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eStar Gaming has been a fixture of Chinese Heroes of the Storm since 2014 with consistent results no matter their roster. However, this summer has been their biggest test yet. It's a new beginning for the team after a mass exodus of players, after which they found themselves with five new faces wearing the eStar jersey.

We already introduced the new eStar roster of Fz, Ooz, CNNo1, Gd, and KID, but we wanted to know more about the team’s new identity, so with the help of NetEase we reached out to them with some questions.

One would think that upholding the eStar brand would put a lot of external pressure on the team, especially since the previous eStar roster had such a distinctive, all-in playstyle. But the team isn’t spending their time worrying about that. “We don’t feel pressured to live up to the name at all!” they told us. “We will just play like usual. We will be more well-rounded than before, and will not be relying on an overly-aggressive playstyle.” Rather than being a continuation of Xteam, eStar is focusing on forming a fresh identity with their new players. “We have a pretty good atmosphere amongst the team.”



And it shows. Previous incarnations of eStar prioritized assassin play supported by double or even triple warrior. But the new team has fully embraced the double support meta, and not just because it’s a current trend. The support meta plays to their strengths in their established playstyles already—for example, CNNo1 has always loved Uther, even before the rework.

It’s not just the draft that sets eStar’s playstyle apart either. In a region marked by increasingly intense rivalries between close teams, the new team has a relaxed and friendly air about them—smiling between drafts, joking around, and maintaining a positive atmosphere in the player booth.

Despite the roster changes, eStar is not struggling. With a focus on playing their own game, they’ve still managed to climb to a comfortable third place in the region. In fact, eStar is even beating teams that Xteam struggled against in part due to their non-Xteam components. “Fz and Ooz are both competent players, deep in hero pool and excellent in individual skills,” the team praised its new players. “They are definitely assets to us while playing. Also, they make our strategy more robust. Thanks to them, we can switch between different playstyles.”



With a solid place in the standings, eStar is in a perfect position to look at the teams above and below them and comment on their region’s strength. We asked eStar who wins in the ongoing battle between SPT and CE, and their immediate response was to watch out for SPT. “Misaka is the most dangerous player in Gold Series,” they explained. “He is the magnet holding the team together. He is so reliable, and has the leadership quality to carry SPT even further down the road.” CNNo1 (formerly Tao) emphasized that he’s a personal fan of Misaka and fully supported his ability to lead SPT to a win despite their team rivalry.

Regarding the international relevance of Chinese teams and the loss of prominent Chinese talent, eStar feels the issue is one of population, not skill. “We don’t have an edge when competing with teams outside of China,” they admitted. “There are more players in other regions, so they understand the game relatively better. It’s like the difference between having one person vs ten people trying to solve the same problem. We don’t think our teams are weaker just because of the players who quit. It has more to do with players not really understanding their roles and what they need to do.”



With that said, we had only one more question for the team. Did they ever consider leaving Heroes of the Storm for something potentially more lucrative and successful? Their answer was short and decisive: “We did, but sticking with a game is a characteristic that a progamer should have.”