Offline events are quite important for any esport. Most of the games we watch and enjoy can be played online, but it’s not the same. Even without an audience, watching players take a glance at their teammates and opponents, watching them pop off… that’s just something else. Heroes of the Storm struggled to get these offline events after the cancellation of HGC, back in 2018. In time, a few silver linings appeared, but the COVID-19 took them down. Masters Clash Championship brought the offline tournaments back to the European scene, but there hadn’t been any recent North American offline event… until now.

For the first time since the Tespa Collegiate Series 2019, top notch Heroes of the Storm has returned to offline events in North America. Chilly Mountain’s Defrost Miami LAN took place last February 5th and 6th at NXT LVL Gaming in Miami, FL. This location had already organized some watch parties for CCL Season 3, so they weren’t new to HotS.

The Defrost Miami LAN was the first post-HGC offline tournament with teams from different regions. Seven North American teams were joined by one of the most successful European rosters: Wurst and Homies. Mascarade flew with his bathrobe and his teammates (Daykwaza, Makke, Ultralisk and Nagrom212) to Florida with only one goal: to win the tournament. Though they crowdfunded their flights, the Europeans needed a victory to make their expedition worth it.



Wurst and Homies’ flight reignited the old ashes of the regional rivalry. Back in the HGC days, the Americans didn’t rank better than the Europeans in any single tournament since Cloud9 won the 2015 World Championship. To defend the North American pride, two CCL teams joined the tournament: Diamond Hands and Simplicity, the Season 3 runner-ups.

The Games

The first couple rounds of the tournament were a massacre. The amateur teams didn’t have a chance of taking down the CCL rosters or WAH. These three next-level teams were joined at the semifinals by The Godzilla's, a mix that featured two WildHeart Omega players: Gojira and funbunz. Wurst and Homies and Simplicity—which had taken down Diamond Hands in the CCL duel—arrived at the winners’ finals without dropping a single map. The Europeans carried their momentum and took down the North American team 3-0. Down in the lower bracket, Diamond Hands took down The Godzilla’s, but struggled once more against Simplicity, thus turning the grand finals into a EU vs NA rematch.



Due to the tight schedule of the tournament, this rematch took place just a few hours after the first WAH victory over Simplicity. However, something had changed during those hours. From the very beginning, the CCL team showed they still had much to say. They won the first map of the series at Tomb of the Spider Queen. That was the first time the Europeans bled throughout the whole weekend. They were mortal. Simplicity just needed to keep their offensive going. But that was easier said than done. WAH struck back and tied the series. Both teams kept their victories coming, until the series came to their seventh and final map.

With a 3-3 tie, Garden of Terror became the decider map, turning the series into a faux bo1, a do-or-die map meant to crown the Miami champion. Both teams alternately took the lead throughout the game, but in the end Wurst and Homies took down Simplicity with their Garden Terrors leading the charge. The Europeans kept their Western dominance and lifted the first actual trophy of the year.