Scrimming is an essential method of practice for professional gamers, and while Heroes of the Storm is no exception, it poses some unique risks. In a MOBA that is centered around teamwork, hero drafts, and strategy rather than individual talent, scrimming provides both teams with invaluable information about their opponents. Facing your opponents in a training environment can offer valuable insights into your enemies’ drafting strategies and playstyle, but the information goes both ways: your team is just as exposed.

Finding scrim partners has always been an issue, but recent controversy on social media surrounding the possible "blacklisting" of teams in North America has put it in the spotlight. Though the impact of this in a major region is still up for debate, it is undeniable for a smaller region like ANZ.

The HGC ANZ finals were held earlier this month in Sydney, Australia with first seed Crimson facing off against the second seed, Mindfreak. Though this may have been a repeat matchup of the Phase 1 finals held in Rio de Janeiro, the results were wildly different, with Mindfreak taking a much more dominant 4-1 win over Crimson this time.

This dominance was completely unexpected, especially after a rocky season where Mindfreak looked genuinely mortal. After losing their first series of 2018 in the final week of the ANZ Premier Division, and against none other than Crimson, fans were anticipating a repeat of the nail-biting Phase 1 finals in Sydney. However, this was not the case. After speaking with both teams at the event following this surprisingly one-sided series, it was apparent the disparity between the Phase 1 and 2 finals came down to the scrim situation in ANZ.





Crimson’s tank player, Kris ‘Kva’ Va'afusuaga, described the lead up to the event as being “a bit of an unknown,” noting that, back in Rio, the teams “were scrimming each other nearly every day coming up to LAN.”

Echoing this sentiment was Mindfreak’s solo-laner, Tae-hyung ‘Ryoo’ Ryoo. He believes the team had a similar experience, with replay analysis and theorycrafting making up a significant portion of their tournament preparation.

“Honestly, we could not get as much practice as we wanted,” he said. “All the other teams stopped playing after the season ended, so we just had no scrim partners.”

Ryoo also added that, due to the frequency of their scrims against Crimson in Phase 1, “there was so much more pressure added.” As the two teams had become so familiar with each other while they prepared for the first Intercontinental Clash, he believes “it was hard to outdraft them or be a step ahead because we were so alike.”

Not only had they not been scrimming each other, but they received little support from other Premier Division teams who had stopped playing following the season’s conclusion. Both teams felt unprepared for the series.

Avoiding this situation in the future requires both structural changes to the league itself and a fundamental shift in the attitude of the players towards professionalism. That's an easy statement to make, but it's a long road to actually making it work.

For Mindfreak’s captain and tank player, Benjamin ‘Fat94’ Vinante-Davis, the current format of HGC ANZ “is good, but the players and the people in it are too ‘memey,’...there’s too many trolls.”

Having "troll" teams in the league has tarnished the image of the region, and Fat94 believes that future changes should be aimed at building “more seriousness in the league and trimming out the troll teams at the bottom.” For Fat94, the eight-team league structure in Premier Division dilutes the pool of talented players.







“If there were only slots three and four, and there were fifteen good players, they wouldn’t be spread across eight teams,” he said. “I think some people in all the eight teams, even though a lot of them are trolls, there are good people within, like Madhax, for example. There are good people...but in this environment, it’s hard to tell.”

Ryoo believes that in order to create a drive to improve, even in the off-season, a deeper sense of competition within the league itself is necessary. “To grow the league, you need to grow the community and be able to get more players,” he said, adding that, “if players care about winning more, then it means more, and there’d be more money and people watching.”

For him, adding more exposure to the competitive scene in ANZ is essential to helping it grow. “Casual Heroes of the Storm players don’t even know there’s a competitive scene locally,” he said. “Maybe just a LAN with a live audience...because when something’s more tangible, and more people see it, I think it definitely helps,” he added.

For Crimson Gaming solo laner Deceptive, "win trading" is a main concern. Last season, an ANZ team was accused of trading wins after the rankings were set in stone. Though there's "no evidence" and "every team they versed had around 40 kills.", it became a large enough issue that Blizzard stepped in to take action. This proves to be a step in the right direction for 2019, but the possibility for teams to undermine the competition remains in the current climate.

Amongst all players we spoke with, one sentiment was echoed above all else: the need for playoffs. It is widely accepted in the scene right now that the current format does not encourage "serious" play past a certain point in the season. When the top two spots are secured, lower ranked teams lose an incentive to continue scrimming for the remainder of the season. Thankfully, tournament administration has suggested this will be a very likely addition for 2019.





With the top two teams in ANZ showing up to the grand finals having little to no practice, one can only fear for the future of the scene. More is needed to shift players’ attitudes towards building a more mature community. Ideally, these changes would help increase the number of teams scrimming both during and after the season. Reducing the trolling would also help build a sense of mateship and camaraderie, creating a better environment for new players.

However, for as long as these issues remain, players will continue to feel isolated or mocked, and we will see more players banned, retired, or region swapping. Now, with ANZ looking weaker than ever, it’s time for the community to step it up.