st seed facing off against NA 4th seed. It’s a double-elimination bracket with Round 1 of both the Upper Bracket and Lower Bracket being best-of-3. From there on, all games will be bo5, until the Finals on Sunday which will be bo7. The Clash runs from March 2nd until the 4th and will be played at the beautiful Spodek Arena in Katowice.

With the Western Clash schedule all set, let’s have a look at who Team Dignitas have first to face, and who they might see further down in the bracket. NA may have seemed very chaotic during their 5 weeks of League play, but you can never underestimate any one team’s potential, especially when regional metas clash.

Team Dignitas vs HeroesHearth - Friday March 2nd @ 2:00 am PST / 11:00 am CET

HeroesHearth is full of talent and experience. Their roster formed from the ashes of many teams, created to compete in the Open Division of NA in 2017. After working their way through the Open Division and earning a spot in the HGC League by defeating Even in Death, they have been a mid-range team in NA who rose above to claim their spot to Katowice. NA is difficult to decipher in terms of power. HeroesHearth have had some amazing matches where they have won against teams such as Simplicity and even top tier NA team Team Twelve. But, they also lost to Gale Force Esports and had a difficult time against LFM Esports.

HeroesHearth is comprised of some familiar faces of the pro-HotS scene: Taylor “Arthelon” Eder from the old Tempo Storm days, Khalif “Khroen” Hashim the once Li-Ming god of Gale Force Esports, and Stafford “McIntyre” McIntyre who has been around the block in terms of teams and pro experience. Their Support, Chase “BBJ” Dixon and Tank Chris “Ishb00” Martin are nothing to laugh at either. The team has definitely improved over the course of the 5 weeks of League play, finishing with a 4-3 W-L. Their drafts in comparison to the EU meta are very different. They have a lot of versatility in their players and can play a wide range of heroes. Popular hero picks for them have been E.T.C., Greymane, Malthael, Uther, and Hanzo. HeroesHearth may get punished for their different drafting style and preferred Heroes, as Team Dignitas seem to dictate the meta in EU by moving away from E.T.C. and Greymane. Team Dignitas focus more on Blaze, Malfurion, Dehaka, and Tracer, with some Genji sprinkled in when he doesn’t get banned.

Even though Team Dignitas had a rough Week 5 against Zealots, the team is still looking strong. Team Dignitas are one of the main teams who innovate new strategies. Last year at Katowice Team Dignitas swept through the Lower Bracket to win the Grand Finals with surprising drafts that included relatively unplayed Heroes such as Stitches, Tyrande, Ragnaros, and Kael’thas. This year they were one of the first to use Blaze in both the Solo-Lane and Main Tank roles, with Jérôme “JayPL” Trinh and Jonathan “Wubby” Gunnarsson having mastered him quite quickly. Blaze and Tyrael work well with Supports such as Malfurion and Uther and Team Dignitas has stayed away from the common E.T.C. and Rehgar picks of other teams. Innovation is definitely a Team Dignitas strength, and Team Captain Joshua “Snitch” Bennett even mentioned that the team have some special drafts prepared for the Western Clash. Since Maiev will be available to these players for the first time in competitive play, it is possible we will see Team Dignitas bust her out in some surprise compositions.

We can’t wait to bring you amazing content while we hang out at the first HotS LAN event of the year. We will be sitting front row screaming our lungs out for Team Dignitas and getting some great behind the scenes footage and interviews. We hope those of you who will be attending the Western Clash will come say hi, and to those viewing at home, remember to spam #DIGWIN in the HGC chat and on Twitter. It means a lot to the players to see all the support from the fans.

The rest of the bracket for the Western Clash can be found here on the Heroes Esports page. You can watch the Western Clash from March 2nd - 4th on the BlizzHeroes Twitch Channel. Our first match is at 11:00 am CET on the 2nd!
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/blizzheroes

Be sure to follow our players as they take you through their journey in Katowice!
@SnitchHotS
@JayPL_hots
@POILKpls
@Zaeliaa
@Wubbyz

And as usual, you can join us in the #DIGscord where we will be watching every game live!
Discord: https://discord.gg/TeamDignitas