After an exciting weekend at the eSports Arena in Santa Ana, California, Bob Ross Fan Club upset reigning world champion Cloud9, making their mark on the 2016 competitive season.?
Heroes Rising, a first-ever crowdfunded HotS tournament took place at the eSports Arena in Santa Ana, California this weekend where Bob Ross Fan Club took home first place in an intense five game series where they upset the BlizzCon 2015 world champions Cloud9.
Ten of the top teams from across North America competed in Heroes Rising this weekend but only one could take the crown - Bob Ross Fan Club. In the first round of the tournament on Saturday, Bob Ross Fan Club swept oVo Gaming, and King of Blades won an intense series 2-1 over SK Gaming (represented by Blank); sending both oVo Gaming and SK Gaming to the losers bracket.
Bob Ross Fan Club went on to lose in the second round to Cloud9, who had a bye in the first round. Tempo Storm, also with a bye in the first round, overcame their new roster to win over King of Blades, sending KoB to the losers bracket. Panda Global trumped COGnitive Gaming while Murloc Geniuses was able to secure a victory over Team Blaze. In round 3 of the winners-bracket, Cloud9 swept Panda Global and Tempo Storm won a very close series 2-1 over Murloc Geniuses - securing a winners-bracket finale between Cloud9 and Tempo Storm.
In the winners bracket finale, Tempo Storm was able to beat reigning world champs Cloud9 in the first game, but Cloud9 came back hard in a very one-sided game two and dominated Tempo Storm. In game three Cloud9 was able to clutch a victory, guaranteeing themselves a spot in the grand finale.
In the first round of the loser's bracket, oVo Gaming won over King of blades, only to go on and lose in the second round to Team Blaze, who then went on to beat out Panda Global. Bob Ross Fan Club was able to dominate the loser's bracket, beating SK, COGnitive, Murloc Geniuses and Panda Global, placing themselves against Tempo Storm in the loser's bracket finale.
Bob Ross Fan Club was able to beat Tempo Storm 2-1 in an extremely close series in the loser's bracket finale, sending them to the grand finale versus Cloud9. Cloud9 started with a one game lead in the grand finale because of their performance throughout the tournament. Cloud9 was able to go up 2-0 on Bob Ross Fan Club, but couldn't finish it out - Bob Ross Fan Club came back with a three-game winning streak to beat the best team in North America and be crowned the champions of Heroes Rising.
It was an exciting weekend full of great competition and surprising upsets in Southern California. The Heroes Rising kickstarter was able to raise over $8,000 for the event, placing the prize pool well over the inital $10,000 promised. Bob Ross Fan Club was able to come out on top, giving them some significant momentum and pride as the 2016 competitive season kicks off.
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