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In Heroes of the Storm, synergy is everything. No other MOBA forces teams to clash earlier or more often around map objectives. This is not League of Legends, where teams can build their compositions around funneling their resources into one player. All your resources are shared, making the synergy of your team composition more critical than in any other game. As such, the pick and ban phase is just as important as a team’s play in the game itself. In the first finals of the Enter The Storm tournament, Team Liquid and Gamers2 clashed in a perfect picture of the power of picks and bans. Gamers2 clawed their way up from the losers bracket on the back of of strong individual play and map presence. However, when they came up against the synergistic perfection of Team Liquid’s pick and ban phase, there was little they could do.

"Gamers2 arguably have the stronger collection of heroes, but Liquid has the vastly superior team."

The second game of the finals series was a perfect picture of solid team composition creation by Team Liquid. When they first met in the bracket stage, Gamers2 was thoroughly routed by Liquid’s use of the Illidan/Uther combo. However, what Gamers2 did not learn from their first clash with Liquid was that their opponents were not running a traditional Illidan team composition.

Everyone understands the idea of a “protect the Illidan” team. Get two healers, a strong tank, and something else with strong crowd control, and make Illidan virtually unkillable as he jumps around in the enemy back line. While Liquid’s team compositions in the first bout looked similar, they had a few critical changes that were crystalized by the way Gamers2 handled the picks and bans in game two of the final series.

Lets’ first examine the pick order. Just like in their first bout, Liquid banned away Abathur. By removing the strongest split pusher in the game, and a strategy Gamers2 had found success with, Liquid forced their opponents to build around team fights. Knowing that Liquid would want to play an Illidan composition, Gamers2 made a clever move by banning away the Uther. This ban revealed a lot about the way Gamers2 perceived Liquid’s strategy.

Team Liquid’s melee assassin player, Blackscorp, is terrifying on all three prominent melee assassins: Kerrigan, Zeratul, and Illidan. Recognizing that they could not deny Blackscorp all three heroes, they denied what they felt was the key to his success—the Divine Shield of Uther. With their first pick priority, Gamers2 then took away another strong component of the Illidan comp in E.T.C.

"However, what Gamers2 did not learn from their first clash with Liquid was that their opponents were not running a traditional Illidan team composition."

This is generally the best warrior to pair with Illidan in traditional team compositions due to his diving ability and strong crowd control. However, Team Liquid responded by grabbing their Illidan, but making an interesting change by taking the Lost Vikings. This choice left Gamers2 free to make two very obvious decisions in Malfurion and Tassadar—outstanding all-around heroes that fit into any composition, and deny Illidan even more protection. Liquid then was forced to take one of the few healers left in Rehgar, and some extra damage in Sgt Hammer. Gamers2 rounded out their comp with two more very strong heroes, Sylvanas and Valla, leaving Liquid to take their warrior.

Liquid had multiple warrior options at this point. The obvious choice was Diablo, largely considered to be the next best warrior to E.T.C. They could have taken Chen for his disengage, or Stitches to pull the right target into their damage threats. Even Arthas would have worked to keep targets in place for Illidan to devour. Instead, Liquid chose to finish their composition with Tyrael. At this point, Gamers2 arguably have the stronger collection of heroes, but Liquid has the vastly superior team.

At this point, it’s important to understand the map on which this game was played. Cursed Hollow, more than any other map, forces teamfights. There is only ever one tribute to fight over, and when a team is threatening a curse, there is nothing else on the map that is an even trade. The tributes also persist until taken, meaning that no matter how long a skirmish lasts, you cannot abandon the fight. It is this necessity that made Liquid’s team composition so potent.

The Lost Vikings, Sgt. Hammer, and Illidan are incredibly strong in lane. This meant that after level three, Team Liquid had superior map pressure across the board. Their laning presence allowed them to be the first team to every critical tribute, forcing Gamers2 to be the aggressors. In theory, this is exactly what Gamers2 wanted. Their heroic abilities needed to be timed together in order to win team fights as a unit.

"They sought to suppress a one dimensional composition built around Illidan. Instead, they were met with a team that would not die..."

However, what Liquid’s composition did so well was disengage from fights they didn’t want. Every hero in their lineup had ways to mitigate damage. Lost Vikings have Jump, as well as their ultimate, Longboat Raid, Sgt. Hammer has Thrusters and First Aid, Illidan has Evasion and First Aid, and Tyrael has a shield, and is a warrior. If anyone got caught or was in serious danger, they had Rehgar’s Ancestral Healing to top of their health bar. Each time Gamers2 aggressed and burned their ultimates, Team Liquid made a tactical retreat while still dealing enough damage to force out healing wards and Tranquility.

Once Gamers2 had used all their resources, Team Liquid’s plan went in to motion. Judgement, Feral Lunge, and Metamorphosis allowed Tyrael, Rehgar, and Illidan respectively to immediately turn on their foes with surprising burst damage, and three uses of Blood for Blood. This burst of damage would force Gamers2 to collapse, but the Lost Vikings and Sgt. Hammer were still dealing out consistent damage from the back line. Without their Stage Dive, Gamers2 had no way to get back onto the ranged threats from Liquid. Most early fights ended with very few kills, but Gamers2 had no way to force Liquid away from tributes. Eventually this advantage snowballed out of control, and Liquid was able to take control of both bosses on the map, and ride them into the Gamers2 base for the win.

Gamers2 had some of the strongest heroes in the game. They sought to suppress a one dimensional composition built around Illidan. Instead, they were met with a team that would not die, and had too much damage to be controlled. The next time you build a team, don’t just look at the strength of the heroes, think about how they fit together.

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