Soon after the HGC cancellation, HeroesLounge stepped forward and announced its own premier league, Division S. This league prize pool is fully crowdfunded, beating the $10,000 milestone in a few days and now reaching over $15,000. The money will be divided equally between the European and North American editions of Division S.

The HeroesLounge league aims to fill the gap left by HGC, being so far the only premier regular league. It’s a necessary attempt at granting some stability to the teams, and avoiding the creation of new ex-HGC mixes for every isolated tournament.

In this brand new league, every team has to earn their spot, so HeroesLounge hosted four qualifiers. Each one of them granted the winner a spot in the league and points for the rest of the teams, so in the end the remaining four teams with the most points could join the four qualifier winners at Division S. Here we introduce you these eight teams, grouped in three tiers according to what we have seen in the qualifiers. Note that some of them have just formed and have a lot of room to improve, so this tier list may become fully revamped soon after the league starts.

Legendary Tier

Washed Up

JayPL
ethernal
Ménè
HasuObs
SmX

This team stomped the first qualifier, so we haven’t watched much of them. But what can you expect from a team formed from the ashes of Team Liquid, Fnatic and Dignitas? Most of these players have kept playing hard and streaming after the debacle, so their fearsome reputations are not unfounded. Moreover, JayPL is back after his brief retirement, another appealing reason to watch this powerhouse of a team.


Coming Through

robadobah
Munky
Cris
Cronaz
GURU

After a discreet first qualifier, this team made its way to Division S in the second spot. They were born as a 6-man roster, adding WolfJoe to the ones listed above, but Division S ruleset only allows five active players. All together, this squad is a quiet but credible team of competitors.


Nothing Left

PotiBoss
Deeaybe
Bl3kitny
Linked
zdoon

Nothing Left is the core roster of Leftovers but with zdoon replacing Mopsio. They have played only two of the four qualifiers, losing in the finals of the second one against Coming Through and taking a clean victory in the fourth one. Their new player is a veteran from the pre-HGC era who also won the 2017 Nexus Games representing Poland.

Epic Tier

Granit Gaming

Lauber
Fury
Kari
Svampgrotta
Henn1ng

They played the qualifiers as aLbeus'r fnaculb, eventually picking up the third spot. This team—alongside Team Russia and LFT for Div S—represents the huge talent pool present in the Nexus Contest: Henn1ng and Svampgrotta for example both played for Sweden, and Fury for Italy. Former HGC player Lauber completes the Swede trident. The last piece of this puzzle is Kari, a veteran Open Division ranged player. Though being a step behind the former HGC teams listed above, they have been quickly ascending up the ranks, and an endorsement from Granit Gaming doesn't hurt either.


Team Russia

Stalk
Toxical
FarlendeR
MrBananaBeer
KolyaMarzhin

After winning Agon League Season 2 and the Nexus Contest, Team Russia has joined Division S. Though not winning any qualifier, their good performance granted them a spot after the third qualifier after surpassing the points threshold. Team Russia has been together for a while now, so their synergy might be a great advantage until the other teams gear up.


What Does the Photographer Say

Makke
Skogh
Berghult
Galnegunnar
MaxPassion

WDTPS roster has changed a lot through the qualifiers. This all-Swede lineup currently features some OD veterans led by former HGC player Makke. scHwimpi played on the team as well throughout the qualifiers but seems out of the final roster (as well as Jia and Azyrite). Same as Team Russia, they achieved the points for qualification after three qualifiers. They were however the only ones to take a map from Washed Up, so they may still have some aces up their sleeves.

Rare Tier

LFT for Div S

Nesdip
BananaH
Tobos
Daykwaza
Mascarade

France was the finalist country at the Nexus Contest, falling to Team Russia at the finals. Here we have four of their members joined by Tobos, a well-known Open Division player. This roster also includes the Heroes of the Dorm winner Nesdip (Université Laval). LFT for Div S has shown great consistency through the qualifiers by making it to the semifinals in three of them. In fact, they were the ones to eliminate Coming Through in the first qualifier.


Memeldors Meme Machines

Deathknight
Maikeru
Slake
Smaragd
Martin

This all-German team first appeared in last year’s Open Division with a very similar roster to their current one. They qualified for Division S by the skin of their teeth. They were many points behind their contenders before the fourth qualifier due to their early loses in qualifiers 2 and 3, but they managed to make it to the finals in the last one and eliminate some of their direct rivals. Thus, they not only took a huge amount of points but also denied them to the teams above them in the ladder.

With so many country-based teams, Division S resembles the beginning of HGC a lot when we had BeGenius, Fnatic, and Synergy. As it happened then, a regular league will grant some stability to the scene, and for those who miss the old days, the new league will keep many players and casters from HGC so the transition doesn’t become too hard. We're looking forward for it to start, but are you?

Share with us your thoughts on these new teams!