A look back and ahead: Heroes commentators

Commentators and casters see more of the competitive scene than anyone else. Not only the region they’re covering but the competition as well. They spend countless hours watching and analyzing pro-matches and sharing them with the fans. We talked to some popular commentators about their thoughts of the 2015 competitive Heroes scene and their hopes for 2016.
 

How do you feel about the competitive Heroes scene of 2015?

Considering that the game just launched in June, I'd say the game has been a huge success. From an esports perspective, Heroes pulled some huge viewer numbers at BlizzCon and had a massive prizepool, for only having been officially out for 6 months.

What teams were you most impressed/surprised with?

All of the teams that performed well at BlizzCon absolutely deserved to be there and were impressive. Most surprising team I suppose would have to be Cloud9. Not just because they won, but because of the growth we saw out of the team over the 4 months leading up to the event. Being able to conquer their long time demon (Tempo Storm) and then be able to pull out amazing compositions with utmost confidence to win BlizzCon? What a pleasure to be able to witness that.
For teams we didn't get to see at BlizzCon though, every time I see MVP Black in top form, I'm always massively impressed. They bring mechanics and a synergy with their team that is like no other.

Favorite competitive moment of 2015?

For sure will have to give it to the "unkillable comp" from game 2 of Cloud9 vs DK at BlizzCon. This is the epitome of saving a strategy for the exact right moment. They played a relatively standard (Rexxar, but still) composition game 1 and to completely throw off DK from making any adaptations they play a complete 180 from that previous strategy to frustrate DK. Game was still very close and you could very visibly see the tipping point where the strategy started to become very strong and turn the game around. Was incredibly exciting to watch.

What are your hopes for 2016?

Based on what we heard from Kim Phan at Blizzcon, they are planning to nearly triple the esports capacity we saw from them this year for Heroes. That in itself is very exciting, but in addition, based on the trends we are seeing from the heroes released, they are starting to get more technical and difficult to play. This really allows players to show their flair and technical skill alongside their teamwork, a much needed addition to the current competitive scene. Also, with the addition of a Grandmaster League being added (hopefully very soon!) we are going to see way more "ladder monsters" come out of the woodwork and start taking competition very seriously, so I fully expect the level of competition to increase exponentially.
Overall, have very very high hopes for Heroes in 2016!

How do you feel about the competitive Heroes scene in 2015?

Heroes got off to a strong start to say the game was just released properly. I think a lot of people in the community are looking for instant gratification in terms of Heroes popularity, but I cannot think of a single game that got there in the space of one year. BlizzCon hit 100k I believe? The recent DreamHack, despite the hectic and scrappy games, hit around 50k? Overall for a games first year, I would say that is pretty good. One thing I've particularly enjoyed is how the regions have all developed seperate of one-another, culminating in the clash that occurred at BlizzCon.

What teams were you most impressed/surprised with?

Na'Vi during European Road to BlizzCon has to be one that stood out above the rest, and I think it was the most dominating performance a team has had in any tournament, in the western hemisphere at least. The way they tore apart each opponent with their own flare was fantastic to behold during that run, no other team stood a chance against their calculated preparation and ferocious aggression.
I think Virtus.Pro was a team to surprise me at the start of the year, with their own little "ahead of the meta" Tyrael/Anub'arak way back when. Then more recent I've been pleasantly surprised at how well Bob Ross Fan Club have done. I really want America to become as tightly competitive as Europe in it's own region.

Favorite competitive moment in 2015?

I have many! But I'll try keep it a little shorter than paragraphs. The first for me has to be Cloud 9 vs DK at BlizzCon. The Koreans came in so confident but had shown glimmers of weakness the entire tournament. Then of course we all know how the games went down against Cloud9. The second game where C9 pulled out their American Murky comp to completely baffle the Koreans was something of beauty, which you often times only see when regions collide. As for European action, I enjoyed the thrashing of Dignitas in the European Road to BlizzCon Final, to then defeat Na'Vi in the semi-final of BlizzCon and get their revenge. It may not have been the most flashy of victories but it was certainly one that felt satisfying to Team Dignitas after what happened in Prague. Finally I have to go with the reign of terror in each respective region by Team Liquid and TempoStorm months back. To watch both teams rule the roost over Europe and America was so impressive. They were a cut above the rest for so long, sadly good things didn't last (With Team Liquid on the road back to former glory right now).

