EPT
Looking back at Blizzcon
Its been almost a month since Blizzcon ended, but the event is still fresh in our minds. With a little more distance though, we can afford a more critical, analytic look at the event. A look at Blizzcon as what it was, both a tournament and an exhibition of the game as an Esport, for both newer and older players. We will also touch on the announcements that took place during Blizzcon, although we won't deeply analyze them, as over the last a month they have been perhaps the most popular topic of conversation.
News Announcements
If you followed Blizzcon, and read my Blog, feel free to skip this part, this is an overview for people who might have been more preoccupied with WCS or LotV announcements.
I'll touch on the most important news first: Heroes of the Storm is going into closed Beta January 13th. For all the people complaining they can't enjoy the game, your plight will hopefully soon come to an end. They also announced that alpha waves have gotten much bigger in size, up to fifteen times as big, in preparation for beta. The takeaway, the game is becoming more accessible, so if you were waiting to get in to follow Heroes, now might be the time to start watching attentively. While not formally announced, it would make sense that with closed beta, they would start handing out keys to streamers and the like in order to bolster popularity.
Second in importance, I think is the announcement of a ranked mode for players above level 30 and a team ranked mode for players at level 40. They also mentioned the addition of a hidden MMR as well as a public rank, with the MMR being persistent across seasons, but the rank being wiped each season. Anything that incorporates a draft and gives the opportunity for actually knowing your map before you pick your hero is a welcome addition, and having a ranked mode is an important element of keeping people playing any MOBA. It gives a sense of progression that isn't "played 1780 games". It also helps people get accustomed to how "real" or pro games will go. On the other hand, the lack of being able to ban out heroes during the draft is disappointing, even though the purported reason, to keep game length down seems pretty reasonable, it still feels like bans are a requisite part of drafts. Blizzard developers did say that they would assess and consider implementing it if they see a need though, so that bodes well for the future.
Also highly relevant was the discussion of how they intend to implement a method to deal with leavers, people who leave games before they are done. Blizzard announced their intent to implement a time tested system of grouping players who leave games together in a "leaver queue", which players can earn their way out by virtue of not abandoning games. This is a good, solid addition to the game.
Finally, there were three new playable heroes at Blizzcon as well as a new playable map. Their stated goal by beta is, to have seven maps, and forty heroes available to play. The three new heroes were Jaina, a ranged assassin specializing in dealing massive damage but with mana and suitability issues. Thrall, a melee assassin with surprisingly strong survivability and insane chase potential, and Lost Vikings, a specialist whoes gimmick is that he is three individually controlled heroes. All three felt fairly strong, and Jaina in particular adds something to the game that it was lacking, a caster assassin, with sustained damage potential. The new map, Sky Temple, was a gorgeous Egyptian themed map, constructed around seizing key timed objectives defended by neutrals that strike at the enemy buildings. The map seemed really interesting, although possibly needing some tweaking.
In the announced but not playable, a working but unfinished build of Sylvanas, who is a push focused specialist that is particularly good at bringing down buildings. They also showed images for three potential Diablo focused heroes, although without explicitly naming them as heroes, just showing the models. On maps, they showed Crypt of the Spider queen, a map that supposedly focuses around killing minions to collect gems which are then used to summon the Spider Queen. Images of a heaven vs hell Diablo map were shown, but no specifics were given.
Tournament Overview
As exciting as the announcements were, for many of us the true meat of Blizzcon are the tournaments, be it WCS, Hearthstone, or WoW Arena. For Heroes of the Storm at Blizzcon, there were two separate events, an "exhibition match" featuring well known personalities in a best of three, and a "pro-tournament" that looked to show play at high levels by gathering four strong teams sponsored by well known organizations. Neither of these featured prizes, other than glory, but the teams going into the tournament had a lot to prove. Like all tournaments, Blizzcon was not free of hiccups, there were good things, and bad things.
