In an open field of European teams, FnaticMSI held the number one seed and were expected to qualify with ease, especially with [MSI] Trixi back in their lineup after missing the GameReplays Invitational. But after their first round bye, they were upset by Phe'V (aka [Empr] blowaaaaaaa_) and Team Empire. In an uncharacteristic loss, FnaticMSI struggled, with a lineup that included a solo Tempest and Empath as a tri-lane support (Match ID: 28881516).
Team Empire went on to make the final four and qualify for the ESL Major Series, along with Cool Tag Bro (LAG), Infused Tt eSPORTS (Infs), and Binary Evasion (BEV).
Team Empire HoN
Cool Tag Bro
Infused Tt eSPORTS
Binary EvasionAnother notable team that did not qualify was TS-Gaming (TSoG). They, along with FnaticMSI and a plethora of other teams, will have three more chances to qualify in the upcoming weeks.
Could the tournament format have anything to do with these top teams failing to qualify? In a best-of-one, single-elimination bracket, there is no room for a loss at all; you could argue that "fluke" wins are more likely to happen. Unfortunately, due to time constraints with such a large pool of teams, best-of-three series are not possible.
Since this is the first season with Heroes of Newerth in the ESL Major Series, there were a lot of unknown details about this new division. I uncovered some more information in an interview with Dave 'NachtkindFX' Birr, newly-appointed Gamehead of HoN, LoL, and DotA for ESL.
What factors went into ESL's decision to include Heroes of Newerth in the Major Series?
“
Heroes of Newerth had a massive impact on the MOBA scene right from the start. It was more or less DotA with a very cool style and with a bunch of good features for both casual and professional players. It was hyped a lot on twitter and other platforms, so many players gave it a chance and stayed with it till up to its full release. On the ESL we had a good start in Heroes of Newerth with the big Opening Cup and the International Cup Series and now want to take the next big step forward. We had plans for Heroes of Newerth in the ESL Major Series right away but didn't have the chance to add it until now. With the latest changes regarding the ESL Major Series we finally had the chance to make this next big tournament for Heroes of Newerth possible.” Could you briefly explain the format of the ESL Major Series; who is it open to, how long does it last, etc?
“
The qualification is open to every team on the ESL no matter what their performance in the past tournaments is like. Everyone can just create a team on the ESL website and join the qualification. The best 16 teams will make it to the groupstage of ESL Major Series and fight for their share of the €5,000 prize pot. From the groupstage the best teams advance to the playoffs where the champion will be found. So we have a lot of matches waiting for us!” How many teams do you expect to participate?
“
A tough question, as the numbers of the International Cup Series have dropped a bit in the past. Right now we have 32 teams signed up for the first qualification cup and we are looking forward to even more teams signing up as the qualification cups go on. If the word of this tournaments spreads on bit more we might see even a bracket of 64 teams for the last qualifiers. As long as the top teams join the qualification and make it to the groupstage everything is fine for us. Of course we would love to see as many teams as possible, but unfortunately some teams are scared off by the big names as they think they have no chance in qualifying. To all those teams we saw: The qualification is a single-elimination bracket, so take a chance and you could have a good day and knock out some of the big names out. Just try!” Will there be live-streaming and/or VODs available for HoN matches in the Major Series?
“
There is no dedicated ESL TV show planned by us so far. Maybe one of our hosts at ESL TV, for example RotterdaM who has played HoN himself will have a look at some matches now and then. We are hoping to get some streamers from the community to broadcast the matches. We are pretty open to everyone who wants to cast some matches and help them to get in the games they want to show. So if one of your readers has the passion to bring some games to the community there are very welcome to do so.” S2 Games is planning a major game-wide rebalancing patch for Heroes of Newerth in the near future. Are you worried about this interfering with the tournament series, or is it just something that teams will have to deal with?
“
Rebalancing is a big part of all MOBA games and so every player knows that changes will happen every now and then. Of course big changes are always mixing up a lot of things but we have had enough tournaments in many games so we know about how to handle situations like these. If the changes are too big then we may have a small break until the situation is settled, but this is only a solution for the worst case. If the result is just an imbalance regarding some heroes, these heroes could banned by us. Until the patch is fully announced or released there is no way to really prepare for this situation, but we will definitely handle it together with the players to find the best solution for everyone.” I hope this is the first of many seasons of HoN in the ESL Major Series. Is there any chance for large international HoN events from ESL in the future?
“
Heroes of Newerth has been part of the eSports scene for about one year now and has a lot of fans out there. If the ESL Major Series is running well and we see even more potential in this scene, we will definitely consider even bigger tournaments. For now it's the best to just enjoy the ESL Major Series and take it for the cool and thrilling tournament that it will be. We hope to see the community of Heroes of Newerth to grow even bigger and to really make this game one of the big eSport titles. If that happens there is no way we could not have an even bigger tournament.”Links
ESL.eu - Source
ESL.eu - Qualifier #1 Brackets