What are your hopes for Heroes in 2016?

With the global circuit coming, I have extremely high hopes. I think we'll see some really cool developments in the meta. 2015 for me was a year where people went from pretty crude meta choices, to in the later parts, more complex ones. The best example of that I can give is Falstad and his heroic popularity. Hinterlands Blast is a crude huge burst of damage, but now with the rise of Mighty Gust, you can see that teams are focussing far more on positioning and superior maneuverability to outsmart their opponents. Also another argument that backs up this theory is the recent heroes to come out. Lunara and Greymane seem to posess a higher skill cap than most of the previous heroes. If that trend keeps up in 2016, we're in for fireworks! I think teams and players will be taking 2016 a lot more seriously too. Since the circuit was announced now 2 months ago, teams have had a lot of time to set their sights on the big money. Hopefully more external tournaments as well!

The last Dreamhack alongside Grubby, ToD and Kendric was a LOT of fun, and I hope that translated well on camera. We were genuinely having a good time and even though the days were 10+ hours of broadcast, it really didn't feel like it in the end because we were so entertained. As for me? I hope to focus even harder on Heroes and make sure im at the top of my game when it comes to either casting or hosting (have to include that now since DreamHack haha). I have other games to cast such as StarCraft II and Guild Wars II which I love doing, but when it comes to playing, nothing beats Heroes for me! I hope to entertain many in 2016 and pass on some Heroes knowledge and excitement! Let's crown a 2016 World Champion! :D

How do you feel about the competitive Heroes scene of 2015?
Overall the scene grew very nicely in terms of the amount of tournaments and teams we saw rise and fall. While it may not reach certain people's expectations as a League of Legends or DOTA rival, I am very happy with the work that was accomplished by Blizzard. Not only did Heroes of the Storm have the largest collegiate tournament to date, but also had ESPN feature live gameplay on their television and online stations. The Road to BlizzCon was massively successful, with regional finals in Los Angeles and Prague. While I always strive for better, I think for a first year Heroes of the Storm came out swinging strong.

What teams were you most impressed or surprised with?

This year really felt like the story of Cloud9. After their "win" at BlizzCon 2015, and signing two teams, the organization really struggled against the dominant Team Symbiote Gaming, now Tempo Storm. But as every tournament saw the titans clash, slowly but surely Cloud9 came into their world-class caliber that they are now

In terms of a surprising team, I'm not sure there's a single "most surprising" team. Murloc Geniuses came together very nicely and continue to impress, but Team Bob? getting picked up into Dignitas was a great storyline this year as well, especially since both teams are primarily comprised of ex-pros from other now defunct teams.

What region do you think was the most dominant of 2015?

It's hard to really put your finger on the most "dominant" since it was North America that won the Worlds. I feel like the whole year was very expectant of China and Korea. If I had to guess a winner going into BlizzCon it would have definitely been Korea. I will stick with North America as the most dominant however, as they did clash with every other region and have (I think) the most success.

Favorite competitive moment of 2015?

I'll answer in terms of my favorite event - and it was definitely Las Vegas America’s Regionals. I got to hang out as a VIP as I wasn't asked to cast it, but that just meant I got to be a social butterfly. Got to catch up with so many people, met so many fans, and was there with my good friends TGN Squadron to boot. It was a kick ass tournament, my first trip to the city of sin, got to hang out with everyone I had gotten to know for the year, and even sat down with Blizzard for dinner after the grand finals. To cap it off, it was a who's who of Heroes Twitch afterparty.

What are your hopes for 2016?

Definitely to grow and expand and be better than 2015! With importance put on regular international competition, Blizzard is going to be setting the bar high for teams. It's my hope that more regular production will help propel Heroes into a higher competitive bracket, and we can see the game grow and evolve into what a lot of us hope it will be
I'm also hoping to see another Heroes of the Dorm - I think it was a great event overall last year.

