• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 06:33
CEST 12:33
KST 19:33
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
RSL Season 1 - Final Week6[ASL19] Finals Recap: Standing Tall12HomeStory Cup 27 - Info & Preview18Classic wins Code S Season 2 (2025)16Code S RO4 & Finals Preview: herO, Rogue, Classic, GuMiho0
Community News
Esports World Cup 2025 - Brackets Revealed14Weekly Cups (July 7-13): Classic continues to roll6Team TLMC #5 - Submission extension3Firefly given lifetime ban by ESIC following match-fixing investigation17$25,000 Streamerzone StarCraft Pro Series announced7
StarCraft 2
General
Who will win EWC 2025? Weekly Cups (July 7-13): Classic continues to roll Esports World Cup 2025 - Final Player Roster Esports World Cup 2025 - Brackets Revealed The GOAT ranking of GOAT rankings
Tourneys
FEL Cracov 2025 (July 27) - $8000 live event Sea Duckling Open (Global, Bronze-Diamond) RSL: Revival, a new crowdfunded tournament series $5,100+ SEL Season 2 Championship (SC: Evo) WardiTV Mondays
Strategy
How did i lose this ZvP, whats the proper response
Custom Maps
External Content
Mutation # 482 Wheel of Misfortune Mutation # 481 Fear and Lava Mutation # 480 Moths to the Flame Mutation # 479 Worn Out Welcome
Brood War
General
Flash Announces (and Retracts) Hiatus From ASL BW General Discussion Help: rep cant save ASL20 Preliminary Maps BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/
Tourneys
Cosmonarchy Pro Showmatches CSL Xiamen International Invitational [Megathread] Daily Proleagues [BSL20] Non-Korean Championship 4x BSL + 4x China
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers I am doing this better than progamers do.
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Path of Exile Nintendo Switch Thread CCLP - Command & Conquer League Project The PlayStation 5
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Stop Killing Games - European Citizens Initiative Summer Games Done Quick 2025!
Fan Clubs
SKT1 Classic Fan Club! Maru Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Movie Discussion! Anime Discussion Thread [\m/] Heavy Metal Thread
Sports
Formula 1 Discussion TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 2024 - 2025 Football Thread NBA General Discussion NHL Playoffs 2024
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Men Take Risks, Women Win Ga…
TrAiDoS
momentary artworks from des…
tankgirl
from making sc maps to makin…
Husyelt
StarCraft improvement
iopq
Trip to the Zoo
micronesia
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 724 users

2021: A Year in the Nexus

Forum Index > Heroes of the Storm
1 CommentPost a Reply

2021: A Year in the Nexus

Text byTL.net ESPORTS
December 27th, 2021 16:53 GMT










by Koznarov




Events and Features



2021 has been a year of ups and downs for Heroes of the Storm. The lack of new characters and the slower pace of game updates may have felt disheartening on a daily basis, but some things did really change in the Nexus in 2021.

Back in May, patch 2.54 brought some changes to the Experience Globes. Instead of disappearing after their 6-second lifespan, the globes now shrink and stay for 39 more seconds, granting a quarter of their original experience value. This update made soaking and laning more forgiving, enabling players to rotate and join their teams across the map. Experience Globes were introduced in 2019 as a Nexus Anomaly and have become a core part of the game since.

The other gameplay change introduced during 2021 affected the Healing Wells. As it already happened in ARAM, wells are now invulnerable and can only be destroyed alongside their forts of keeps. If they aren’t attached to a specific structure, wells fall when both keeps are taken down. To compensate for this change, the health points from wells are now part of the forts and keeps health pool, making them harder to take.



Ranked seasons have been cut down to two per year, instead of the four there used to be. Even if seasons are longer, we’ll probably keep waiting until the very last day to grind the points we are missing to achieve our desired rank. Since 2021 ranked season 2, Volskaya Foundry isn’t part the ranked battleground rotation any longer and Warhead Junction is its replacement.

