This article is part of our Heroes of the Storm series.
Old faces in new places – it's essentially the slogan for DreamHack Tours, the second regional tournament for Europe that kicks off May 13 in France.
Some of the region's stalwarts –Team Dignitas, mYinsanity, Team Liquid, and Fnatic – look to be heavy favorites, although the possibility of an upstart challenger taking home the $100,000 prize pool and earning a trip to the summer global in Sweden is never out of the question.
Dignitas has the scene buzzing with its acquisition of Alexander "AlexTheProG" Grumstrup to supplant Jonathan "Wubby" Gunnarsson, who many are considering an upgrade at the warrior position. That being said, it's fair to wonder how much practice time the team may have had considering the brevity of the roster changes. In the spring season, Dignitas notched Europe's top seed for the spring global championship after convincingly winning the title at Katowice. Dignitas, en route to the No. 1 seed, dropped only one set to mYinsanity. Yet, at the global championship, Dignitas had an abysmal showing, falling in group stages (albeit in a loaded group).
That background is necessary to understand why the team elected to bring in AlexTheProGc. Dignitas already qualified for the summer global and did so in dominating fashion, winning every match. That dominance, according to the team, allows it to essentially experiment at DreamHack Tours. Dignitas has the luxury of not needing a win in a high-pressure situation. If anything, DreamHack Tours serves as the ultimate scrimmage setting for the team as they become acclimated to AlexTheProG – who is no slouch, having served as Natus Vincere's team captain. The weekend serves as trail by controlled fire, allowing Jerome "JayPL" Trinh to shift into a new role. It would be unsurprising to see Dignitas rise again.
mYinsanity, the second European representative at the spring global, looks to be comfortable with its current roster – even with its recent blemishes. The team needed a quality finish to qualify for DreamHack Tours, placing third/fourth place at the previous qualifier. That said, mYinsanity did reach the finals of the first European regional qualifier, falling to Dignitas 3-0 in the final. mYinsanity has proven in the past it can deliver results in bigger tournaments and France may serve as the next stage for its theatrics.
Meanwhile, Team Liquid enters DreamHack Tours with its own roster upgrade, as they picked up Arturs "bkbgrnrjefek" Hlibovs, formerly of Virtus.pro. Liquid is a team perpetually looking for a better result, having failed to qualify for the spring global and stalling out to a fifth/sixth place finish in Katowice and a third/fourth place finish at Leicester. This year, Liquid has made six personnel moves. That type of instability has manifested in lackluster results. Should Liquid flounder again, another roster shuffle could be on its way.
Dignitas put it eggs into AlexTheProG's basket. Liquid is unafraid to makeover its roster. And Fnatic? Well, let's just say that last mode of punctuation may be the best descriptor.
Fnatic rolls into DreamHack Tours with recent noteworthy moves during the summer season: The team hired Jan "Careion" Hoffmann as a coach, and even more recently parted ways with Lawrence "Atheroangel" Harper. The team, wary of missing out on another global, brought on Careion to create more structure for the talented European squad.
It's hard to gauge Careion's impact. Fnatic finished in the third/fourth spot at Leicester a mere five days after Careion's hire. There, Fnatic couldn't surmount Dignitas or mYinsanity. Since then, the team hasn't had another LAN to showcase improvement.
As for Atheroangel, the team has yet to announce a replacement.
Fnatic's website, as of this writing, only officially listed Pontus "Breez" Sjogren, Filip "Smexystyle" Liljestrom and Dob "Quackniix" Engstrom as their starters. Simon "scHwimpi" Svensson figures to be in the mix, but the fifth position is still undecided. This could be a spot for former Dignitas member Wubby. With more roster moves on the horizon, Fnatic's question marks could prove to be too much in a tournament with other established European talents.
The other team's looking to make noise at DreamHack Tours are teh89 (formerly Natus Vincere), Evil Murkies, Put it in the Chips and Never Lucky.
Group A will be comprised of teh89, Team Dignitas, mYinsanity and Put it in the Chips.
Group B features Team Liquid, Fnatic, Evil Murkies and Never Lucky.
The tournament begins on May 13 with Put it in the Chips taking on teh89 on one stream and Liquid against Never Lucky on the other.