As a commentator how do you feel like 2015 went for competitive Heroes of the Storm?

I think 2015 went pretty well for Heroes of the Storm. It was a trial year in a lot of ways for Heroes esports, especially since it only launched in June. We had an increase in viewership for the major events as the year progressed. We helped get esports in general on a lot of people's radar with Heroes of the Dorm. And I'm sure all of the Road to BlizzCon events helped Blizzard and everyone else involved iron out how to make a sustained global competition for the game. But I think one of the most important things is that the competitions started building the stories of teams and players from around the world.

What team were you most impressed with throughout the year? From any region, which team surprised you the most?

I think DK was one of the most impressive teams in Heroes this year. Defeating MVP Black and Snake was one of the biggest surprises when it came to teams qualifying for BlizzCon. I was also impressed with Team Dignitas and their climb since the team's creation, especially when they defeated Na'Vi at BlizzCon, who looked so strong during Opening Week. And of course, Cloud9's growth to dominance was especially impressive, as they won the first ever World Championship. But I have to give props to the players who came together as BraveHeart at BlizzCon. Their showing there was way stronger than at Opening Week, and they worked their butts off to make their region proud.

Which regions do you think was the most dominant or most outstanding region of 2015?

This is a hard question to answer, because all of the regions have their strengths in certain areas. Cloud9 won the World Championship, so NA would probably be the "official" answer, but I do think things could have been a lot different had eStar been able to compete or had more Korean teams competed there. I've honestly been a fan of the Chinese region of Heroes this year, ever since casting the Storm League. Although they did struggle versus the Korean teams this year, I think we should definitely keep our eye on that region into next year.

What was your favorite 2015 moment?

I have a lot of really favorite moments from 2015, both from tournaments and series that I commentated and ones where I was in the crowd or watching at home. My absolute favorite was casting the Cloud9 / DK match at BlizzCon, because it was BlizzCon, I was with two close friends I made that year, we knew we were casting one of the best matches of the whole thing, and the crowd was absolutely insane. And then Cloud9 picked Murky. I sometimes still can't believe I was a part of that, but I'm so grateful that I was!

What are your hopes for the competitive Heroes scene for 2016?

I hope that the new tournament structure enables teams who put in the work to be able to sustain themselves as professional players. I hope there are a lot of events, so there's always some Heroes to check out. I hope changes and additions to the game bring more players interested in competing, so our competitive scene becomes even more skilled and entertaining. And, of course, I hope to continue to be involved in the scene, any way I can!

How do you feel about the 2015 competitive scene?

I feel that despite just launching this year, we're already looking at regional rivalries, established stories of great players like Fan and a rather rich team history across all regions. Hailing from Southeast Asia, I'd say that the Heroes scene has a much compelling story compared with other games and scenes. Because Heroes is such a team-centric game, we've had the opportunity of having more consistent rosters compared to other budding scenes and that has helped us achieve the current status quo.

What teams were you most surprised/impressed with?

Definitely Cloud 9 impressed me the most. This is a team that had to constantly come in as the runner up in a really long time before their win at BlizzCon. Imagine facing failure over and over again and having those innovative strategies not pay off. Those are not easy to deal with but they did it and they even took out that Murky plan against a mechanically sound team like Team DK. They definitely surprised me with that choice and I can say that I'm impressed with the team's dedication and commitment to the game and themselves.

What’s your favorite competitive moment of 2015?

My favourite moment of 2015 was that KingCaffeine Leoric Entomb that forced a Butcher to detour whilst under Ruthless Onslaught and missing the combo with Furnace Blast. That was super memorable and I recall the crowd's reaction during that game, it was absolutely priceless.

What are your hopes for 2016?

I hope for a smooth and successful circuit throughout the year and to have teams further develop their rivalries, for that to happen the players and teams gotta stay focused and consistent and I know that they are absolutely dedicated to doing their best. I also hope to see a closer level of competition during the global finals in a game where meta is constantly evolving and definitely hope that everyone continue to have fun playing and watching the game. Cheers to an even better year ahead for Heroes.

How do you feel about the 2015 competitive scene?

