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Heroes8 years agoGosu "GosuGamers" Gamers

All eyes on Austin: The First North American Summer Regional Preview


DreamHack: Austin Coverage Hub

If there is anything we've learned in the past few months of North American play, it's to expect the unexpected. The top North American rivals are no longer Tempo Storm and Cloud9, or even Cloud9 and Naventic as we had seen earlier in the year. No team is immortal and everything is up for grabs. We've seen upsets left and right showing that new North American blood threatens the usual giants, and eight of the top teams have gone through three qualifiers to make it to this point. They will meet this weekend and battle it out for a spot at the Summer Global Championship at Dreamhack: Summer in June.

However, this will not be the only opportunity they have to qualify, as Blizzard has set up two regional championships for North America and Europe, so let's take a look at who will hope to take the first seed going to DreamHack: Summer.

Group 1

Panda Global

There's no doubt that Panda Global is an underdog in Austin. They've competed at the same level as a lot of the top North American teams for a long time, but weren't able to qualify until the final qualifier. They'll have to defeat Naventic in the first round which is a major challenge for them, but not impossible.

To come out on top Panda Global needs to focus on beating Naventic. However, if they can pull this off, they have a shot at beating any team in the tournament. They'll have to play their best the entire way through because they don't have an easy path to Sweden, but if they manage to win their first series then there's no reason they can't win it all.

Panda Global will first face Team Naventic Friday on the main stream around 1:00PM PST.

Naventic

Naventic was the first team to qualify for DreamHack: Austin even with their recent loss of their tank, Erho. While the Naventic roster was easily the top North American team during their reign as Bob Ross Fan Club, we can see their momentum is slowing and they are, in fact, not immortal. After making the trip to the Spring Championship in Korea only to fall short, they'll be out for blood again to try and become the first North American team to qualify for Sweden.

They share the group with Panda Global, THC and Cloud9, with the latter having having swapped results with Naventic on numerous occasions. If Naventic and Cloud9 both win the first round then the rivals will face again, but first Naventic needs to play as consistently as possible to make it through Group A.

Team Naventic will first face Panda Global Friday on the main stream around 1:00PM PST.

THC

Despite being a relatively new team to the Heroes scene, THC has been on fire. They came through the second qualifier as surprise winners by taking out some of the top North American teams. They had a close series against COGnitive in the quarterfinals, taking them down 2-1, and beat Astral Authority (formerly Gust or Bust) 2-0 in the semi-finals, allowing them to advance to DreamHack: Austin.

To make it through Group A, THC is going to have to beat Cloud9 first, and while that is a tough task, it's not impossible, as we've already seen THC take one game off of Cloud9 in the second NA Regional Qualifiers. THC has a unique style of play that could potentially throw Cloud9 off, although a win would still leave them needing to beat the best team from Panda Global vs. Naventic, so they're going to have to go all out if they want to qualify. 

THC will first face Cloud9 Friday on the alternate stream around 1:00PM PST.

Cloud9

DreamHack: Austin will be Cloud9's chance for redemption after their recent shoddy performances. They haven't had the easiest time in qualifying, struggling against other top teams throughout, and didn't qualify for DreamHack until the very last minute, making cheeky remarks about being intentional dark horses for the upcoming competition.

Cloud9 fans have to hope that this is the truth, as the team is on a 4 game losing streak, only broken by their recent qualifying victory. They will have no shortage of obstacles to overcome in Group A. With their Kryptonite of Naventic on the loose, Cloud9 needs to do better than their recent 2-5 record versus the team to come out on top. In spite of their struggles, they have yet to make any roster changes, with this tournament the test of whether that was a good choice or not.

Cloud9 will first face THC Friday on the alternate stream around 1:00PM PST.

Group 2

Tempo Storm

Alongside Naventic, TS was the first team to qualify, rising to the occasion in spite of multiple roster changes since Dreadnaught's departure. This isn’t the same team we saw at BlizzCon 2015, who made a strong showing at Spring Regionals, but couldn't qualify for Seoul after losing to both Naventic and Cloud9.
While Group B might look like a breeze for TS at first glance, there has been an extreme shift in power when it comes to the typical top North American teams. Tempo Storm will have to put up a solid fight against Astral Authority (Gust or Bust), COGnitive, and Gale Force eSports if they hope to advance further.

Tempo Storm will first face Astral Authority Friday on the main stream around 3:15PM PST.

Astral Authority

As a newly signed team consisting of former Gust or Bust roster (King of Blades previously), Astral Authority is entering DreamHack as 'new blood', with only one LAN tournament under their belts. Although they fell short at Spring Regionals, they were the talk of the tournament, and the proof their recent victories have not gone unnoticed is surely their signing to this new organization just before Austin. This roster has fallen short in previous LAN events, and coming into these group stages, all teams pose a threat. Astral Authority really needs to step up to the plate and keep the aggression flowing if they want to win.


Astral Authority will first face Tempo Storm Friday on the main stream around 3:15PM PST.

COGnitive

COG has been a top five NA team for some time now, performing at just about every North American LAN, but they've not been able to launch themselves onto the global level quite yet. It’s also worth noting that they are one of very few North American teams that haven’t changed their roster, in spite their shortcomings.

COG was just one game away from qualifying for Seoul in the Spring, losing in the semi-finals to Naventic 2-1. Their momentum seemed to have faded after this, not qualifying for Summer Regional until the last chance final qualifier, and only making it to the semi-finals in qualifier #1 and the quarterfinals in qualifier #2, before losing to THC. You can see that the drive is there, but the team needs that final push to put them ahead of those above them.

Tempo Storm will be the biggest threat for them coming into Group B, with Astral Authority coming in a close second. While they have extensive LAN experience over other teams in the group, they should not rely solely on that to get them to DreamHack: Summer.

COGnitive will first face Gale Force eSports Friday on the alternate stream around 3:15PM PST.

Gale Force eSports

While Gale Force has been a familiar name in Heroes for some time, their team has yet to make major waves, until now. GFE signed a whole new roster barely a month ago with strong veteran players not only from the pro scene, but the Heroes of the Dorm scene as well.

There’s no doubt they will be relying on their teamwork experience, especially with ASU teammates MichaelUdall and akaface.
In their short time as a team, their only downfall so far came in the first qualifier, where they were eliminated in the quarterfinals by Naventic, although that was their first time playing together as a team. They made up for it by not only qualifying in the next qualifier, but doing it in flashy fashion, taking BlizzCon 2015 champs Cloud9 down 2-1, before repeating their feat in the second qualifier for the second North American regional recently.

While they’ve proven during online qualifiers that no team should take them lightly, this will be their first LAN experience. They’re in a group with teams that have much more local gameplay experience than they do. The key for Gale Force to make it out of the group stage will be to not take their recent accomplishments for granted and to stick to the basics. It wouldn’t be a surprise if they pull out some pocket strats to take down their opponents.

Gale Force eSports will first face COGnitive Friday on the alternate stream around 3:15PST.

Matches for the first North American Summer Regional start Friday around 1:00PM PST.
Main Stream: twitch.tv/dreamhackheroes
Alternate Stream: twitch.tv/khaldor

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