The group stage match between the two titans took place on the map Twisted Meadows, which, as maps go, is relatively even for both races.

Xuwen 'InFi' Wang spawned at the North position, while Manuel 'GrubbY' Schenkhuizen spawned to the East, situating the two within close proximity to one another. Grubby opted for a FarSeer as his first hero, utilizing it well to harass infi while he attempted to creep the goblin laboratory.

Grubby’s decision to use a duel beastiary build panned out well after infi chose to fast expand, delaying his tech considerably. Grubby quickly started pumping out raiders and proceeded to put pressure on infi’s base and expansion.

Grubby eventually began training demolishers in an attempt to counter infi’s towers, which went over pretty well. The combination of brutal siege damage and immobilizing ensnares saw that infi was limited to where and when he could move.

Grubby retained control for the majority of the match, constantly harassing infi and stunting his progress. Infi was left in a position where normally a player would have to hit-and-run to stay in the game, but Grubby’s mass of siege units meant trading bases would spell inevitable defeat. Infi was essentially at the behest of Grubby for most of the match.

With his win over infi, Grubby is now sitting pretty as the top rank in group A, while infi falls down to rank five. Having put away a clear favourite this early leaves Grubby in a great position moving forward, or a great mindset at the very least.

Now ranked behind Marc 'yAwS' Förster and Kim 'SaSe' Hammar, infi has to win his next few matches to make sure he advances from the group stage; given his powerful mirror match-up his chances do look good, while SaSe’s loss to yAwS earlier is a troubling sign for the Swedish hopeful.