Despite not having a new hero, there have been many reworks in 2021. The first batch of reworked heroes came in patch 2.54. Anduin, Johanna, Raynor, Stitches and Valla were revamped, with all but Anduin featuring a new type of talents: the Gambit Talents. These talents are some kind of reverse quest. Instead of getting a reward when completed, you begin having the reward and it diminishes every time you die. Later in the year also Lt. Morales and Rehgar were reworked, turning the healer hero pool into one of the most interesting of the game.

When speaking of cosmetics, there have been two events in the Nexus in 2021: Overwatch Cosplay and Legends of the Past. The first one took place in May. Alongside their reworks, Johnna, Raynor, Stitches and Valla received new skins to cosplay their favorite Overwatch characters: Reinhardt, Soldier 76, Roadhog and Reaper, respectively. The second event, Legends of the Past, took us down memory lane with classic skins for Kerrigan, Raynor, Rehgar, Butcher and Li-Ming from their original games.






Esports



In terms of esports, 2021 has been the beginning of a new era for Heroes of the Storm. CCL has brought some order into a chaotic scene where there were many good tournaments but no stability at all. As old HGC used to do, the HeroesHearth league splits the year into two seasons. Its draft format allows the talent pool to constantly regenerate and turns all the other events outside CCL into a big showcase, granting them an additional layer of interest.

CCL Season 1 ended in January with the triumph of Simplicity after a miracle run in playoffs, where they only lost four of the 22 maps they played. They also won CCL Season 2, though they found a great rival in STORM Esports, one of the two organizations that joined the league during its second season. The third CCL season is still at play, with its playoffs beginning next January 8. All the teams are evolving game after game, so everything can happen in the upcoming playoffs.

2021 has brought back the offline events at the Western Heroes of the Storm scene. After being cancelled in 2020 due to COVID-19, Masters Clash Championship returned to Paris, making us relive the HGC days with their Western Clashes. After dropping to the losers’ bracket, 30k played an impeccable Grand Finals and earned the right to lift the MCC trophy in front of a live audience.



Apart from CCL and MCC, each region had its own great event or series during 2021. North America reunited with one of the greatest tournament organizers across the whole esports industry: DreamHack. The Swedish company made Heroes of the Storm part of their online events with DreamHack Beyond, where Simplicity showed its supremacy once again. Europe witnessed the birth of the X-Cups, a series of tournaments funded by a mysterious “Mr. X” and hosted by Khaldor. Mascarade’s Wurst And Homies won both the X-Cup Summer and X-Cup Fall with the core that also won MCC.

After a long hiatus, the Chinese scene reactivated with the Storm League series. Tsunami, the team that won every single tournament in China in 2020, couldn’t keep its streak up. They lost against C8 in the Grand Finals of Storm League Season 1. A couple months later they proved that the defeat against C8 was merely a setback by taking them down in SL Season 2 finals and claiming back the crown of the Chinese scene. Meanwhile in South Korea, everything’s quickly changing. The first season of the FiSH Bowl Heroes League was the last beacon of the old dynasties, sealed by the victory of Lockdown’s team. After that mirage, the second FiSH season was defined by the emergence of many talented newcomers, which ended with Penthios’ triumph.





We can’t finish our yearly recap without addressing the terrible news coming from Activision Blizzard, the developer of Heroes of the Storm. We want to express our solidarity with all who experienced discrimination, sexual harassment or abuse at Activision Blizzard. In contrast to the alleged discriminatory politics of the company, the Heroes of the Storm community celebrates diversity and equality. For example, CCL added a column for pronouns in their free agents list, so everybody is addressed properly no matter their gender identity. Heroes of the Storm can’t be understood without acknowledging all the great women who are an essential part of the community, the dev team and the esports scene.





Curious about what happened in the Nexus during 2020? Check out our Year in the Nexus article from last year!





