The final stage of the HGC 2018 draws near. The Group Stage will launch with the match between Tempo Storm from NA and Luna Meow from Taiwan at 10:00 PM on October 25 (KST). This time around, Korean teams are expected to stay strong even until the final Playoffs at BlizzCon 2018. Of course, Team Dignitas and Leftovers from EU and Tempo Storm from NA are expected to be quite competitive this season as well.

This HGC Finals consists of the Group Stage with 12 teams in total, 6 teams in each group. The 8 qualified teams will enter the Playoffs where they will compete against each other in a single elimination mode. Gen.G, Tempest, and Miracle from South Korea will make their mark this time.

We had an opportunity to listen to their goals for the HGC Finals.

Q. How do you feel about entering BlizzCon?

KyoCha: Although it wasn’t a pleasant start because of the match against Miracle, that match made us feel that we should do better, and it’s going great right now. As a former champion from last year, we’d like to show our potential and earn the title. We’ll do our best.

Q. How are you guys doing after the KR schedule has concluded?

KyoCha: We had some time to rest. We are having some scrims with Dignitas as they recently visited Korea for training. I think I played Destiny 2 quite a lot as well.

Reset: Not so different from what he did. I also rested for quite some time.

Q. Your team has the top score in the entire club. Don’t you feel a little stressed about it?

KyoCha: We weren’t thinking about it that much before, but people are expecting us to win for sure, so we’re beginning to feel it a little. Our CEO also tweeted our victory as soon as we won the league. But, if we keep thinking about it, it’ll just keep pressuring us so we tend not to think about it.

Q. The HGC KR commentators recently picked Gen.G as the top competitor.

KyoCha: Hyungwook “OPrime” Seo has a nickname; OPele, and I personally think that he has a good eye for games. We’d like to prove once again that we are still capable. But, I kind of feel worried as he is into Destiny 2 nowadays.

Q. Many people say that the match against Dignitas and Miracle will decide everything.

Reset: We won’t see Dignitas in the Group Stages, but we’ll probably see them in either the quarterfinals or semifinals if they manage to be placed second, and I think we should prepare for that. With Miracle, we see them quite early so we’re preparing thoroughly for it. The first may have been by chance, but the second will become evidence of our skills. We’ll never underestimate them and do our best.

Q. You have been placed first in the Power Ranking on the Heroes of the Storm NA Esports News. How do you feel about that?

Reset: It’s quite a natural result. Considering our scores and win history, we should be placed first, objectively or subjectively.

Q. The EU teams seem to be getting much stronger day by day. What do you think about them winning the league just like the Mid-Season Brawl 2017?

KyoCha: I believe that Dignitas has the potential to win with their pure skills, not luck. The teams like Liquid which often use unconventional methods could probably do a few tricks at the beginning against strong teams, but it will become quite difficult once they use up all their prepared tactics. Of course, the probability of winning may increase if you prepare enough strategies for various situations. On top of that, Leftovers is a team that loves confronting the opponent team, so the result will depend on each player’s skills compared to that of Korean players.

Q. Is there any core meta or hero that will have a big influence at BlizzCon?

KyoCha: Kerrigan has been nerfed by the recent patch, but she still has strong potential. However, I believe that BlizzCon will have a different ban-pick composition from the HGC KR. In particular, heroes such as Medivh will be game changers.

Reset: Unless heroes such as Abathur or Medivh who can often turn the tide are not used, the meta will be similar to how it is South Korea, where both teams confront each other face to face.

Q. Is there any team that you’re keeping an eye on or would like to meet? Are you satisfied with the current group?

Reset: Not particularly. The group also seems fine.

Q. Do you have any last words to share?

Reset: Miracle is the only team we lost against. We are looking forward to paying back the debt at BlizzCon. The team is doing great so we expect to have good results as well. Thank you always for your support.

KyoCha: This is my 3rd time at BlizzCon, and it always feels new. I couldn’t really practice as much as I wanted to in South Korea, so I’ll practice more when I go to the US. I appreciate all fans for their support, as well as those who are managing the team, and sponsors.

Q. How do you feel about entering BlizzCon?

Sign: We are pleased to enter the league in second, and I’m also excited to go with our new younger brother.

Good: I was disqualified from Tempest last year, but now that I am entering the league as Tempest, it kind of feels weird.

Q. How are you guys doing after the KR schedule has concluded?

Sign: We didn’t have much time to practice and do scrims. Instead, we did individual practice and had some time to strengthen our teamwork.

Q. In the recent HGC KR interview, Tempest was not mentioned as one of the top competitors. Don’t you feel a little bit disappointed?

Sign: No, we’re actually thankful to them for not mentioning us. Especially OPrime.

Q. You do maintain your spot in the high tiers, but you haven’t really had a solid chance at winning.

Good: We are always doing our best, but there’s Gen.G who are also doing their best. It’s just that Gen.G won many times rather than us not winning at all. I suppose that it will be different this time.

Q. Will there be a position change just like the last time at BlizzCon?

Sign: So far, no. Of course, things will change when we start practicing in the US. There’s always a possibility, and we are down for it.

Q. You have been placed third in the Power Ranking of the Heroes of the Storm NA Esports News.

Sign: It seems to correspond to the Mid-Season Brawl ranking. But, the third means that we also have a chance to turn the tide. Although it’s not satisfying, the ranking seems to be rational.

