The NGS Update: Storm Division & HCI

The current Heroes esports era is undoubtedly defined by HeroesHearth’s CCL. After the end of Season 2, we’re in a competitive offseason while waiting for Season 3 to take off. However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t any competitive Heroes of the Storm to watch. X-Cup will soon begin in Europe and Storm Division Season 3 has just started in North America.

NGS Storm Division has become the perfect environment for amateur players to show what they’re capable of. Some CCL organizations are involved in Storm Division in different ways: participating with their main roster, with variations of their CCL squad or supporting an academy team. In fact, WildHeart Esports won Storm Division Season 2 with its main lineup. Apart from these multi-league orgs, some CCL players have also joined the NGS Storm Division forming mixes with their friends and rivals. For example, the 3rd best team in Season 2, TFZugrugs, had four CCL players from three different organizations.

Storm Division Season 3 includes an invitation for the Heroic Division champion, increasing the continuity of the whole amateur circuit. This spot was earned by WildHeart Omega, the academy of WildHeart Esports. Five more teams claimed their right to join the Storm Division by winning one of the qualifiers. They are Anti-Clown Association (with three Diamond Hands players), GG till i die, ReGen, Heavy Impact (Season 1 winners) and Team Back Door. The two final spots were granted—based on a point system from the qualifiers—to Can’t Censor Ship and Error 404.

Unlike CCL, Storm Division doesn’t have an exact schedule, it varies depending on the availability of the players. Most of the games are played on weekdays, making it difficult for European residents to join the league. That turns the NGS league into the perfect place for North American rookies to shine and quickly increase their level. You can find all the information about the Storm Division schedule at Liquipedia and at NGS social media.

Heroes Challenger Invitational

Even though Storm Division is NGS’ premier tournament, they’ve recently organized another event that deserves some attention: the Heroes Challenger Invitational. HCI was a league, but mostly an ecosystem for teams to try players and see what they could make out of them. Three CCL organizations participated in the HCI: 30k, Chilly Mountain and STORM Esports. Three more spots were given to some of the most successful and long-lived amateur teams: ReGen, CCS and Phoenix Rising.

All the six rosters disputed the HCI for several weeks. After STORM’s withdrawal from the league, NGS decided to end the round robin stage and advance into playoffs, which took place on August 10th.

The two semifinals were played simultaneously on Aerorg and TheKrushinator’s Twitch channels. The first one showed an overwhelming victory of the only CCL organization remaining, 30k Blue, over ReGen. The other semifinal ended with a 2-0 victory for Can’t Censor Ship over Phoenix Rising.

After these two quick series, TheKrushinator—joined by WildHeart’s owner, Goon—hosted the bo5 finals. 30k Blue drafted the first two maps, Dragon Shire and Cursed Hollow, but could only win the first one. After this 1-1 beginning, MichaelUdall’s organization took CCS’ pick, Tomb of the Spider Queen. They could have closed the series in the fourth map, but again, the drafting team wasn’t able to claim its own battleground pick. With a 2-2 tie, the whole series was decided at Towers of Doom. CCS fought really hard after a bumpy beginning, but 30k’s advantage was too big.

Congratulations to 30k Blue for their HCI victory! GG Kelsier, Lupus, Porky, Nintorii and Carbon!

Source: https://tl.net/forum/heroes/577039-the-ngs-update-storm-division-and-hci