EPT
News
- This week a new patch was deployed to the game. Tested the week before on the PTR, this patch features a lot of balance changes to different Heroes like Nova and Rehgar and a lot of bug fixes and general UI improvements. The Diablo III Wizard Li-Ming was also made available for purchase.
- New matchmaking rules were implemented in Hero League this week. These changes are focused mainly on Rank 1 players and will make it difficult for them to get matched against lower skilled opponents. Now Rank 1 players will only play with and against others between Rank 1 to 4 most of the time.
- Blizzard has shared more details about the North American Spring Regionals. It will take place at ESL Studios in Burbank, California on February 27 and 28 from 10:00 AM PST. You will be able to watch the event on the official Heroes of the Storm Twitch channel.
- If you link your Battle.net and Twitch accounts during the event you’ll win the Spring 2016 portrait in Heroes of the Storm.
- The Lunar Festival has begun! With it, new skins and mounts made their way into the Nexus. Similar to the Diablo event with the Treasure Goblin, if you catch the Monkey Elder before a game you'll be able to gain an extra 100 gold per day! Also, if you play 25 games, you'll receive a Monkey Elder portrait.
Tournaments
- Blizzard has started its very own weekly recap focused around esports events. You should take a look.
- The third qualifier for the IEM Katowice took place this past weekend. There, Natus Vincere and Virtus.pro secured their spot at the main event.
- In North America, the second qualifier for the Heroes of the Storm Championship - Los Angeles, also took place. There COGnitive Gaming secured their spot at the event after a very strong performance without dropping a single game. Tempo Storm also managed to qualify for the event.
- The third North America qualifiers will be taking place this coming Tuesday February 9 and will be played in small chunks over several days.
Community:
- Dustin Browder revealed the size of the development team. Surprised?
- Reddit user made a very interesting analysis of everyone’s favorite Pandaren, Chen Stormstout. We always love those threads were people analyze what makes a Hero strong or weak, and it even got a Blizzard response!
The Funnies:
- WP and Funny Moments #52
- Epic Plays of the Week #62 by KendricSwissh
- Top 5 Plays in Heroes of the Storm #45 by TGN Squadron with Hengest
That's everything for the week, see you next time!