The Good
Production Value
The tournament's production value was insanely high. Clearly displayed graphics illustrated what each player was playing. The stage illuminated when map objectives were fulfilled to let players know what was happening. There were medals, a closing ceremony. Everything a tournament needs to feel legitimate. The types of things smaller online cups can never hope to recreate. The reason we go to LANs. Blizzard showed that no expense was spared, and it gave players and spectators a taste of the future.The Staff
I realize that some members of the community weren't super happy that Blizzcon didn't invite the best community casters, but contrary to what some of their detractors may have insisted, the casters: Cloaken and Trikslyr, did a pretty good job in explaining what was going on, and what different heroes did to people who may have never watched the game before. While they may not have been my first choice, it was clear that they were a good choice. As far as hosts go, there could have been no better choice than SchAmToo and Anna Prosser, they were truly a pleasure to have on stage.The Game
Perhaps most importantly, the games played were good. Sure there were some games that ended quickly, but if anything the games served to disprove the view some spectators had coming in that once a team got ahead the game was over. It also showcased strong map movement, comebacks and generally solid play. The types of games we wish for. The types of games that are tournament worthy. Yes, even the questionable but exciting plays.The Players
I'd do a disservice if I didn't mention the players. They not only delivered good games, but also provided banter, agreed to interviews, met fans, and generally gave an incredibly positive view of Heroes of the Storm players, they represented their organizations and themselves well, and for that they deserve praise. Its easy to overlook this behavior as "expected" but when a game is as young as heroes and on a stage as large as Blizzcon, this kind of attitude and behavior is critical to give a good image of the game.The Bad
There are a few nitpicks that can be made of the tournament, but there are two huge faults that almost compromise the integrity of the tournament and that can never be allowed to happen again. I'm frankly surprised there hasn't been more of a controversy surrounding them, but they deserve to be mentioned, as any future tournament cannot be allowed to make these mistakes again.
Banning two heroes, the day before the tournament
Because Blizzard had balance concerns regarding Anub'arak and Azmodan, teams were notified the day before the tournament that these two heroes would not be available to be played. While it is both reasonable and acceptable for a tournament to make decisions because of balance concerns, especially regarding new content, players were practicing compositions featuring these two and trying to build compositions to counter them in the weeks leading up to the tournament. To suddenly pull out the rug under them like that compromises both previous practice and practical drafting experience. Both heroes were very relevant to the meta at the time, with Azmodan being a strong, if situational pick. If this decision was going to be made, players should have been notified well in advance of the tournament. One can only imagine how jarring it was for teams to be told that a large part of their preparation was suddenly invalidated.Drafting in advance of the games
A fact that was not widely advertised, was the fact that all the drafts for the games were conducted in advance of the games proper. That is, as players walked into game one, they already knew the drafts for all remaining games. This is problematic in many respects. First of all, Blizzard never explicitly told the audience this, and crafted an illusion as if the draft were taking place live before each game. Being there, if I had not been told that predrafting had occurred, I would have been none the wiser. This is dishonest. Its taking a preconception the audience has "drafts take place before each game" and running with it, while doing something else. This is something that should have been explicitly mentioned and wasn't. This is unfair to the audience, and no good reason why the drafts were conducted well in advance of the games was given. It is also problematic in the ways it nullifies teams ability to adapt. Would EG have gotten outdrafted every game against C9 if they had a chance to experience how powerful Tychus was in their opponents hands before drafting Tassadar first again? Would TL have chosen Abathur on Haunted Mines if they knew how game 1 had turned out before making that selection? The ability to adapt drafts to the opponents play-style and previous games is one of the most interesting parts of any drafts. These predrafted lineups are a huge mistake, and the way they were presented to the audience felt almost intentionally duplicitous. From a competitive viewpoint, it made adapting and learning from game to game virtually impossible, instead of rewarding new strategies and adaptive play, it encouraged teams to stick to one "win or lose" strategy. In part this helps explain the 2-0 sweeps. This is a mistake that can never be repeated again.There are minor points that could be addressed, like the way the interface lacked an effective way to display talents or the minor disconnects that took place, but realistically, none of those come even close to being as absolutely instrumentally inimical to the integrity of the tournament as these. Let us learn from these mistakes so that they don't happen again.
The Recap
All that said, the meat of the tournament, the games, were absolutely worth watching. Strong players, exciting games, clutch holds, and unexpected turnarounds. Without further ado, lets talk about the games!
Semifinal 1
The tournament kicked off with one of the stronger teams in the alpha EG facing off against the proverbial underdogs in Fnatic. EG came into the event with a lot of confidence, with their captain LzGaMeR stating that they were the team to beat in his pregame interview. On the flipside Fnatic’s captain Aceofspades, who usually plays for European powerhouse mYinsanity, could only say that his team had a chance to win and that they would try their best. The lack of confidence was understandable, as Fnatic had only played together as a team for seven days prior to the event. Many expected the series to be a one sided affair, but in fact it delivered some exciting games that were the perfect start to the event.
