Blizzard’s newest esport, Heroes of the Storm, is still in closed beta. But that isn’t stopping the company from going all out at the Grand Finals event for the game’s first-ever collegiate tournament, Heroes of the Dorm.
The Heroes of the Dorm Grand Finals will take place this Sunday live from the Shrine Expo Hall in Los Angeles, the company announced today. The top four teams will compete throughout the day, and the semifinals will be streamed on ESPN3, just like the previous matches. However, the final match, starting at 9:30pm ET, will be aired live on ESPN2.
Esports is no stranger to ESPN2, despite the company’s president declaring it “not a sport”. Still, in the last year, the network has broadcast several esports programs, including an episode of Outside the Lines and a FIFA 14 tournament. Now, Heroes of the Dorm looks like the biggest esports event to hit ESPN2, at least in recent years, with a dedicated two-hour time block.
As for the competition itself, Blizzard has billed some of the top esports commentators around: Manuel “Grubby” Schenkhuizen, Sean “Day9” Plott, Dan “Artosis” Stemkoski, and Nick “Tasteless” Plott. The tournament features the final four teams out of an initial 872.
Dubbed the “Heroic Four” in Final Four fashion, are Arizona State, Boston College, Illinois Ubrana-Champaign, and Cal Berkeley. Of these, the most notable is Cal, whose team member Conan “Suppy” Liu is an established StarCraft 2 pro and was a key member for the school in their victory over Chunnam Techno University at the Azubu Collegiate Champions.
All in all, the event looks like a great way to wrap up the tournament after some early hiccups, and promises great things for the future of Heroes of the Storm. Despite earlier difficulties for the tournament, there’s no better way than to finish with style.
