All eyes are on eight teams from around the world as the Heroes of the Storm World Championship draws near. With the first set of Group Stage matches starting today, what matchups will we be seeing?

For more info on the Heroes World Championships, the matches, and the teams, make sure to check out our full coverage portal for the event.

The Road to Blizzcon has ended. Teams across the globe have put countless amounts of blood, sweat, and tears into getting to the biggest stage in Heroes. And with only eight teams left vying for the championship title, the stakes have never been higher.

While the majority of the matches will be played during the week of Blizzcon (next week!), the action kicks off today at 1:30pm PST. A list of streams in a multitude of languages are available here. What teams are competing for the total prize pool of $500,000, and what are today’s matchups? Let’s take a look.

The Teams

For more info on the groups, check out our article on the group reveal.

Today’s Matches – Group A

Cloud9 vs. GIA

The first match of the day brings American juggernauts Cloud9 up against Taiwanese hopefuls GIA. GIA seem to be the underdogs in this matchup, but have the element of surprise on their hands. With some of Cloud9’s strategies being showcased in the recent HTC Heroes Brawl, and GIA being relatively unknown to a lot of the Heroes scene, will Cloud9 be caught off guard?

Team Page for Cloud9 | Team Page for GIA

YL vs. Dignitas

The second match of Group A pits Team YL of China against the Dignitas (formerly Bob?) of Europe. Dignitas have given an incredible showing through the entirety of the Road to Blizzcon, making themselves titans of the European scene. However, Team YL has fought hard in China, boasting impressive results against both Chinese and Korean teams. With the advantage of the relatively unknown Asian meta on their side, can YL show dominance in this matchup? Or will Dignitas’ recent power surge make them the favored victors?

Team Page for YL | Team Page for Dignitas

Today’s Matches – Group B

Team DK vs. Tempo Storm

After the MSI MGA event at PAX Prime, it was clear that Korea had the upper hand over the other regions of HotS. MVP Black dominated the event, and 3-0’d Tempo Storm in the Grand Finals. However, this matchup isn’t MVP Black vs. Tempo Storm! Team DK, another Korean behemoth, bested MVP Black during the Korean championships. If Tempo Storm can’t beat MVP Black, how can they defeat the ones who brought them down? The ball is in entirely in Tempo Storm’s court for this match. Have they studied the Korean teams and the secrets to bringing them down? Or will Team DK show the world that Korea means business?

Team Page for Team DK | Team Page for Tempo Storm

Na`Vi vs. Brave Heart

Most expected Team eStar, China’s HotS poster child, to be one of the strongest teams at Blizzcon. Unfortunately, their continued visa struggles left them unable to participate in the event. In their place comes Brave Heart, China’s 3rd ranked team. Na`Vi, on the other hand, are the winners of the European Championship, and they are no joke, rampaging through the European scene undefeated in recent events. Will Na`Vi continue their winning streak, or will Brave Heart show what they are made of?

Team Page for Na`Vi | Team Page for Brave Heart

Today's Matches - Winners/What's Next?

After the four group stage matches will be two matches between the winners of each bracket. This will conclude the first day of Heroes World Championship matches. While no team will be eliminated during this first day, it will leave 4 teams on the brink of elimination. All matches will be streamed live on the Twitch.tv/Blizzheroes channel.

The remaining four matches of the group stage will be played out on the first day of Blizzcon, November 6, at 4pm PST. From there, the playoffs will be played in their entirety on November 7, starting at 9:45am PST. Who do you expect to make it out of the group stage? What kind of upsets are we going to see?

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