Q. The EU teams seem to be getting much stronger day by day. What do you think about them winning the league just like the Mid-Season Brawl 2017?

Sign: It’s always possible. Not only Dignitas, but the EU teams always had a strong performance at BlizzCon. Each team has their own characteristics this year as well, and I think that it depends on how you target those to win.

Q. Is there any core meta or hero that will have a big influence at BlizzCon?

Sign: The first hero that comes to mind is Diablo. He had some good moments both in South Korea and Europe. I believe that many teams will consider using him right now, and that’s why the second main tank is quite vital to be used alternatively.

Good: Those who have a wide hero pool would have a bigger advantage thanks to the recent meta. The tactic in which a sub-tank and sub-DPS clean up the lanes is quite efficient, and one of our strengths is the relatively free role assignment; many of us can do either main DPS, sub-DPS, or sub-tank.

Q. Is there any team that you are keeping an eye on or would like to meet? Are you satisfied with the current group?

Sign: Not particularly. We didn’t really have a problem when we focused on our play. The group formation is good too. Dignitas is in the same group so we’ll most likely see them later in the Payoffs, and I hope that they drop either Miracle or Gen.G. It’s better that Korean teams don’t fight each other.

Good: The group formation itself doesn’t seem that difficult, and I’m sure that we can win against everyone in the group. I also think that it’s more helpful to meet foreign teams first.

Q. Do you have any last words to share?

Sign: Many fans have been supporting us for the last year, and I hope that this league will be the place where we can repay their love. We’re preparing a lot so that we give a good performance, and I know that our youngest brother here will carry us hard. Thank you.

Good: We’ll practice hard and get the trophy. Thank you.

Q. How do you feel about entering BlizzCon?

NaChoJin: I knew it would happen from the very beginning.

Judy: It is unexpected, and we felt really good winning against Blossom and we’ve also been thinking that we should push ourselves really hard for the match with Ballistix, and it’s really exciting to go to the league.

Q. How are you guys doing after the KR schedule has concluded?

NaChoJin: I took some rest after the Playoffs and recently started practicing.

Judy: We took a long rest as we pushed ourselves too hard during the season. We started individual practice and scrims from this week.

Q. Miracle received a lot of limelight worldwide when they won all matches against Gen.G in Phase 2.

Judy: They were lucky. They practiced hard, and they also knew the ban-pick composition quite well. They surely did better than how they used to be. I don’t think there’s any particular reason for it, they just did well.

Q. During the HGC KR commentators interview, Wooseo “AcE” Jung picked Miracle as one of the top competitors.

NaChoJin: I feel that we’ll see Tempest in the semifinals.

Judy: Are we going to the semifinals? As soon as I heard that, I felt that he was showing affection towards the team rather than thorough analysis. We thank him, but we are probably not as good.

Q. This is the first international stage for you, how do you think the games will turn out? Are you preparing anything for it?

Judy: We’re looking at ban-picks of international matches. There were a number of interesting plays that we also want to try out, and we have also prepared surprising tactics that we couldn’t really bring to the table because teammates were hesitant. I once thought of using D.Va, but they stopped me so hard from choosing her.

Q. You were placed fifth in the Power Ranking of the Heroes of the Storm NA Esports News.

Judy: We were fourth in the HGC KR, and I’m satisfied to hear that we are No. 5 in the world.

NaChoJin: Seems about right. It’s the very first time entering the international league for all Miracle members, and the ranking seems a bit influenced by their ordinary expectation towards the Korean league. We would’ve probably been seventh or eighth had we not won against Gen.G.

Q. The EU teams seem to be getting much stronger day by day. What do you think about them winning the league just like the Mid-Season Brawl 2017?

Judy: I still believe that Korean teams will be a little superior.

NaChoJin: Dignitas showed their dominance in the EU league. They are visiting Korea for training, and the fact that one team is dominating the whole league indicates that the standard competitiveness of the EU league has gone down a bit.

Q. Is there any core meta or hero that will have a big influence at BlizzCon?

Judy: Medivh. EU teams use him quite often, and Korean teams do too. He will either show up or get banned every match. Kerrigan seems to be more attack-oriented after the nerf, so it may depend on the team composition. The rest will change when we go to the US and practice.

NaChoJin: I think it’s Genji. Other regions do not use him that often, but he still shows up quite frequently in the Korean league, and I believe that people will change their mind when they see how spicy the Korean Genji can be.

Q. Is there any team that you are keeping an eye on or would like to meet? Are you satisfied with the current group?

Judy: I wanted to have a match with Mopsio, the main tank at Leftovers. I was looking forward to seeing Fnatic as well, but they are disqualified now. Our score against Tempest isn’t that good, so I hope that Gen.G wins against them. Wouldn’t it give us more credit if they collide and one of them gets disqualified?

NaChoJin: The group formation itself is quite satisfying. It could’ve been quite difficult to even reach 4th place if we were in Group B.

Q. Do you have any last words to share?

Judy: Thank you all for supporting us during this season. This is our first time visiting BlizzCon, and we’ll do our best to show you the most interesting matches. Thank you.

NaChoJin: I was told to be placed second when I came back to Miracle, so I believe we’ll make it to the finals. Tempest is the only team we want to avoid because of the recent scores. We’ll see Dignitas instead and go to the top. Thank you.