Heroes of the Storm professional scene is filled with action. I’ve been playing Hots from July and to see how the competitive scene has grown from few professional teams and one or even less tournament per week to a tremendous amount of teams and tournaments is really compelling. So in this article I’ll try to cover every major competition that happened last week.
WCA America (12.05.15 – 1.06.15)
A part of the solid tournament with solid prize money – almost 4 million dollar prize pool divided onto 4 games, one of them is of course Heroes of the Storm. Finals will be held in Yinchuan, China. For Hots there are Pro and Open Qualifier format held in North America. Two best teams from Pro format will compete live on June the 1st live at ESL Studios in Burbank, California. Winner advances to finals in China and gets money prize. As for the Open Qualifiers – sign up begins on June the 1st and will be held online. Regional finals will commence at PAX Prime, with winners advancing to finals in China and getting some prize money.
Participating teams –
2ARC Gaming, C9 Maelstrom, Tempo Storm, CompLexity, C9 Vortex, Stellar Lotus, COGnitive, Zeveron
Casters – @SolidJakeGG, @TheCooby
Stream – http://www.twitch.tv/WCA_America
VOD's – http://www.twitch.tv/wca_america/v/5004689
Twitter – https://twitter.com/WCA_America
More info – http://wca-america.com/heroes-of-the-storm
ESL Major League Season 2 (14.04.15-TBA)
Electronic Sports League (ESL) – one of the first tournament providers for Heroes of the Storm, overtime has grown into different tournaments with Major League being the most prestige and competitive. Tournament offers over 4 thousand dollar prize pool. There are 8 participants, they qualified via ESL GO4Heroes, season 1 or qualifiers for season 2. Season started on 14th of April and is lasting for 8 weeks, ending with playoffs and relegation phase. Next season promises 12 teams with the ability to additionally qualify through ESL Open League.
Schedule – every Tuesday and Thursday with 1st match on 19:00 CET and 2nd match on 21:00 CET
Group Stage – 14th April – 21st May
Playoffs – TBA
Participating teams : Team Acer, Team Arthas, Gamers2, Team Kinguin(ex-ESC), LDLC, Well Met, Fnatic, SK gaming
Games of last the week :
Gamers2 vs Team Kinguin (ex-ESC)
LDLC vs Well Met
Casters – @Kaelaris@Khaldor
Stream – http://www.twitch.tv/esl_heroes/
VOD’s – http://www.twitch.tv/esl_heroes/
https://www.youtube.com/user/KhaldorTV
More info – http://play.eslgaming.com/heroesofthestorm/europe/heroes/major/league/2015-season-2-europe/
Match Arena Open#2 (13.05.15)
Second edition of the cup Powered by Sennheiser and MIF.com. This quick, one day tournament attracted a lot of professional teams with bo1 format till finals and more than 200$ prize pool.
Teams – Na’Vi, Fnatic, Team Dignitas, Imaginary Gaming, Team Arthas, Gamers2, LDLC, Team Fancy.
Schedule – Wednesday at 19:00 CET
Casters – @Khaldor, @HappyZerg
Finals – Fnatic vs Na’Vi
Stream – http://www.twitch.tv/Khaldor
VOD’s – https://www.youtube.com/user/KhaldorTV
More info – http://www.matcharena.eu/index.php/de/News:bericht/701/Heroes_of_the_Storm_5on5_MA_OPEN__02_-_by_Sennheiser__MIFcom.html
ESL Community Cup (13.05.15)
One of the first tournaments community had in the technical alpha days now is much smaller event compared to Major League, Open League or GO4Heroes, but it’s an opportunity for semi-professional teams to have competitive environment and grow.
Schedule – every Wednesday at 19:00 CET
Finals – Synergyc vs Inside Games.Hots
More info – http://play.eslgaming.com/heroesofthestorm/europe/heroes/open/5on5-community-cup-31-europe/rankings/
Zotac Cup (16.05.15)
Zotac cups have a long history and have been providing joy to esports fans since 2007. With the refreshed format this year organizers decided to support two games – Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm.
Hots edition provides weekly cups with 250$ prize pool and lures many professional teams offering prize money and ranking. Ranking allows to compete in monthly finals.
Schedule – every Saturday starting at 15:00 CET, with monthly finals.
Casters – multiple casters provide different languages with @Khaldor usually casting English stream
Teams to watch – Gamers2, Team Liquid, Na’Vi, Fnatic
Finals – Gamers2 vs Na’Vi
Stream – http://www.twitch.tv/Khaldor
VOD’s – http://www.twitch.tv/Khaldor
More info – http://heroes.zotac-cup.com
Enter the Storm Cup#2 (25.04.15-TBA)
Qualifiers 7, 8 (16-17.05.15)
Powered by GosuGamers, Roccat and Alienware this is a second installment of the biggest European tournament to date. Qualifiers have been running for four weeks in a row now. With prize pool of 5000$ and 12 qualifiers running each Saturday and Sunday at 16:00 CET, ETS features the best of the best fighting for glory, honor and title.
Schedule –
Qualifiers – 25th of April – 31st May
Playoffs start on 6th June at 14:00 CET
Finals qualifier 7 – Well Met vs Imaginary Gaming
Finals qualifier 8 – Team Dignitas vs Nihillium
Casters – @ShaneGoocher@FourCourtJester
Stream – http://www.twitch.tv/gosugamers
VOD’s – http://heroes.gosucup.com/vods
Replay’s – http://heroes.gosucup.com/replays
More info – http://heroes.gosucup.com/
ESL GO4Heroes (17.05.15)
Running since November 2014, this ESL tournament serves like a bridge between the semi-professional and professional Hots scene. Often times you see teams of different caliber fighting their way to the top as well as the ability to compete in monthly final or even Major League slot. Tournament starts every Sunday at 17:00 CET offering prize pool of 100$ as well as some GO4Heroes points.
Finals – Team Kinguin(ex-ESC) vs ApHeroes
Casters – tournament attracts a lot of casters with @Khaldor providing English stream
Stream – http://www.twitch.tv/Khaldor
VOD’s – https://www.youtube.com/user/KhaldorTV
More info – http://play.eslgaming.com/heroesofthestorm/europe/major/go4heroes-europe
