Our second semifinal matchup in the Heroes of the Dorm preview focuses on the right side of the bracket, where two teams from last year's tournament are pitted against each other with a common driving force as they both tore through the competition thus far -- revenge. The University of Connecticut Tricky Turtles and the Arizona State University Real Dream Team , the No. 1 seeds from Group C and D, respectively, will face off at on April 9 in Heroes of the Storm best-of-three matches live on ESPNU, starting at 8 p.m.. The event is taking place live at the CenturyLink Field Event Center in Seattle, Washington where a scholarship to their respective universities is on the line.
University of Connecticut Tricky Turtles
The Tricky Turtles have yet to drop a single game on their path to winning Group C. Its current roster consists of Mitchell "Monkeylamps" Salvatore, Daniel "DanLeeFor3" Lee, Adam "Batosiz" Weinstein, Hyesung "Chiruno" Lee, Jason "Seryuu" Yip, with substitute Qiansheng "QXCVZ" Hu rounding out the team.
Members from the team haven't forgotten the memory of last year's tournament, in which they advanced all the way to the final eight teams only to be disqualified, because one of the team members had left the University for financial reasons and was hoping a win could make him eligible again at the school.
"I straight up quit Heroes of the Storm once we got disqualified last year," said Hyesung Lee in an interview with RedBull.com.
Although the loss of a potential scholarship left the Tricky Turtles wilted, the team decided to give the tournament another go -- and even decided to dedicate a portion of the prize money to the disqualified teammate from last year, if they prove victorious.
Unfortunately for the Tricky Turtles' opponents during this year's tournament, the kindness shown to its previous teammate does not extend in any way to the battlefield, as UConn has stomped out the competition.
With DanLeeFor3 being the unanimous game-changing player, according to his teammates, the Tricky Turtles are the most methodical and patient team remaining, having both the lengthiest games time-wise and lowest average team deaths overall.
Calculated risk is the Tricky Turtles' forte, as the team refuses to engage its opposition unless the entire team has its "ultimate abilities" off cooldown and they are at full strength.
The Tricky Turtles will have their hands full as they take on, by many estimates, the overall favorites of the Heroes of the Dorm tournament, the Real Dream Team.
Arizona State University Real Dream Team
Emerging from Group D without dropping a single game either, the Real Dream Team is looking to return to the Grand Finals, where it was the runner-up in the 2015 tournament. It was a tense match that went the full five games, but Arizona State ultimately dropped the series 3-2 to University of California Berkeley.
Returning to the roster for this year's run are Parham "Pham" Emami, Stefon "Akaface" Anderson and Michael "MichaelUdall" Udall, who are joined by newcomers Austin "Shot" Lonsert and Isaiah "Snickers" Rubin.
Since the 2015 Grand Finals defeat, Real Dream Team roster members have gained notoriety within the esports world and on the professional circuit as well.
Although the attention is nice, the Real Dream Team has one goal in mind -- to dominate all the way to the title and avenge what happened last year in Real Dream Team's typically quick fashion.
"End of game three -- because we are going to 3-0 them -- the confetti cannon goes off and my parents will run up on stage," said Udall in an interview with The State Press. "That's their plan, they're going to run up on stage so I can give them a hug. We'll win and I'm going to dab."
Real Dream Team has backed up its trash talk once the heroes enter the battlefield, as the team is finishing off their opponents in a blistering 16:12 average length of game, compared to their semifinal counterparts, who average over 20 minutes per game.
Aggression is what Arizona State does best, as its split-second decision making in the midst of battle, built through years of teamwork, has helped propel them to where they are now in the Heroic Four.
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While the Real Dream Team hasn't shown many weaknesses in the field of battle, some interesting notes can be taken from viewing its overall strategy in the tournament -- starting with its hero selection.
While it's difficult to distinguish whether or not hero selection consistency is a weakness once the game begins, "Pham" has selected the long-ranged assassin Li-Ming five times, "Akaface" has chosen the global-support hero Brightwing six times and "Snickers" has picked the front-line-enforcer Johanna six times as well. A potential strategy for the Tricky Turtles could be banning two of those heroes right off the bat in its draft process.
There may be better overall heroes to ban, depending on the map being played, which could cause the Real Dream Team to use heroes they might not be as comfortable with -- and it could turn out to be a pivotal moment before the action even begins.
The Heroic Four kicks off at 8 p.m. ET Saturday, April 9 on ESPNU, and the Grand Finals air on ESPN2 on April 10.