If you enjoyed this piece, check out our latest articles:

The Reworked Purge: Patch 55.0 Recap
The CCL Family Grows - HR:CS Preview
Tsunami’s Second Coming: Chinese SL Season 2 Recap
CM Fall Cup: The Icebreaker Replacement
CCL Season 3 Draft: New Kids on the Block
Adjusting the Meta: Patch 54.4 Recap




Writer(s): Samuel Fuentes
Editor(s): Samuel Fuentes
Formatting: Samuel Fuentes
Design: shiroiusagi
Art Credit: Blizzard

Facebook Twitter Reddit
TL+ Member
Ch3rry
Profile Joined July 2011
Poland221 Posts
December 28 2021 20:07 GMT
#2
Great summary. Sadly no new Heroes in 2021, but Community is doing a great work!
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
The PondCast
10:00
Episode 55
CranKy Ducklings37
Liquipedia
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Nina 244
Lowko62
StarCraft: Brood War
firebathero 3157
Sea 3002
Mind 1030
Stork 746
Larva 480
BeSt 460
Zeus 207
Light 191
Barracks 164
PianO 153
[ Show more ]
Leta 136
TY 130
Last 97
sorry 69
ToSsGirL 61
Rush 59
sSak 53
GoRush 48
JulyZerg 37
Sacsri 30
Backho 30
Sharp 17
Noble 10
ajuk12(nOOB) 8
scan(afreeca) 8
IntoTheRainbow 7
Bale 6
Hm[arnc] 5
Dota 2
Gorgc6198
singsing1590
canceldota494
XaKoH 338
League of Legends
JimRising 417
Counter-Strike
shoxiejesuss746
x6flipin401
sgares270
allub214
Other Games
Fuzer 245
DeMusliM177
SortOf120
Mew2King51
Trikslyr20
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick2372
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 12 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• LUISG 28
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Jankos1102
Upcoming Events
OSC
2h 27m
WardiTV European League
5h 27m
Fjant vs Babymarine
Mixu vs HiGhDrA
Gerald vs ArT
goblin vs MaNa
Jumy vs YoungYakov
Replay Cast
13h 27m
Epic.LAN
1d 1h
CranKy Ducklings
1d 23h
Epic.LAN
2 days
CSO Contender
2 days
BSL20 Non-Korean Champi…
2 days
Bonyth vs Sziky
Dewalt vs Hawk
Hawk vs QiaoGege
Sziky vs Dewalt
Mihu vs Bonyth
Zhanhun vs QiaoGege
QiaoGege vs Fengzi
Sparkling Tuna Cup
2 days
Online Event
3 days
[ Show More ]
BSL20 Non-Korean Champi…
3 days
Bonyth vs Zhanhun
Dewalt vs Mihu
Hawk vs Sziky
Sziky vs QiaoGege
Mihu vs Hawk
Zhanhun vs Dewalt
Fengzi vs Bonyth
Esports World Cup
4 days
ByuN vs Astrea
Lambo vs HeRoMaRinE
Clem vs TBD
Solar vs Zoun
SHIN vs Reynor
Maru vs TriGGeR
herO vs Lancer
Cure vs ShoWTimE
Esports World Cup
5 days
Esports World Cup
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

JPL Season 2
RSL Revival: Season 1
Murky Cup #2

Ongoing

BSL 2v2 Season 3
Copa Latinoamericana 4
Jiahua Invitational
BSL20 Non-Korean Championship
Championship of Russia 2025
FISSURE Playground #1
BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025
ESL Impact League Season 7
IEM Dallas 2025
PGL Astana 2025
Asian Champions League '25
BLAST Rivals Spring 2025
MESA Nomadic Masters

Upcoming

CSL Xiamen Invitational
CSL Xiamen Invitational: ShowMatche
2025 ACS Season 2
CSLPRO Last Chance 2025
CSLPRO Chat StarLAN 3
BSL Season 21
K-Championship
RSL Revival: Season 2
SEL Season 2 Championship
uThermal 2v2 Main Event
FEL Cracov 2025
Esports World Cup 2025
Underdog Cup #2
ESL Pro League S22
StarSeries Fall 2025
FISSURE Playground #2
BLAST Open Fall 2025
BLAST Open Fall Qual
Esports World Cup 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall Qual
IEM Cologne 2025
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.