The second season of the Community Clash League gets closer each day. As Sidestep Kings and CrowdControl abandoned the league, two new organizations have joined the HeroesHearth tournament: STORM Esports and ONYX. These two CCL newcomers—alongside Granit Gaming, which released all their players—will draft whole new rosters next April 17th. While we wait till the draft day, we want to learn more about these new teams.

Christopher Kraft is in charge of the CCL operations for ONYX. He was introduced to the CCL by Heccu, who you may remember from her interviews back in the HGC days. He immediately fell in love with the league format, so ONYX (under another name) applied for CCL Season 1. Though causing a good impression, the German organization—focused on their local scene—didn’t make the cut. Since that first attempt, the team rebranded and has kept evolving until now. They embarked their first international adventure by signing a Serbian Counter-Strike roster. When ONYX applied for CCL Season 2, HeroesHearth found a much more mature organization. And here they are.

One of Chris’ first thoughts was whether it was possible to form a German roster, which would be a perfect match for ONYX (something similar to what Granit did in the Season 1 draft). That looked like a viable option, as there are many talented players from Germany in the free agent pool. However, after talking to many candidates from all across the world, Chris made up his mind: it doesn’t matter where a player comes from, the only factors that matter are their personalities and their mechanical skills. Even with these fair criteria, there are a couple German players on ONYX’s draft wishlist.



Talking of the European players and scene, we’ve asked Chris if they have any plans of joining European tournaments such as Masters Clash Championship (where 30k and Chilly Mountain are already participating). He tells us they’d really like that, but it will be entirely up to their players. If their CCL roster feels strong and confident enough to play multiple tournaments at the same time, they’ll support them by all means.

Back to CCL, ONYX’s expectation for this season is to build a solid foundation. They want to set the starting point to grow and improve throughout all the upcoming seasons. Their main goal is to help develop the entire scene and not just their own brand. They’ll try to find the right players and support them as they get better and better. We’ve asked Chris for a blind prediction of their first CCL run, even without knowing any of the rosters:





Talent development is one of ONYX’s pillars. However, their goal goes beyond their roster. They want to help the whole HotS community improve. They would like to support the Nexus Schoolhouse and HeroesAtSchool, a German teacher who is using Heroes of the Storm as an educative tool for his pupils.

Chris thanks the warm welcome from the HotS community. ONYX is already offering a helping hand, even without a roster. They’ve been hosting inhouse games for the free agents so they can meet other players and make the spotting process easier for the CCL organizations. They asked the community for a chance to prove themselves worthy and they’re delivering.