This article is part of our Heroes of the Storm series.
Twelve teams. Three days. One champion -- $150,000 richer.
It's the premise of the inaugural Heroes of the Storm Spring Championship. Seoul, Korea, serves as the host site for what should be the most competitive HotS international tournament to date. Championship qualifying teams have battled over the past few months for the right to represent their regions, running through a gauntlet of qualifiers and then a regional -- all for the chance to dip into the $500,000 prize pool from March 31 - April 2.
China, North America, Europe and Korea each have determined two representatives from each region to compete at the global championship. Latin America, Southeast Asia, Australia/New Zealand and Taiwan will each send one team due to smaller competitive scenes in the regions.
Yet, the competition has never been stiffer, and the swelling prize pools are a testament to that. In total during the 2016 summer championship circuit, Blizzard says $1,200,000 is up for grabs. Recently the developer announced an additional regional in North America and Europe would be added for the summer season, meaning $100,000 in tournament winnings will lace HotS pockets.
It's a mark of a burgeoning professional scene and a remainder HotS can hold its own alongside heavyweight MOBAs, League of Legends and DOTA 2.
This season's iteration of the world championship differs from last year. Blizzard has created a global championship circuit throughout three seasons, up from one championship a year ago, which North American's Cloud9 proudly claimed. The Spring Championship kicks off the circuit, followed by the summer and fall finals later this year.
The spring global will be divided into three sections: a double elimination first group stage, a double elimination second group stage and finally a single elimination playoff. The first group stage will feature eight of the lower seeded teams divided into two groups. Four winning teams advance into the second group stage, challenging the higher seeds. The four winning teams in the second group stage advance to the single elimination bracket.
Group A of the first stage features: Korea's Team No Limit, Europe's mYinsanity, Taiwan's GIA and Latin America's Big Gods; Group B is comprised of China's EDward Gaming, North America's Team Naventic, Southeast Asia's Renovatio I and Australia/New Zealand's Negative Synergy.
Team No Limit meets Big Gods to open the tournament up, followed by Team Naventic vs. Renovatio I, mYinsanity vs. GIA and EDward Gaming vs. Negative Synergy.
Early favorites for the tournament appear to be Korea's MVP Black, which recently won the Korean Super League over Team No Limit and is currently ranked No. 1 by the experts at GosuGamers.com. Defending world champions Cloud9 should also be carefully considered, as 80 percent of its championship roster is intact heading into the spring global.
Meet the teams participating in the 2016 Spring Global.
MVP Black, Korean No. 1 seed
Roster: Jae Won " Rich" Lee (flex); Jung Hyuk "Sake" Lee (assassin); Tae Jun "merryday" Yi (support); Won Ho "KyoCha" Jeong (flex); Ji Hoon "Sign" Yoon (warrior).
How they got here: Defeated Team No Limit 4-0 in Korean Regional.
Previous finishes: Super League 2016, 1st; World Cyber Arena 2015, 1st; HOT6 Super League, 2nd; MSI Masters Gaming Arena 2015, 1st.
Cloud9, North American No. 1 seed
Roster: Derek "DunkTrain" Arabian (support); John Paul "KingCaffeine" Lopez (tank); Kun "iDream" Fang (flex); Keiwan "k1pro" Itakura (carry); Taylor "Arthelon" Eder (carry).
How they got here: Defeated Team Naventic 3-1 in in the North American Regional.
Previous finishes: North American Regional, 1st; HotS World Championship 2015, 1st.
eStar Gaming, Chinese No. 1 seed
Roster: Chen "Tiger" Hanfei (support); Wu "Tumi" Zhihao (assassin); Kang "XingC" Lunhan; Sun "xiaOt" Liwei (warrior); Li "NccCc" Tuo (support).
How they got here: Defeated EDward Gaming 4-2 in the Chinese Regional.
Previous finishes: Gold Series 2016, 1st; Esports Champion League 2015, 1st; World Cyber Arena 2015, 2nd; HWC China Championship, 1st.
Team Dignitas, European No. 1 seed
Roster: James "Bakery" Baker (support); Joshua "Snitch" Bennett (carry); Jerome "JayPL" Trinh (tank); Thomas "Mene" Cailleux (carry); Jonathan "Wubby" Gunnarsson (flex).
