This article is part of our Heroes of the Storm series.
The road to Korea and a chance to be written into the Heroes of the Storm (HOtS) record books starts Feb. 27 in Los Angeles for North American teams at the Spring Regional. The $100,000 in prize money isn't too shabby, either.
Throughout February, North American HotS teams vied for a bid to the North American Regional Championship, with over 100 teams competing in online qualifiers. First- and second-place teams qualified for the finals in L.A.
Competing with a chance to punch a ticket to Seoul, South Korea, in April and represent NA are:
Team Naventic (finished in top two of Qualifier No. 1)
Cloud9 (finished in top two of Qualifier No. 1)
COGnitive Gaming (finished in top two of Qualifier No. 2)
Tempo Storm (finished in top two of Qualifier No. 2)
Team Blaze (finished in top two of Qualifier No. 3)
Panda Global (finished in top two of Qualifier No. 3)
King of Blades Alpha (finished in top two of Qualifier Invitational)
Team Nom (finished in top two of Qualifier Invitational)
Two of these squads will earn seeds to the Spring Global Championship, the first of three seasonal championships new to Heroes of the Storm this year. North America -- alongside Europe, China and Korea -- will advance two teams to the Spring Championship. Joining them will be one team from each of four other regions: Latin America, Southeast Asia, Australia/New Zealand and Taiwan for a grand total of 12 teams representing eight regions.
Familiar faces will grace the North American Finals, including the reigning world champion: Cloud9.
A few short months ago, Cloud9 ran through the gauntlet at the 2015 HWC-America Championship to qualify for the world competition, featuring the likes of Murloc Geniuses, Team Immunity, COGnitive Gaming, compLexity Gaming, Relics, Furious Gaming and Tempo Storm.
Early on at the tournament, Cloud9 and Tempo Storm appeared to be on another tier, with Tempo Storm outclassing Cloud9 in the group stages, recording a perfect 4-0 record, including a 2-0 series win over Cloud9. Both advanced to the semifinals on opposite sides of the bracket, almost destined to claim NA supremacy by doing battles in the finals.
Tempo Storm swept compLexity in the semis; Cloud9 did the same to COGnitive.
And the finals? A classic.
Cloud9 flipped the script from group stages, jumping out to a commanding 2-0 series lead over Tempo Storm in the best-of-five finale. Tempo Storm dialed back in, snatching the next two games to force the series into a deciding Game 5.
Trotting out a lineup that featured Jaina, Tyrande, Muradin, Zagara and Malfurion, Cloud9 won the inaugural North American regional tournament, igniting a run that culminated with a World Championship at BlizzCon in November.
Cloud9's championship roster remains largely intact, with only Fan moving on to Team Naventic. KingCaffeine, iDream, k1pro and DunkTrain give opposing teams plenty to fear and the addition of Arthelon in December has Cloud9 brimming with confidence.
While Cloud9 may be the early favorite, Team Naventic -- formerly Bob Ross Fan Club -- and Tempo Storm, the other World Championship qualifier last season, should also challenge for a top spot in the regionals finals.
This year's regional will be divided into two groups: Group A and Group B.
Group A will feature Team Naventic, Tempo Storm, Panda Global and King of Blades Alpha.
Group B includes Cloud9, COGnitive, Team Blaze and Team Nom.
The rivalries for many of these teams dates back to the establishment of HotS' professional scene, so there will be no shortage of drama in the qualifiers. And for a handful of teams, redemption could be the name of the game in Los Angeles.
Blizzard has brought in Anna Prosser Robinson as the host of the tournament. Joining her as casters will be Jake "Solid Jake" Kulinski, Jared "Zoia" Eggleston, Wade "Dreadnaught" Penfold and Jayce "Gillyweed" Gluck.
Will a new band etch its name alongside Cloud9, the 2015 winners, or will the original champions of HotS repeat?
The North American finals can be seen at Twitch.tv/blizzheroes. Matches begin at 10 a.m. PST on February 27.
