With the World of Warcraft Arena World Championship Grand Finals looming on the horizon, the top eight teams finally began the last leg of their quest for glory during Opening Week. Weapons clashed, spells were cast . . . and as the dust settled, we were left certain of one thing—the competition at BlizzCon is going to be EPIC! Remember, all matches are played on the World of Warcraft: Legion 7.0.3 build, not the recently released 7.1, as the teams have spent countless hours preparing and strategizing around the meta in the earlier build.

The team comp to beat is currently mage rogue, and nearly every team brought this comp to at least one of their matches. We also saw a lot of enhancement shaman and demonology warlock comps, shadowplay, and even a cheeky beast cleave. Holy paladins were the overwhelming favorite in the healing role, providing their teammates with plenty of utility, throughput, and offensive pressure.

The tension was palpable as Northern Gaming Blue faced off against Tempo Storm, the “NA Dream Team.” NG Blue brought their A-game, scoring a decisive 3–1 victory in the series—and showing off their chops with three different comps. NG Blue’s Whaazz is on a mission to prove he’s the best rogue at BlizzCon, and after his impressive performance in these matches there may not be many left who’ll doubt him. Don’t count Tempo Storm out, though, as they’ve got a favorable matchup against Longzhu Gaming in an elimination match on Friday, where we’ll likely get another taste of Zunniyaki’s insane shadow priest skills.

Next up, Longzhu Gaming faced off against Panda Gaming. Already considered underdogs by many, Longzhu Gaming has to overcome the loss of their leader and top teammate, Coding—perhaps the most famous Korean player of all time. Coding unfortunately could not participate at BlizzCon because he was called for mandatory Military duty in Korea only a week before, but his teammates fought valiantly to keep their BlizzCon dream alive. Shotky, the team’s enhance shaman, switched roles at the last minute to take on the mantle of healer. In the end, their efforts weren’t enough to hold off the swift and relentless rogue mage pressure of Panda Gaming, who swept the series for a quick 3–0 victory.

Panda Global and Northern Gaming Blue took the stage later in the afternoon for the Group A winners’ match. Feeling confident after their 3–0 victory earlier, Panda Gaming brought the same rogue, fire mage, and holy paladin comp to every match of this series. However, NG Blue never flinched—after winning match one with a ret rogue comp, they issued Panda Gaming a challenge by locking in the same mage, rogue, and holy paladin comp for the remaining matches. Panda Gaming answered, and match two was a race to kill the other team’s paladin. Unfortunately, Panda Gaming’s Rubcub missed his bubble at the last second and was eliminated. The third match played out similarly, but even though Rubcub managed to get a bubble off this time, Northern Gaming Blue still won, claiming a 3–0 victory—and more bragging rights for Whaazz.

The group B winners’ match between Method NA and Splyce proved to be the most interesting of the day. Having swept their EU counterparts 3–0 in their first series, Method NA confidently brought the same enhance shaman, demonology warlock, and holy paladin comp to the first match . . . only to be overwhelmed by a surprise beast cleave from Splyce. The pressure was insane, with both Swapxy and Fabss popping their offensive cooldowns within the first few seconds of the match. Method was quickly defeated, but opted for a rematch in the second bout. This time Method almost managed to outlast the Splyce’s burst damage and kill their holy paladin, Boetar, but not quite. It was time for Method to make a change.

Method decided to go on the defensive for the third match, subbing their warlock out for a prot paladin. Match three was a slugfest, with nearly every player sitting at less than half health for most of the match—but Method’s Cdew recovered from insurmountable odds, keeping his team alive through the onslaught as they finally managed to kill Swapxy and secure their first win of the series. Method tried this comp again in the next match, but Splyce didn’t back down—their beast cleave comp returned and prevailed, securing a 3–1 victory and bringing the Opening Week matches of the WoW Arena World Championship to an exciting conclusion.

The action starts up again on at BlizzCon on Friday, November 4 at 17:00 CET as Longzhu Gaming faces off against Tempo Storm in an elimination match. We’ll also see more of Northern Gaming Blue and Splyce as they compete in the Semi-Finals against the winners of the decider matches in their respective brackets. Will Longzhu Gaming win out and stay in the running at BlizzCon? Can Whaaz prove himself as the best rogue in the world? Find out next weekend at BlizzCon—all matches will take place on the World of Warcraft & Heroes of the Storm Tournament Stage in Hall B, and will also be streamed live on twitch.tv.