Fnatic was able to jump out to early kill leads in both games, showing great individual skill and forcing mismatched teamfights. Time and time again Fnatic bullied EG across the map with superior numbers, and it seemed that predictions of a thrashing in favor of EG was not in the cards for this series. Throughout all of this early pressure EG remained calm, confident in their late game teamfighting and the ability of LzGaMeR’s Abathur to keep them even or ahead in experience with powerful splitpushing. Fnatic failed to properly cope with the splitpush, and as they took small advantages elsewhere on the map LzGaMeR was able to push all the way to Fnatic’s core.
As the games went on Fnatic ran out of steam, and EG was able to capitalize on positioning errors and miscalculated teamfights from their opponents. From there it was a simple matter of pushing for the win as the death timers had grown too long for Fnatic to contest. This series featured almost no variation in the draft between games; the same ten heroes were played in the both games of the series with Rehgar, Nova, Uther, and Falstad changing hands between games 1 and 2. Both teams clearly felt confident in their picks and bans, but EG’s experience and coordination carried them through to victory.
Series MVP: LzGaMeR – His play on Abathur was the reason EG was able to cope with Fnatic’s early aggression and come out the other side ahead in experience and structures.
X-factor: Team Experience - Fnatic showed flashes of brilliance during both games, but in the end their map movement and teamfighting left a little bit to be desired. Despite being down early, Evil Geniuses played their strategy well and moved as one, punishing every late game mistake with practiced ease.
While not as mismatched on paper as the previous series, TL was considered the favorite heading into their series against Cloud 9. Since their inception they had been performing extremely well in the few tournaments they participated in, generally only falling to Symbiote Gaming. By contrast, Cloud 9 was a bit of an enigma, flying under the radar with a few unknown players (in the Heroes scene) and almost no public information about their practice or strategies. We got our first glimpse of this matchup in a showmatch between TL and C9 a matter of weeks ago, with Liquid eking out a win 2-1. With both teams being relatively new and up-and-coming, this seemed to be the series to watch in the first round.
Evil Geniuses 2-0 Fnatic
Series MVP: LzGaMeR – His play on Abathur was the reason EG was able to cope with Fnatic’s early aggression and come out the other side ahead in experience and structures.
X-factor: Team Experience - Fnatic showed flashes of brilliance during both games, but in the end their map movement and teamfighting left a little bit to be desired. Despite being down early, Evil Geniuses played their strategy well and moved as one, punishing every late game mistake with practiced ease.
Semifinal 2
Game 1 | Game 2 (Cannot find VOD)
While not as mismatched on paper as the previous series, TL was considered the favorite heading into their series against Cloud 9. Since their inception they had been performing extremely well in the few tournaments they participated in, generally only falling to Symbiote Gaming. By contrast, Cloud 9 was a bit of an enigma, flying under the radar with a few unknown players (in the Heroes scene) and almost no public information about their practice or strategies. We got our first glimpse of this matchup in a showmatch between TL and C9 a matter of weeks ago, with Liquid eking out a win 2-1. With both teams being relatively new and up-and-coming, this seemed to be the series to watch in the first round.
Team Liquid came flying out of the gates, micro managing their heroes expertly to garner a massive kill and experience lead in game one on Garden of Terror. With TL hitting their level 20 power spike, Cloud 9 still a full level away from their own, and the core exposed from the bottom lane, Liquid rolled the dice rushing down the bottom lane and throwing everything they had into ending the game there and then. Cloud 9 instantly teleported back to base to mount a desperate defense. The race was on, and as the core’s health dropped, so too did the health bars of Liquid. As the dust cleared Cloud 9’s core still stood, twelve percent of its health remaining. All five members of TL had died in their attack, cutting their kill lead in half and bringing the levels back to even.
To prevent themselves from instantly dying to a counterattack four of Liquid’s members were forced to select Resurgence of the Storm as their level 20 talent, and while this did save their chances in the short term, eventually they were bound to fall to the superior abilities of Cloud 9. Despite holding on for several more minutes, it seemed that Liquid had lost all the momentum they had built up throughout the game. The trend continued in game 2 as they got off to a slow start on Haunted Mines, a map that is among the most punishing of early mistakes. Cloud 9 played out their advantage exquisitely, closing out the game, and the series, in a mere 11 minutes.
Series MVP : Zuna – While Liquid dominated the majority of game 1, it was Zuna’s Abathur that kept them within striking distance. In game 2 his Illidan was a nightmare for TL’s backline to deal with as he used the heroes mobility to assault multiple targets.
X-factor: Stage pressure – Cloud 9’s roster of former LCS and challenger League of Legends players showed their ability to tune out the crowd and shake off their early deficit to clutch out wins. Liquid, whose players have less on-stage playing experience overall, got ahead of themselves in game 1 and overestimated their lead in their rush to end the game.
