Though there had been some tournaments before, we could consider the Exhibition Tournament at BlizzCon 2014 the kick-off of Heroes of the Storm esports. The game was still in an alpha stage, months away from its full release. Four of the greatest organizations in the whole esports industry were invited to the event, which concluded with a victory for Cloud9. The paths chosen by these four teams after the tournament were very different. Evil Geniuses parted ways with its roster within months. Team Liquid moved to the European scene, where it still sponsors HasuObs. Fnatic built one of the most legendary rosters ever seen. And C9 got back to BlizzCon a year later to become the first Heroes of the Storm World Champions.

BlizzCon 2015 was unique for two reasons: it was the only World Championship won by a non-Korean team, and it was the last international offline event a North American team had ever won… until last weekend. At Heroes International 30k took over from Cloud9 under the watchful eye of one of those old-times champions: Fan, who was a caster at the event.

A Bracket Full of Questions

Before Heroes International took off, there was as much hype as uncertainty around the power differences among the three contending regions: North America, Europe and South Korea. All the doubts could be seen at the community power rankings that Robb Parris from 30k put together once the qualifiers ended. Though MichaelUdall’s org was the only one mostly ranked as 1st, 30k, Washed Up and Tempest were really close. The tournament followed this script to some extent, but it was Bang Bush—the second seed from EU—the team that stood up and joined the cross-region triad.

As expected, the third seeds were the first to fall. Performance Enhancing Zugs suffered a double strike from the Koreans, losing against Tempest and Ammonite. 5 Shots Of Copium found its executioners among the NA ranks, facing the fearsome 30k at the upper bracket, and Diamond Hands once they dropped to the lower one. These defeats left us in a perfect balance with 2 teams left from each region.



The next round brought us some upsets. In the upper bracket Washed Up lost 0-3 against Tempest, making Korea look much stronger than Europe. The biggest surprise was the overwhelming victory of Bang Bush over 30k. The first seeds from the Western regions had fallen, so they were forced to make their way through the lower bracket. There Washed Up looked for redemption against Ammonite, but lost a second and last time against the Koreans. 30k fought and succeeded against Diamond Hands to be the North American envoyees in the last rounds of the tournament.

The CCL champions advanced round after round through the lower bracket taking down Ammonite and Tempest, dropping only one map per series. Thus they arrived at the Grand Finals, a rematch against Bang Bush, which had defeated them 3-0 at the semifinals.

What Changed?

Insanity is said to be doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. 30k has proven time and again to be a very sane team, and that’s why they completely adapted to Bang Bush after their defeat at the semifinals. Despite the 3-0 score, the first map of that first series—Infernal Shrines—was really tied and everything was decided at a late game teamfight. Under this premise, the Diablo battleground was also chosen to open the Grand Finals. The Europeans began with the same bans, but the CCL champions were now prepared. Despite the new approach from 30k, both teams were still very close. Bang Bush got a deadly Punisher at minute 24 that knocked on 30k’s Nexus for a minute and a half. The North American team miraculously managed to stand their ground, losing only 21% of their Nexus health, and answered with a fight where LegacY landed a clutch Ancestral Healing that allowed them to lead the series 1-0.

Dragon Shire, which was the second map, has always been NA territory, and 30k proved it with a 13 minute victory. But the Europeans still had something to say, and that's what they stated at Garden of Terror, the third map. As they had done before at the semifinals, Bang Bush claimed the battleground, this time with a great performance of Svampgrotta on Dehaka, zoning Liam's Hogger out of the objectives. With a 2-1 lead for 30k, Tomb of the Spider Queen felt like a chess game. Both teams traded their structures to settle up the optimal fights for them in a very tactical match. Finally 30k claimed this fourth map after escorting a boss into Bang Bush's Nexus.



Sky Temple—the fifth and final map—pointed at the biggest difference between the semifinals and the Grand Finals. In the first series, Bang Bush picked Blaze in every single game, turning the Firebat into a crucial piece in their 3-0 victory. 30k banned the hero in three of the Grand Final maps—all but Dragon Shire—, so when Bang Bushed firstpicked Dehaka, they immediately answered by choosing the Starcraft hero. On the other side, Maiev, who had been a recurrent ban from 30k, was opened, so Bang Bushed secured her as their second pick. Ultralisk showed why his Maiev was worth banning. He started leading his team with some early kills and structures. However, 30k acknowledged the situation, giving away temples and thus forcing the Europeans to split. With Bang Bush divided, the North American team took advantage of its numerical superiority to win some fights and keep up, waiting for the late game. The point of no return came when Liam's Blaze landed a perfect stun on Ultralisk. 30k didn't think twice and pushed to claim the map, the series and the tournament.