With the conclusion of 2016 Heroes of the Storm Super League Season 2 and the ESL North America Summer Regional Championship, we finally know the identity of all 12 teams that will be in Sweden to fight for the title as the #1 Heroes of the Storm team in the world.
The story out of 2016 Spring Global Championship was Asian dominance: not a single Western team made it to the playoffs. Since then, western teams have been working hard to redeem themselves in Sweden, and it is time to see if they have made any progress in closing the gap between them and their eastern counterparts.
Notable teams that didn't make it
Cloud9
The defending Blizzcon Champions have fallen a long way from their peak at Blizzcon. After a disappointing finishing in Seoul, they finished 2nd at Dreamhack Austin but didn’t make the playoffs in Burbank, and as a result they won’t be in Sweden.
TNL
The team that was vanquished by Cloud9 using Murky at Blizzcon and a semi-finalist in Seoul, this team was widely expected to make it but ran into the Korean All-Star team and new juggernaut Tempest in the Losers’ Finals of the 2016 Heroes of the Storm Super League - Season 2, ending their hopes of going to Sweden.
EDG
The runner-up in Seoul was doing fine in GHL 2016 - Spring… until suddenly they weren’t. An 0-3 loss to E-Star Gaming was followed up by a shocking 0-3 loss to X-Team...and bye-bye EDG! This team is one of the Chinese Teams that have disbanded due to some of the players pursuing Overwatch competitively.
The Favorites
Tempest
It seems surreal to be saying this. A team of Korean all-stars, this team was known to have high potential and was expected to eventually surpass TNL and challenge MVP Black for the throne. But no one foresaw the back to back stunning victories over TNL and MVP Black (a 4-0 no less!) Their destruction of the defending World Champion MVP Black shows this team is second to none in team fighting, combining individual skill with incredible coordination and map sense to destroy enemies. This wording sounds familiar, doesn’t it? At any rate, Dami’s Greymane and Sonya, as well as Lockdown’s Falstad, are the stuff of nightmares. Look out, world.
MVP Black
It’s hard to remember in the wake of Tempest’s 4-0 destruction of them, including a sub 10-minute loss, but these guys had a 34 match winning streak and used to have a 40 game winning streak. Although they are no longer Korea’s champion, they remain the defending World Champions, and they have shown that even after a stunning loss, they are capable of rebounding to become stronger than ever. Count this world class team out at your peril.
The clear tier 1
E-Star Gaming
E-Star has pretty much been China’s #1 Heroes team since the beginning, as long as they’ve had xiaOt on their roster (he couldn’t play due to injury in Seoul). A Semi-finalist even without him in Seoul, and finishing runner-up to MVP Black in GHL 2016-Spring after taking 2 games off of MVP in the finals and 3 in total, this team has more than proved in its history that it can compete with the best. There is some uncertainty on whether or not xiaOt or NccCc will play, but regardless this team is likely a force to be reckoned with in Sweden - they are known for their hyper aggressive and super effective compositions.
The Mid tier
Team Naventic
They struggled even more than Cloud9 did in Seoul and, as a result, their warrior player Erho is no longer with the team. Mcintyre has assumed that role, and Bigempct joined their team as a ranged flex. They finished 1st at Dreamhack Austin, winning 3-2 over Cloud9 and finished 2nd at Burbank after a listless 0-3 loss to Gale Force eSports. They are a consistently solid team - but it takes more than being solid to win on an international stage.
Team Dignitas
After failing to make the playoffs in Seoul, Dignitas rebounded in a big way in Leicester, winning the EU Regional without dropping a single map. Afterward, they replaced Wubby with AlextheProG, saying that they wanted to be the best team in the world, not just the best in Europe. Unfortunately, they struggled heavily in Tours, failing to make it out of the group stage.
Gale Force eSports
A new team consisting of star ASU players MichaelUdall and akaface from Heroes of the Dorm, as well as three other strong veterans from the NA Heroes scene Fury, Khroen, and Roflcopter. In particular, Khroen’s Li Ming is especially devastating - Gale Force drafts Li Ming for him whenever possible. This team is the rising star of the NA scene, a semi-finalist at DH Austin and the surprise winner at Burbank with the 3-0 disintegration of Team Naventic.
mYinsanity
Previously always finishing 2nd to Team Dignitas, they were in perfect position to capitalize when Team Dignitas stumbled. In Tours, they did what Team Dignitas achieved in Leicester, winning the 2nd EU Regional without dropping a single map, often winning with their then unconventional Lunara picks.
X-Team
A long time middle of the road team in China, they suddenly during May became a good team, upsetting EDG 3-0 and advancing to the Losers’ Finals of GHL 2016 Spring before falling to E-Star Gaming 0-3. Considered roughly the equivalent of the four above teams, they are nowhere near the level of the other 3 Asian teams in Sweden.
The Minor Regional Champions
Negative Synergy
The ANZ regional champion from the Spring Global Championship in Seoul didn’t make it out of the first group stage, but they did beat fellow regional champion Renovatio I 2-0. They effortlessly won the ANZ Summer Regional without dropping a single map.
Big Gods
The Latin America regional champion from Spring is back, having won Copa America Season 2 without dropping a single map. This team is known for being very partial to Greymane. They didn’t win a single match in Seoul, but they are back and hope to improve their finish in Sweden.
Renovatio I
The SEA regional champion from Spring is also back, after a rough start to their Summer Regional. They bounced back from the losers’ bracket to win the Grand Finals and will attempt to redeem their 0 map win performance in Seoul on their trip to Sweden.
PBA
GIA disbanded, but many of its members came to this team. Winning the Summer Taiwan Regional, they are here to show that Taiwan shouldn’t be discounted just because GIA is no more.
The takeaway
While a significant gap between the top Asian teams and the top Western teams remain, there is good reason to hope that Dreamhack All Stars - Summer will go better for the West than Seoul. Having the event in Sweden rather than Seoul is a part of it, but the bigger story is that X-Team is simply nowhere near as good as EDG was in late March/early April. While this team is roughly equivalent to other Western teams at this event, they will be playing on an international LAN stage for the first time far from home. It would be surprising if X-Team makes the playoffs, so that means a Western team will most likely make it to the Semi-Finals.
Which team will it be? Find out starting June 13. You can find the full schedule here and, as always, these matches will be live streamed on the official Heroes twitch account.
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