The modern day titans of American Dota squared off on a new battlefield in the grand finals on Championship Saturday at Blizzcon. Prior to the event most would have given EG the edge in this matchup, but even though they took care of business in their semifinal Cloud 9 had exceeded expectation in their own victory, taking out a Liquid team that many had singled out as the pre-event favorites. As it turned out, the series would be an all out slug fest that would push both teams to their limits.
Cloud 9 picked up right where they left off in game 1, playing almost an identical game to their second victory over Team Liquid. With excellent teamfighting in the mines and one really big golem C9 pushed to victory in thirteen minutes. While the first game wasn’t especially close, it didn’t necessarily foreshadow a one sided series since Haunted Mines is a map that can be won or lost in the first few minutes.
EG set out to prove that point in game 2 on Dragonshire, keeping the kill count and experience neck and neck as neither team could quite find an opening in their opponent’s defenses. Gradually Cloud 9 wore EG with superior objective control and pushing. In the end, it was a five man backdoor from the bottom lane that was able to cut down EG’s core and propel Cloud 9 to a 2-0 lead in the bo5 series.
To prevent themselves from instantly dying to a counterattack four of Liquid’s members were forced to select Resurgence of the Storm as their level 20 talent, and while this did save their chances in the short term, eventually they were bound to fall to the superior abilities of Cloud 9. Despite holding on for several more minutes, it seemed that Liquid had lost all the momentum they had built up throughout the game. The trend continued in game 2 as they got off to a slow start on Haunted Mines, a map that is among the most punishing of early mistakes. Cloud 9 played out their advantage exquisitely, closing out the game, and the series, in a mere 11 minutes.
Cloud 9 2-0 Team Liquid
Series MVP : Zuna – While Liquid dominated the majority of game 1, it was Zuna’s Abathur that kept them within striking distance. In game 2 his Illidan was a nightmare for TL’s backline to deal with as he used the heroes mobility to assault multiple targets.
X-factor: Stage pressure – Cloud 9’s roster of former LCS and challenger League of Legends players showed their ability to tune out the crowd and shake off their early deficit to clutch out wins. Liquid, whose players have less on-stage playing experience overall, got ahead of themselves in game 1 and overestimated their lead in their rush to end the game.
Grand Finals
The modern day titans of American Dota squared off on a new battlefield in the grand finals on Championship Saturday at Blizzcon. Prior to the event most would have given EG the edge in this matchup, but even though they took care of business in their semifinal Cloud 9 had exceeded expectation in their own victory, taking out a Liquid team that many had singled out as the pre-event favorites. As it turned out, the series would be an all out slug fest that would push both teams to their limits.
Cloud 9 picked up right where they left off in game 1, playing almost an identical game to their second victory over Team Liquid. With excellent teamfighting in the mines and one really big golem C9 pushed to victory in thirteen minutes. While the first game wasn’t especially close, it didn’t necessarily foreshadow a one sided series since Haunted Mines is a map that can be won or lost in the first few minutes.
EG set out to prove that point in game 2 on Dragonshire, keeping the kill count and experience neck and neck as neither team could quite find an opening in their opponent’s defenses. Gradually Cloud 9 wore EG with superior objective control and pushing. In the end, it was a five man backdoor from the bottom lane that was able to cut down EG’s core and propel Cloud 9 to a 2-0 lead in the bo5 series.
It was match point for Cloud 9 as both teams loaded into Cursed Hollow, and the outcome seemed grim for EG as C9 jumped out to another early kill lead. This time the boys in blue weren’t about to take it lying down, and what resulted was the craziest game of the weekend. Back and forth the teams struggled as the lead changed hands from minute to minute. The teams clashed for control over tributes in a series of even fights, and neither team could really get the edge they needed. Just as EG seemed to be on the ropes they came back with clutch base defense time and time again. The game continued on well past the thirty-minute mark, somewhat of an anomaly in Heroes of the Storm. Finally EG could hold no longer and Cloud 9 finished off the series to become the first ever Heroes of the Storm Blizzcon champions.
Series MVP: All of Cloud 9 - In Heroes of the Storm team play is rewarded above all else. no one player stood out from this series because all the players of Cloud 9 contributed equally to the win. The team showed skill and communication, resiliency and dominance. And the most important thing of all is, they did it together.
Cloud 9 3-0 Evil Geniuses
Series MVP: All of Cloud 9 - In Heroes of the Storm team play is rewarded above all else. no one player stood out from this series because all the players of Cloud 9 contributed equally to the win. The team showed skill and communication, resiliency and dominance. And the most important thing of all is, they did it together.
