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Enter the Storm #2 Day 2 Winner’s Bracket wrapped today with Gamers2 booking their ticket to the Grand Finals. Team ASH goes down to face the Loser Bracket winner.

The day started off with eleven teams still in contention. In the Winner’s Bracket four remained; Team ALTERNATE Fancy (ANF) against Team ASH and Gamers2 and Na’Vi on the other side. Team ASH had looked strong in day 1 going 4-1 while ANF went to game 3 in both of their series.

Throughout the day there was not a lot of variety in hero picks. It’s clear that Muradin, Anub’ark, Tyrael, Kael’thas, and the usual assassin picks are the meta. Few Specialists were picked (surprisingly even Lost Vikings) and game to game, there was not huge difference in team picks.

Winner's Bracket Semi-Finals: Team ASH vs. Team ALTERNATE Fancy (2-0)

The series started off on Blackheart’s Bay. ASH had a strong draft, with Sylvanas, Jaina, and Anub’ark. But ANF was ahead for the majority of the map, at one point even two levels ahead. Entering the late game, ASH took two team fights and completely turned the advantage. In the decisive fight, Darkmok’s Zeratul landed a four-hero Void Prision. Once the Prison ended, ASH turned and wiped ANF. From there ASH controlled the map and pushed the core with ease.

Game 2 was on Sky Temple and was a quick 15 minute affair. Like Game 1 ANF won early engagements and had a slight level lead. The first half was very passive. In the late game, Team ASH took fight after fight; each time, they pushed down an outer keep or got boss with little consequences. Darkmok’s Zeratul was relatively ineffective the entire match, especially compared to Kunichan’s Illidan.

The huge four hero Prison Void spelled their doom... ANF's that is.

Winner's Bracket Semi-Finals: Gamers2 vs. Na'Vi (2-1)

In Game 1 Games2 ran a throwback lineup with Stitches against Na’Vi’s conventional lineup on Cursed Hollow. But we know why Stitches is barely picked anymore. He struggled to land meaningful hooks, and was useless in team fights. Na’vi’s ability to quickly counter initiate with Tyriel was problematic. It was an elongated match but mainly because Na’vi played it safe.

Game 2 was perhaps the best game of the day (certainly one of the longest). It was a completely back and forth affair on Blackheart's Bay with both teams taking engagements and pushing towers. It started off with Gamers2 in a strong position but quickly turned to alternating victories for both teams. In the end though, a final team fight at the coin turn-in spelt GG for Na’Vi as their core was finally pushed in.

Despite being marred with technical problems, Game 3 was an interesting battle on Tomb of the Spider Queen. It was a complete meta-fest with no surprising picks. Gamers2 started with an interesting three hero rotation between lanes to push them in and not lose any experience between the respawns. The mid game was relatively stale with no game deciding fights. Credit Na’vi for stabilizing against Gamers2 aggression. But a victory at Boss for Gamers2 was too much and spelt GG.

Special kudos to Gamers2 in Game 3. Ethernalbg had a DC with his Jaina surrounded by four Gamers2 heroes. Understanding the situation, Gamers2 backed off and let the re-connected Ethernalbg move back to safety.

Gamers2 showing their exceptional Sportsmanship.

Winner's Bracket Finals: Gamers2 vs. Team ASH (2-1)

In Game 1 ASH had a fantastic draft, landing Zeratul, Kael’thas, Anub’ark and Valla. With this lineup in place, ASH played aggressively throughout. Their five man composition had huge bursts of damage, with Gamers2 having little answer. ASH continued to build a large coin lead, and cashed to easily siege Gamers2 and take a 1-0 lead.

Game 2 was the quickest one of the day at barely twelve minutes. Running a double warrior lineup with Anub’ark and Muradin, Gamers2 were literally unstoppable. ASH did a good job getting Gamers2 low, but could never muster enough damage to finish either warrior off. Never stopping, Gamers2 pushed mid and took an easy game.

Game 3 was similar to Game 2. Gamers2 played a perfect early and mid game and had too much momentum for ASH to stop. While ASH took a good team fight, and subsequently took the Dragon Knight, Gamers2 was too far ahead. They picked off Jaina, got the Dragon Knight and pushed the core.

Lower Bracket

The Lower bracket still has three teams competing. The big upset that was still reverberating in Day 2 was Team Liquid’s round 1 loss to Puszek Team. The pre-tournament favorites took out their frustration by going a perfect 4-0. The other slight upset on Day 1 was Imaginary Gaming losing to Kinguin. Like Team Liquid, they’ve comfortably gone through and are one of the remaining four teams in the Loser’s Bracket.

Tomorrow the bracket continues with two Bo3 series to determine the Lower Bracket winner, and then the best of 5 Grand Finals. Khaldor will be casting from 2:00 PM CET.  You can watch here.