The qualifiers are over and the teams are set. As the teams prepare and rest for the main event, let's rundown how they got here.
It was hard fought, but the qualified teams are set. With regionals, ETS, and so many more events happening, it can be a bit tough to follow a team's journey. So we've decided to remove the detective work and compile it all here for you.
Team Blaze
With the most points at 40, Team Blaze started off red hot through this series of qualifiers. Winning the first two qualifiers by a mile, they looked poised to smoke out the competition completely. With a solid lead, and an already almost guaranteed spot, they didn't compete again until the sixth qualifier where they met Cloud 9 in the finals.
It was one of the closest series to date and although Blaze had Cloud 9 at their boiling point, they ultimately fell. In the next qualifier Blaze was massively upset by THC Black. Such is the violent, sometimes even random nature of best of ones. With enough guile, crazy things can happen.
Team Blaze has always been right on the cusp of being a major threat in North America. A few major tournament wins could easily place them as the number one team, could this be their time to shine?
Resurgence Gaming
Making their debut in qualifier two, Resurgence made it to the finals before dropping to Team Blaze. In the third qualifier, Resurgence would defeat COGnitive, earning bragging rights to some of their former team mates as well as seeding points. Although they would go on to lose against 2Arc in the finals of qualifier four and Tempo Storm in the finals of qualifier five, their 36 points more than earn them a spot in the main event.
Resurgence may be a fresh face in the scene, but the players certainly aren't. Composed of veterans from several teams throughout HotS history, Resurgence are certainly a force to be reckoned with. Could they be a major player in the NA HotS scene?
Tempo Storm
Although nowhere near as dominant as they were last summer, Tempo Storm's new roster has been putting out impressive results in tournaments since its incarnation. Tempo played in the first five qualifiers with... mixed results
Although they made it to the finals in qualifier one, they were of course, taken out swiftly by Team Blaze. In the rest of the qualifiers leading up to the fifth they had wildly varying degrees of success. In the second qualifier they were taken out in the quarter finals by Team Blank, in the third, the semis by COGnitive, and in the fourth, the quarter finals by King of Blades Alpha.
In the fifth qualifier, after a hard fought epic series against COGnitive, they came out victorious. With 30 points, Tempo Storm is sitting firmly in the third place spot after the qualifiers. Can this new roster live up to the old one and return Tempo Storm to the number 1 NA spot?
Panda Global
Panda Global have had decent success in the qualifiers and have secured a steady fourth place with 28 points. In qualifiers two, three and six they made it to the quarter finals, in qualifiers one and four they made it to the semis, and in qualifier seven they won against Hot Dog Burglars.
Panda Global is in a similar spot as Team Blaze where they could become one of the greats if they can build the right momentum. They are a team of very talented players who haven't yet been able to get past a few upper tier teams. Can Michael Udall and his hair carry their team to victory?
2Arc Gaming
2Arc may have earned more points if it wasn't for some unfortunate roster changes stopping them from playing. They made it to the quarter finals in the second and third qualifiers, and the semis in the first. Thankfully they were also able to win the fourth qualifier before their roster shake up occurred, securing them 24 points and a comfortable 5th place.
Although they did qualify, it is still not known if they will be able to play. If they're able to retain three members of their original roster they will still be eligible. We wish them luck in getting back to fighting order.
COGnitive Gaming
COG was unable to outright win a qualifier, but through their efforts they still managed to gather enough points (20) to qualify. They made it to the finals twice, being shut down by Tempo Storm and Resurgence respectively, and the semi finals once which was ended by Team Blaze.
COGnitive is always something of a wild card. On their best day, they can tap dance around the best teams effortlessly, but on their worst they can fall apart at the seams. Their untraditional playstyle always keeps people on their toes and they're very fond of running melee assassin focused comps.
Cloud 9
Ordinarily this would be a no-brainer, but Cloud 9's performance in this tournament (for the few qualifiers they've competed in) has been a bit under whelming. They were knocked out of qualifier five by COGnitive and only managed to win qualifier six after an incredibly close and tense series against Team Blaze. This was fortunately enough to get them 20 points and a spot in the main event.
Cloud 9 is undoubtedly an incredibly talented team, but with their performance in decline for the past few months the #1 team NA spot has been left wide open. Can the former world champions rally together and reclaim their crown?
eLevate
Elevate is something of a special case. Although they automatically qualified from the last ETS NA, their massive roster changes left them unable to make use of the freebie. They only entered the very last qualifier, so they only had one shot to make it to the main event.
It wasn't easy, and Afro Doge nearly got the better of them, but eLevate managed to not only win the final qualifier and gather those precious 16 points, but they did it all in one go.
- Competed at Heroes Rising
- Has beaten Tempo Storm, Resurgence
- Composed of several top 200 players
- Composed of several veteran/pro players
- Will be competing in LA regionals
- Has beaten Resurgence, oVo, King of Blades Alpha
- Composed of several top 200/pro players
- Composed of top 200 players and former pros
- Has beaten Arcane, King of Blades Alpha
I hope this summary of where the teams stand has been helpful. The group stages are starting on March 12 and will continue on until the 20th. You can vote on every single match using our GosuBet tool. For more information on the event, feel free to check out our website.
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