The frontrunners for the 2016 Heroes of the Storm Fall Championship have emerged after a rough and tumble Opening Week that saw the demise of teams representing Southeast Asia, New Zealand/Australia, and Latin America, as well as China’s eStar Gaming. The first day of BlizzCon competition also resulted in the elimination of both North American teams, Astral Authority and Denial eSports, as well as Opening Week’s breakout team from Taiwan, Please Buff Arthas, and the first seed from China, ZeroPanda.

Things were looking promising in the early going of both games for Astral Authority. With a tanky frontline centered around a Dehaka pick for team captain Ben ‘Cattlepillar’ Bunk, Astral managed to isolate a plethora of picks before heroic abilities came into play. However, Dignitas drafted smart, focusing on a synergy between Malfurion and Gul’dan that enabled accelerated wave clear and stifled their opponents’ efforts to capitalize on their early lead in game one. In both games, Dignitas showed their strengths by manipulating the map objectives with timed picks and camp captures, carrying them into the late game without losing too much ground. The grind paid off as Dignitas ultimately dispatched Astral with a 2-0 win.

Denial eSports faced off against ZeroPanda next. Game one on Sky Temple was over quickly as ZeroPanda managed to pick off multiple Heroes in the early game and maintain their lead as the shrines spawned. Game two on Garden of Terror was a much closer affair. Denial’s Mike ‘Glaurung’ Fisk showed why his Zeratul is legendary, landing multiple well-timed and high-impact Void Prisms that shifted the tempo of the match. However, due to a disastrous fight at level 20, ZeroPanda was able to dismantle the Core with little resistance. In both games ZeroPanda’s Zheng "melodyC" Xiangzhi on Dehaka put intense pressure onto Denial’s Malfurion, played by Francis "aPm" Gilbert-Brodeur. ZeroPanda proved that China remains a superpower in the scene, going deeper now into the Fall Championship bracket.

In the winners final between Dignitas and PBA, Dignitas took game one swiftly on Infernal Shrines after exhibiting excellent objective control and winning team fights handedly with a Medivh composition that dished out massive damage with Sonya and Valla. On the next map, Battlefield of Eternity, PBA opted for a rather unconventional first pick Greymane that proved lackluster once put into play. Dignitas showed that communication is key after executing a consistent stunlock chain to win fights before they started, and the four-time European champions left the stage Friday night with smiles on their faces having made the final four.

The last series of the day between Fnatic and ZeroPanda was a nail-biter. Fnatic started game one on Braxis Holdout with a pick composition featuring Rexxar and Tyrande. While the game started in favor of Fnatic, ZeroPanda built momentum post level ten, and in a climactic game-ending fight, lost four members but distracted Fnatic long enough for their massive Zerg wave to devour the Core. The next game was incredibly back and forth on Dragon Shire as both teams rotated aggressively to channel the shrines. Both teams played defensively, and all of the forts were still standing when heroic talents were earned. Due to Fnatic’s extraordinary ability to mitigate damage in teamfights and make good trades, their composition pulled ahead once Tyrael picked up Holy Ground at level 16. After a long fight in the bot lane, Fnatic secured a keep, two kills, and a Dragon before pushing down the Core.

The final game of the night was a knockdown drag-out match on Cursed Hollow. Fnatic opted for a meaty Stitches pick composition, while ZeroPanda dug themselves in deep with Abathur. The whole crowd lost their minds as Fnatic edged out the series in an epic third game that kept everyone guessing. Fnatic managed to keep up in levels against Abathur’s aggressive soak and win the game ending fight that secured them a spot in the semifinals.

Saturday’s series will consist of two best of five semifinals between teams from Europe and Korea. With Dignitas playing MVP Black, and Fnatic taking on Ballistix. Make sure to tune in for epic conclusion of the 2016 Heroes Global Circuit.