Last weekend Roll20 won the fastest game in HGC history against Gale Force Esports: 5 minutes and 12 seconds, on Warhead Junction. How did they do it?

It started in the draft. Roll20 took Auriel, Lili, Tyrael, Zarya, and Greymane—essentially one damage dealer, two supports, and two warriors who provide shielding.

At first glance, it looked as though this composition was meant to counter Gale Force’s Illidan with blinds and impenetrable shields. However, there was a hidden reason behind assembling such a sustain-heavy group of heroes: Namely, to execute a risky early boss play, and snowball that advantage.

In the early game, Roll20 split up to soak experience, making sure that by the time top boss spawned (at the three-minute mark) they had at least a level lead on their opponents. Shortly before this, Roll20 captured their Mercenary camp in order to mount a more concentrated push.

Caught off guard, and correctly surmising that Roll20's disappearance from the mini-map meant they were on top boss, GFE responded by starting bottom boss, in order to even out pressure on the map.

“Most teams we practice this comp against decide to just trade the boss,” Roll20's Francisco ‘Goku’ Avalos said. “Teams just take the bottom boss and sack the fort instead, but they underestimate how much [damage] Zarya can actually do.”

Roll20 had tailored their composition specifically to enable an early death push with Zarya and Tyrael, who provide ample shielding for both heroes and minions in this siege. And it worked: No one on Roll20 died until the game's final seconds.

Of course it wasn't just high-level strategy that won the day. When top keep fell (at 4:40) and Roll20 pushed into GFE’s base with a half-health boss, neither team had their heroics. Here Roll20's micro (and their well-chosen comp) shone, with teammates simultaneously putting damage on the core, shielding their allies, and trying to not die themselves.

The gamble paid off: Roll20 rolled the dice on catching their opponents off guard with a risky boss call, and entered GFE's base without a numbers advantage, calculating that it wouldn't matter because the game would soon be over. And they were right—this time.