Once again we find ourselves in between major Heroes of the Storm tournaments. CCL Season 3 ended a couple months ago, while Season 4 won’t arrive until May. Last month we witnessed the Defrost Miami LAN and in April we’ll thrive with the first stage of the Masters Clash Championship. But that’s just the future and the past. What’s happening right now? Here comes our offseason competitive update.

MCC Qualifiers

The new set of rules for CCL Season 4 has shaken the whole HotS competitive scene. The organizations are now able to sign players without drafting them. That changes everything, as now they can sign pre-existing rosters, such as the successful European teams Wurst And Homies or The Hardos. Any group of players performing well in qualifiers or minor tournaments now becomes susceptible to joining a CCL organization.

Acknowledging this, the Masters Clash Championship qualifiers become even more relevant. All in all, who wouldn’t sign the owners of a ticket to Paris? Three of the qualifiers are now over, but there’s still one to go. Each one of the four qualifier winners earns a spot for the first stage of MCC. The other four places will be disputed by the eight best-performing teams throughout the qualifiers (not including the four winners).



The first two qualifiers were dominated by The Hardos and Wurst And Homies, respectively. Without these colossi, Bang Bush (Lauber, Svampgrotta, Bishepss, Skogh and Henn1ng) made their way through the third qualifier to secure their own seat at MCC. Though not having earned a spot yet, Rage & Quit Gaming made it to the finals in all the three qualifiers. Will they keep up their good performance and claim the fourth spot? Will they need to fight for it at the qualifier playoffs?

NA Scene

Meanwhile, in North America the group stage of the NGS Storm Division Season 4 has come to an end. Anti-Clown Association (Diamond Hands roster) and We Taketh Awayeth (WildHeart Esports) topped the charts with 6-1 scores and claimed the high seeds for themselves. After these two CCL rosters in disguise come Pre Workout Powah and Can’t Censor Ship. All these four teams have secured their spots at the winners’ bracket. The next couple rosters, WildHeart Omega and Million Dollar JPEG, will need to climb from the losers’ side of the playoffs. Storm Division has nurtured the ranks of NA local talent for the past two years, so probably some of these players will make the cut for CCL Season 4.



The other main NA grassroot tournament is Heroes Rise: Contender Series, sponsored by HeroesHearth and organized by 30k, Diamond Hands and WildHeart Esports. After its first two editions, this monthly event changed its format. The third HR:CS has two splits, each one of them with their usual schedule: 3 weekly qualifiers and a 6-team playoffs. The main novelty is an additional stage after the two splits (Champions of Champions), where the champions of both of them will fight for an additional prize. The first split ended last March 20 with ManChickens' victory, a roster that features veterans such as daneski, bkid or TTporky.