How they got here: Defeated mYinsanity 3-0 in European Regional.
Previous finishes: ESL Katowice, 1st; HotS World Championship 2015, 2nd; HWC European Championship 2015, 1st.
Team No Limit, Korean No. 2 seed
Roster: Ki Soo "CrazyMoving" Han (assassin); Tae Hoon "Sniper" Kwon (flex); Jae Hyun "JaeHyun" Park (support) ; Seung-Chul "sCsC" Kim (flex); Do Joon "Noblesse" Chae (warrior); Byeong Gwan "Kinnu" Kim (support).
How they got here: Finished second in Korean Regional.
Previous finishes: Super League 2016 2nd; Gold Series 2015, 3rd.
Team Naventic, North American No. 2 seed
Roster: Christopher "Zuna" Buechter (carry); Kenneth "Kenma" Buechter (support); Aaron "erho" Kappes (tank); Stafford "McIntyre" McIntyre (flex); Fan "Fan" Yang (carry).
How they got here: Finished second in the North American Regional.
Previous finishes: ESL Los Angeles, 2nd.
EDward Gaming, Chinese No. 2 seed
Roster: Huang "sr" Haojie (warrior/assassin); Liu "sw770" Xuexiang (support); Chen "canjian" Tianze (assassin); Pu "m" Hao (warrior); Guo "gemini" Jiayi (support); Song "sk" Jize (assassin).
How they got here: Finished second in China Regional.
Previous finishes: Gold Series 2016, 2nd; China Internet Gaming 2015, 1st; 2015 China Championship, 4th.
mYinsanity, European No. 2 seed
Roster: Lyubomir "Splendour" Kozlovski (support); Dennis "HasuObs" Schneider (flex); Nils "Nurok" Gebhardt (flex); Simon "Darkmok" Tabin (carry); Markus "Blumbi" Hanke (tank); Steffen "KnowMe" Fritzemeier.
How they got here: Finished second in the Europe Regional.
Previous finishes: ESL Kawotice, 2nd.
GIA, Taiwan
Roster: Wu "Rival" Tsung-han (support); Su "GoDDog" Yu-Yen (support/assassin); Li "Baphomet" Chi-Hua; Chen "Lulumi" Ting-Rui (flex); Huang "BlueWay" Kai-Wei (warrior); Wu "AlphaLuna" Chun-Yu (assassin).
How they got here: Defeated Team AW in Taiwan Regional.
Previous finishes: Spring Taiwan Regional, 1st; HotS World Championship 2015, 7-8th, Taiwan Championship 2015, 1st.
Big Gods, Latin America
Roster: Esteban "DEUS" Aspera (assassin); Juan "Jschritte" Passos (flex); Matheus "Typhex" Sanots (flex); Rodrigo "Vieira" Lopes (support); Murillo "murizzz" Tuchtenhagen (carry).
How they got here: Defeated Crusader Gaming 3-0 in Latin America Regional.
Previous finishes: Copa America 2016, 1st.
Renovatio I, Southeast Asia
Roster: Yancy "Hyskoa" Ong (flex); Neil San "vyy" Juan (flex); Raizo "Harharr" Ichikawa (flex); Ronel Flores "Stronger" Tan (support); John "MiseryProx" Hernaez (assassin).
How they got here: Defeated Resurgence 2-1 in Southeast Asia Regional.
Previous finishes: Spring Southeast Asia Regional, 1st.
Negative Synergy, Australia/New Zealand
Roster: Benjamin "Benjamin94" Vinante-Davies (flex); Zac "Daspurtz" Peters (support); Shane "Ninja" Ellem (flex); Robert "robadobah" Purling (warrior); Young Kyu "Sashin" Kang (flex).
How they got here: Defeated Fresh 3-1 in Australia/New Zealand Regional.
Previous finishes: Spring Australia/New Zealand Regional 2016, 1st.
English broadcasts can be watched at www.twitch.tv/blizzheroes and www.twitch.tv/blizzard. Broadcasts begin at 7:00 PDT, March 31.
