The biggest weekend in the brief history of Heroes of the Storm took place culminated on Sunday thanks to a pair of major events, one of which aired on ESPN2.
Cable television viewers across the country were treated to the finals of Blizzard’s Heroes of the Dorm competition, which pitted various college Heroes of the Storm teams against each other.
The final, held in Los Angeles, featured California-Berkeley and Arizona State. Cal-Berkeley, led by renowned StarCraft player Conan “Suppy” Liu, had gone unbeaten throughout the competition, not dropping a single game. That streak came to an end against Arizona State as the grand final went to a fifth and final game live on ESPN2.
Cal-Berkeley ultimately prevailed in a back-and-forth contest on the map Dragon Shire. But perhaps more notable than final result was the fervor across social media as many viewers were unprepared for the spectacle of competitive gaming on television.
Accustomed to only the strictest high-brow competitions the sporting world has to offer such as hot dog eating, poker, and choreographed karate routines, not everyone was able to handle a set of Heroes of the Storm games invading their living room.
Why the fuck is there video games on ESPN2
— Tommy Warhawk (@twarhawk) April 27, 2015
They’re showing collegiate video games on ESPN2. Is this real life?
— bradley cobb (@bradleycobb9) April 27, 2015
Some managed to find the fun in it however, including ESPN’s own popular personality Michelle Beadle.
No joke, these announcers are killing it. I don’t have a damn clue what I’m watching, but they won’t let me leave.
— Michelle Beadle (@MichelleDBeadle) April 27, 2015
Kill the core!!!
— Michelle Beadle (@MichelleDBeadle) April 27, 2015
Her shoutouts to Nick “Tasteless” Plott and Dan “Artosis” Stemkoski were deserved. The commentary managed to effectively communicate the importance of the games’ myriad objectives and tactical possibilities without getting into minutiae that likely would have confused the vast majority of those watching.
Meanwhile, one of the biggest formal competitions yet staged for Heroes of the Storm was being held in Bucharest, Romania under the DreamHack banner. There, Team Liquid managed a dominant championship run, dropping only one of their nine games played and securing the title by defeating Gamers2 in the final.
Team Liquid entered Heroes of the Storm just a month ago, when it acquired the El Nexo Heroes of the Storm roster. The move paid off in spades in Bucharest, as Liquid’s new roster was all but untouchable.
Liquid picked Malfurion in five of their six games against Gamers2, making particularly effective use of the hero in the last game of the tournament, where Malfurion’s area-of-effect healing ultimate was able to sustain hard game-winning pushes into Gamers2 territory.
Less common picks also worked for Liquid. After absorbing their sole loss of the tournament in the first game of the grand final, Liquid were able to rely on Muradin as an absorbent tank in a victorious game two.
The squad, captained by Juan “Vortix” Moreno Duran, already has numerous titles to their name in the young competitive history of Heroes of the Storm, including another finals victory against Gamers2 at the Enter the Storm tournament earlier this month.
