The 16 teams advancing to the next round of the Hearthstone Global Games are now locked in. The best talent in the world is within this group right here. We’ll be breaking down what happened in the games this week and who will be expected to advance to top 8 in our HGG Week 6 review.
Match score of Norway vs. Thailand.
Norway started off the week with a strong performance, beating Thailand three games to one. Casper “Hunterace” Notto led off Norway with a victory using the revived Quest Rogue. His team mates were able to clean up a couple of other games. Because of Hunterace’s role on the team, Norway is a big threat to the other countries.
Germany made quick work of Indonesia three games to none. The sweep doesn’t come as a surprise, as the German team is absolutely stacked with talent. Raphael “Bunnyhoppor” Peltzer and Torben “Viper” Wahl have both qualified for the World Championship, and Thomas “Sintolol” Zimmer gets his chance at the Fall Championship. With a lineup like that, Germany is definitely one of the favorites to win it all.
Summer Champion Bunnyhoppor is a part of a dominant Germany lineup,
Hong Kong held off Sweden and found their spot in the top 16 after winning 3-1. Lo “kin0531” Tsz Kin is the big name for Hong Kong, recently coming off his victory at the Asian Games. He won his match versus Sweden with Aggro Mage against Odd Paladin.
The team full of streamers, Netherlands, battled out against Poland and stay around for the top 16. The set went to a close game five, where Tyler “tylerootd” Hoang Nguyen earned his second win of the series. The Netherlands is another popular pick for country to win it all, because like Germany, they have four well known players.
Ukraine are favorites to win it all.
Only one team is undefeated going into the top 16. Brazil shows that they are the team to beat after another strong performance versus Switzerland. Brazil has already beaten four other teams who are in the top 16. They have a bounty on their heads and will have to stand strong against the field.
The Ukraine defeated China three games to one this week. The clean victory is a good confidence booster for the team after losing a three game sweep to Taiwan last week. Aleksandr “Kolento” Malsh and Eugene “Neirea” Shumilin are looking to take the title this year after they finished second to only the Czech Republic last year. That obstacle is not in their way this year after Bulgaria knocked out the Czech Republic this week.
The top 16
New Zealand is sitting back this week. They get a bye and advance to the next round. This is surely a controversial occurrence as they were only one of two teams to get a bye among 48 total teams. No one doubts the skill level of New Zealand, but it is a misstep in planning by the tournament organizers. An interesting side note is that Pathra “Pathra” Cadness of team New Zealand is also the only girl left in the competition.
The Hearthstone Global Games will go on a two week break before returning for the round of 16. The teams are locked in and ready(the United States versus South Korea match had not yet been played at the time of writing).
Play will resume on September 19 in a pool play style group stage. Four groups of four teams, with the top two advancing from each group, will narrow it down to the final eight teams to play at Blizzcon.
Images courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment via the PlayHearthstone twitch channel.
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