While the major regions have been preparing for the upcoming Western and Eastern Clash, the minor regions have been hard at work with regional qualifiers of their own. Things have been heating up in Australia and New Zealand, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Taiwan as the region’s very best fight for their spot in the upcoming Intercontinental and Horizon Clashes this September. As Phase 2 moves into its midway point, now is the perfect time to get up to speed on all the action!

Australia and New Zealand

Phase 1 was bumpy to say the least for our heroes down under. Despite some initial growing pains and numerous rule changes, HGC ANZ has finally achieved some stability.

To no one’s surprise, the Intercontinental Clash champions Mindfreak remain undefeated, even against their Phase 1 rivals Crimson Gaming. Aztech, while impressive in Phase 1, have taken it up a notch since picking up Crimson’s former captain, Ultivian. Sitting in third place currently, Aztech still have work to do if they want their ticket to the Intercontinental Clash.






The ANZ grand finals will be broadcast live in Sydney on September 16th. The winner of this competition moves on to the Intercontinental Clash the following day to face off against the best from Latin America.

Latin America

On the other side of the Pacific, Latin America has just recently completed their open division event, finalizing the top six teams from each subregion. With all this sorted, the next stage of the competition—a five-day round robin event—is ready to begin.

We see a lot of familiar names returning for Phase 2, including defending LatAm champions from the South Encore e-Sports and the number one seed from the North, Fratres.

6Sense, one of the largest organizations remaining in the scene, have since left. Luckily, the players remain and now play under the name Thunder Predator. After falling just short of taking the number one spot in the North for Phase 1, these boys are looking for vengeance on Fratres.

As with Phase 1, the top teams from the North and South go head to head in a live event held in Sydney. The winner from this series then advances to the Intercontinental Clash to fight their ANZ counterpart for a ticket to BlizzCon.

Taiwan

Over in Taiwan, there’s been a change of pace with the region no longer represented at the Eastern Clash. As the final minor region to lose their position in the Clash, the playing field has been evened out for when they face Southeast Asia in the Horizon Clash.

Taiwan held their Horizon Clash qualifiers this weekend with DFF, 要打去練舞室打, For Second, and Arrogância coming out on top. These four teams join the four auto-qualifying teams from Phase 1 in the upcoming round robin stage.






Although there has been no official announcement of which teams have auto-qualified yet, it’s likely we’ll be seeing reigning champs, Luna Meow, back in the ring once more.

For Second are a fearsome team to look out for, with ex-Soul Torturers and Please Buff Arthas tank, Scroll joining their lineup. With that, he becomes the fourth former Soul Torturer to join the roster, alongside ZoLa, hikari, and CuCumber. With much of the talent that put Taiwan on the map in 2016, this beastly lineup is certainly going to give Luna Meow a run for their money.

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia has been the quietest among minor regions this year. Not only are they the only region without an extended playoff period, they haven’t received any live broadcasts of their two-day tournaments.

SEA has been further weakened by the departure of PSISTORM Gaming, who are now playing in the North American Open Division. Another huge name in the scene, Resurgence, has also left this phase, though many players returned under different banners to participate in the event.

Coming out of retirement, Zeys returned to play on Inquisition. Meanwhile, Yewyengzxck and Mirr—perhaps the most decorated SEA player of all time—formed Mirrmaid together. PIZZASIAO also returned on peowmork. These players are well known in the region and have all previously been part of the Resurgence roster.

However, with a prize pool of only $5000, a total lack of broadcasts, and fewer teams signing up for the event, it’s hard to ignore the grim-looking future of competitive Heroes in Southeast Asia.

In their first and only regional event this phase, SEA held their Horizon Clash qualifiers. The event, held last Saturday and Sunday, culminated in a grand final between Mirrmaid and Searching HL. With a 3-0 victory, Mirrmaid took home the win and earned a ticket to the Horizon Clash.