The first of two North American Summer Regionals will take place Friday and Saturday at DreamHack Austin, where one of eight teams will earn a qualifying spot in the Heroes of the Storm Summer Global Championship with a $500,000 prize pool on the line.
After weeks of competing in three different qualifiers online, featuring hundreds of teams from around North America, the field of eight is set to play in Austin, Texas. A $100,000 prize pool is up for grabs, along with the peace of mind knowing you'll be one of 12 teams from around the world competing in June for the Summer Global Championship in Sweden.
Many familiar names have earned the opportunity to compete at DreamHack Austin, which includes some of the strongest teams North America has to offer. Finish first and you secure a first-class ticket into the Summer Global Championship. Finishing second through eighth provides you with bragging rights and an amount of money that many would trade in for the first-place slot.
The second and final North American qualifier takes place June 4-5 in Burbank, California. In theory, each team has two opportunities to earn an entry into the Summer Global Championship -- but there is no guarantee of even qualifying for the other North America qualifier, making DreamHack Austin very important.
Team Naventic
It wouldn't be much of a tournament if Team Naventic wasn't a part of the action. It swept through the competition in the first DreamHack Austin qualifier, taking down Cloud9 and Gust or Bust in the top eight to ensure its spot in this event. Arguably the best team in North America, Team Naventic did drop a game to Gust or Bust (now Astral Authority), which shows its mortality against a fellow team in this DreamHack Austin tournament.
With a roster consisting of brothers Christopher "Zuna" Buechter and Kenneth "Kenma" Buechter -- along with Stafford "McIntyre" McIntyre, Fan "Fan" Yang and new edition from Team Blaze, Sammuel "bigempct" Hua -- Team Naventic skillfully outwits its opposition once the draft process begins.
Particularly strong with ranged assassins, including the Tier 1 Li-Ming, Team Naventic prides itself in hero diversity, making the hero-banning process particularly stressful for its opponents to deal with. As seven teams are nipping at its heels for an entry into the Summer Global Championship, Team Naventic will have to come out strong and make an impact early on to set the tone.
Astral Authority
Formerly Gust of Bust, Astral Authority was able to take a game from Team Naventic during the first qualifier before getting knocked out. It earned a last-second qualifier into DreamHack Austin during the most recent qualifier, knocking out Team Banana.
Once a qualifying spot was secured, Astral Authority announced the acquisition of Gust of Bust over the weekend.
Jon "Equinox" Peterson is joined by captain Damian "FrozenX" Nagel, Chris "darkchimaera" Beery, Jerome "KilluZiioN" Tanguay and Kevin "TalkingTrees" Marco.
A win at DreamHack Austin would certainly get people in the community talking about Astral Authority in the same sentence as some of the best teams in North America. Already showing it can take a map off Team Naventic puts a target on its back as an up-and-coming squad.
Cloud9
One of the best teams in North America is coming into the DreamHack Austin event , Cloud9 has an identity crisis it hopes to have resolved by the end of the weekend. Arguably one of the most decorated and fearsome Heroes of the Storm teams since inception, Cloud9 has struggled lately. It fell in the first two qualifiers to the same teams it will be facing off against at DreamHack before earning a spot in the final qualifier.
With a roster that has stayed uniquely stable, Cloud9 players have been able to develop a relationship with one another that many teams with rotating pieces can't build on the fly.
Captain Derek "DunkTrain" Arabian is confident the team will prevail at the event, not only due to its raw talent, but an X factor it has developed over the years.
"Cloud9 is going to win DreamHack Austin because we have the loudest and best fans at North American events," Arabian said.
Gale Force eSports
The true wild card of DreamHack Austin comes in the form of Heroes of the Dorm standouts who decided to team up and bring their relative obscurity to the competitive scene of another LAN event.
Michael "MichaelUdall" Udall and Stefen "akaface" Anderson from the Arizona State University Real Dream Team are teaming up with David "Roflcopter" Young from University of Tennessee and others to prove that collegiate gaming isn't amateur hour.
"This event has a lot of validation going on within it," Udall said. "We want to prove that we belong with these guys. We beat [Cloud9] in qualifiers, so we know we have what it takes."
For those who tuned in to the Heroes of the Dorm event, Udall and akaface put together a powerful display of teamwork, using innovative team strategies and bringing a level of enthusiasm and excitement to the sport that felt lacking prior. It's this deviation from the norm that has many watching how Gale Force eSports performs over the weekend.
"It's some of our first LANs, so there's a lot of pressure to qualify. But I think our obscurity, when it comes to our strategies, will separate us," Udall said.
Panda Global
A Frankenstein creation of a roster, Panda Global added three members from one of the best teams in North America (Team Blaze) to its existing roster to create a hodgepodge of talent with boom-or-bust potential, depending on how quickly it is able to get on the same page.
Fresh from a Heroes of the Dorm second-place finish for University of Texas-Arlington, Richard "Kladeous" Tran, Eugene "Yuuj" Tseng and Jason "Jason" Mei look to replicate their recent success on a grander scale against professional talent.
Will Panda Global struggle to bridge the gap between the three collegiate teammates and their new allies, or will they form a sweet and powerful symphony? The sky's the limit, but this team also has one of the widest ranges of potential finishes.
Tempo Storm
While not as extreme as Panda Global's roster overhaul, Tempo Storm recently received a facelift of its own, acquiring a proven winner and talented youngster Aaron "erho" Kappes.
After the acquisition of erho from Team Naventic and Thomas "Tomster" Maguire from Gust of Bust, Tempo Storm was able to potentially upgrade two roster spots on its team -- showing results in the first qualifier as it defeated Cloud9 in a tight 2-1 match.
It might take some time for the Tempo Storm additions to pay off in the long term as it develops more rapport, but the roster is strong from top to bottom and we can expect competitive matches out of it all weekend.
COGnitive Gaming
With a stable roster since the beginning of the year, COGnitive Gaming has always been good enough to put together a decent placing, but never good enough to come out on top. Consistently inconsistent, COGnitive Gaming took third/fourth at the ESL North America Spring Regional Championship but has yet to push itself over the top to be considered one of the greats.
Teams should not take the team lightly once the games begin, as Mike "Glaurung" Fisk and Kayla "Faye" Murray make up a formidable duo who play well off one another and push the aggressive style of play the team is known for.
Team Higher Consciousness (now Team Name Change)
Not typically a team that is associated with Heroes of the Storm greatness, THC was successful in knocking off COGnitive Gaming and Astral Authority en route to a qualifying spot in April. While it is yet to be seen how well THC can compete with the likes of proven powerhouses, it has shown the ability to knock off multiple teams competing at DreamHack Austin.
Is it truly a flash in a pan or does it really have what it takes to go head-to-head in a LAN environment against the best?