For four years, Jérôme "JayPL" Trinh has called Heroes of the Storm his home. Now, he's moving on to greener pastures as he has played his last competitive match. After falling short in the Heroes Global Championship (HGC) BlizzCon grand finals to back-to-back world champion, Gen.G Esports, an emotional JayPL sat slumped in his computer chair, staring at the screen in front of him with a blank face. In the background, a crowd roared as the Korean powerhouse lifted the trophy in the air while confetti rained down on them. Once the cheering concluded, a chant began to rise within the completely full viewing area in front of the stage while caused him to break a smile.
During the annual BlizzCon event held at the Anaheim Convention Center, the Heroes of the Storm development team made themselves available to speak with the media regarding a myriad of topics. Battleground Designer, Steve Holmes, and Live Game Designer, Adam Jackson, discussed two battlegrounds in particular that have been points of contention for some within the community. Regarding the map, BlackHeart's Bay, that has been in the game since its' early day and is now a bit out-dated both in its design and playstyle, Holmes acknowledged he is aware of the feedback of the community.
"If Gen.G is the final boss then bring it on: we want to play that level of a series again"
The name “HasuObs” has been associated with three different competitive Blizzard Entertainment titles for over a decade. Yet, while Dennis Schneider, his real name, has been in the top one percent of players across Warcraft 3, Starcraft 2 and, now, Heroes of the Storm, he has never been to a BlizzCon before. Part of the problem has to do with the fact that he lives in Germany and it’s not an easy travel for him. Another has to do with, as he admits, just not being able to get over the hump of the stiffest competition in Europe.
As HeroesHearth Esports, the number one seed from North America, approaches this year’s Heroes Global Championship (HGC) BlizzCon event, they feel as if they’re playing with house money. They have to, as they perform best in a relaxed environment, just having fun with the guys. The group of underdogs rose up from the Open Division and qualified for every international event in 2018. And, while their performance at such events leaves much to be desired, their growth is indisputable. But, in order to be considered among the other top teams in the world, they will need to overcome, yet again, another bump in the road.
Everyone is allowed to partake in a little drama, gossiping and rumor-sharing from time to time. There’s no shame in that. It’s part of human communication and can help form relationships with peers. It does, however, become an issue when certain individuals would rather start and spread tittle-tattle than shrug it off and not get involved. For Thomas "Khaldor" Kilian, a 16-year veteran of the esports industry and current Heroes of the Storm caster, he has seen his fair share of drama and, from his experience, no region focuses more on it than North American.
Dedicating your life to mastering a craft requires an internal understanding that sacrifices need to be made if your intention is to be the best you can be. Relationships with friends, one’s own health and the ability to dedicate enough time and energy to enter the dating world are some of the very common facets of everyday life that are occasionally put on the backburner when you work in an industry as volatile as esports. Long hours, working weekends and traveling around the world can and do impact those who work “traditional” jobs but esports can take it to extremes at times. Thomas “Khaldor” Kilian is no stranger to the impact that devoting more than 15 years of his life to esports has had on his ability to find love, enjoy a night out with friends and form intimate relationships with peers around him.
Few figures in the Heroes of the Storm scene are as polarizing as Thomas “Khaldor” Kilian. Ever since he was handed a Technical Alpha key back in 2014, Khaldor has dedicated his blood, sweat, and tears towards playing, commentating, dissecting and discussing Heroes of the Storm. His love for the title, in addition to his decade-long-plus background in the esports industry in titles such as Warcraft 3 and Starcraft 2, opened up opportunities for him that he was able to capitalize on through a spartan-like work ethic. These right set of circumstances allowed him to be is one of the full-time Heroes Global Championship (HGC) casters for the European region, a location very close to his heart as he grew up in Germany.
The Goddess of Elune, Tyrande, is back in the spotlight after an extended absence from the competitive Heroes Global Championship (HGC) scene. If one can remember far back enough to the last time she saw as much play as she did this past weekend, you’re recalling the days of the famous or infamous, depending on who you ask, double-Support meta. Since that time period, her exposure in high-level play has been extremely scarce. If she did see play, it was as a secondary Support hero if a team composition lacked a bit of damage or needed scouting on a larger map.
" hope that every single person who likes Kerrigan now on live will continue to like Kerrigan with the change."
" think a lot of the design ideas for Brightwing just went in and we did it. There is a lot of experimental stuff."
In a tweet seemingly out-of-the-blue, psalm announced he was leaving the scene to pursue a career in the industry-warping title, Fortnite. The announcement sent waves throughout the Heroes community. Players supported him, Reddit users questioned him and Tempo Storm lost a valuable piece to their puzzle of success.
With a robust hero pool to choose from in Heroes of the Storm, each hero, when correctly paired with another or others, has the chance to shine and take advantage of what makes their kit unique in the first place. Xul is no exception. The ability to click on a target and instantly root them, is an immensely valuable tool, especially in competitive play now that Cleanse is all but gone. A potential pick at any given moment can swing a game in an instant and put the opposition on their heels, turning the tide of a series. Justing knows that and whether it is viable in the long run or not, he wants to give it an honest try before writing it off, like before.
Working with Keaton "BamBam" Consentine is similar to the uncontrolled chaos that his rapidly-growing Heroes of the Storm Twitch channel features. A story six months in the making, BamBam is the most raw, brash, blunt and, arguably, vulgar streamer of the consistently-growing title, turning on his stream and constantly sitting atop the viewership leaderboard.
Method’s Adrian “adrd” Wojcik is known within the professional scene as someone who relies on unconventional strategies to catch his opponents off-guard. At the Heroes Global Championship Western Clash event last weekend, his idea of sneakiness came in the form of the imposing Russian bruiser, Zarya. A seldom scene hero at the competitive level, Zarya’s ability to provide poke damage from afar, high sustain damage up close and powerful shields to herself and allies spoke to adrd as he played her twice on the grand stage.
"Every time you lose to something, like Zarya, you just get angry. It's like, 'Why are you playing Zarya? Why are you making me play against Zarya? Why am I losing to Zarya?'"
"they play against us and it is just useless -- we have no idea why they drafted these sort of things."
North America this year has had their best LAN performances ever against the rest of the world but Fan isn’t so optimistic that is going to continue at this event
HeroesHearth Esports isn't the underdog anymore. Having not dropped a single match to kick off phase two, the warm-personality squad has ascended from Open Division to repping the top overall seed in North America coming into Western Clash this weekend.
“Last event we performed extremely well in scrims against every team across the board so when we actually got to the LAN and got bodied, we were really confused."