Considering Heroes just launched 6 months ago I think it has seen some great success. The game is still evolving and metas figured out, and with massive patches containing things like the scaling changes the game has continued to become a more exciting and engaging esport from the spectators perspective. As an esport specifically I think Heroes has reached some impressive viewership for events towards the end of the year, and things will only get better in 2016.

What teams were you most surprise/impressed with?

2015 was an interesting year where we saw the rise and fall of many teams. We saw an era where Tempo Storm, Team Liquid, and MVP Black were at the top of each of their respective regions, and none of those teams came close to grabbing the BlizzCon title. When it came down to it, I think Dignitas surprised me the most. Dig was a rag tag team of players cast aside from other prominent teams.

The set their goal as the team to de-throne Team Liquid, but they did that and much more. Athero came out of nowhere and rivals King Caffeine as the best warrior out there, and the team continues to impress me with their mechanics and decision making. As for who surprised me the most, I would have to give it to Tempo. A team that was once so dominant in NA crumbled due to poor leadership. The lack of synergy between the players, and the childish arguments that apparently drove the team into turmoil was not expected. Needless to say I was disappointed at the end of the year.

What's your favorite moment of 2015?

2015 had so many great moments, but I will never forget Cloud9 busting out Murky on the BlizzCon stage. I was in the crowd at the team and the energy is something I will never forget. The un-killable composition had so many people scratching their heads during the draft, but it was beautiful to see it unfold.

What are your hopes for 2016?

For 2016 i have a lot of hopes. I would like to see more observer slots and a less buggy spectator client. I would like an in-game esports hub and more promotion within the client of actual esports events. But overall I have a ton of faith in Blizzard doing these things in time. Most of all we desperately need drafts in the client, and more powerful lobbys that persist after a match to help reduce downtime between games in a bo3 or bo5 series. I don't know how quickly it will happen, but the new chat client and scaling changes make the game feel infinitely better in my opinion.

How do you feel about the competitive Heroes scene of 2015?

I feel that overall 2015 helped to get Heroes of the Storm on its way into the competitive esports scene but there's still a lot of work to be done. We see the game represented in more and more big offline tournaments and growing especially in regards to the online competitions that emerged over the year. Enter the Storm, to name only one example, is continuously growing, expanded to North America and is a great opportunity for teams to make a name for themselves and show their skills. Then again we experienced a lot of instability with the lineups of the professional teams, which was to a big part a result of the rules Blizzard established for their World Championship Series. So overall I'd say the game is on a good way, but there's still a long way to go and a lot of things that can and should be improved to help the growth of the competitive scene in 2016.

Favorite competitive moment of 2015?

I'm not sure if I have one favorite moment, it's more like 2-3 stories that I remember vividly. Most people of course expect BlizzCon to be named here but for me there were a few other stories that impressed me. The first one would be the performance of Team Liquid during the WCA EU Finals in Cologne at GamesCom. They lost all of their matches on the first day and were still able to pull through by stepping it up when it really mattered. To me that was very impressive since the team had to deal with such a situation for the first time. The entire dynamic of the tournament was incredible and a lot of fun to watch and commentate.

The second moment was probably the Bo5 final between Team Liquid and Fnatic during the FragBite Masters. The teams had been at each others throat for weeks already and seeing such a great comeback happen after being down 0:2 was amazing. Especially since it was also the first time we saw Kharazim being played as a melee assassin with the damage build that became viable after the patch increased the Iron Fist damage to 125%.

What are your hopes for 2016?

I hope that Blizzard's Global Championship Circuit is going to be as successful as Blizzard hopes. I'd love to see more teams emerge in the competitive scene and believe that given time more and more offline tournaments are going to pick up Heroes of the Storm as one of their major games. Because of the Alpha & Beta phase a lot of people tend to forget that Heroes of the Storm was officially released only half a year ago.

The game is still young and has a lot of growing up to do in a very competitive MOBA market. I believe that with the fast pace of the game, it's dynamic and diversity (thanks to different maps and objectives) the game will become more and more popular which will also help the competitive scene to grow. 2016 is going to be a very important year for Heroes of the Storm and personally I'm convinced that we will see a lot of growth for the game and it’s competitive scene.

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