Blizzcon Heroes of the Storm Preview & Predictions
by JR Cook - 7 years ago show comments
We are just a few short hours away from the start of Blizzcon 2016! This event is a celebration of all things Blizzard, but here is what you can look forward to for Heroes of the Storm specifically.
Panels
Friday:
11am-12pm Opening Ceremony
2pm-3pm Heroes Deep Dive
4pm-445pm State of the Game
430pm-545pm Heroes Comedy Hour
Saturday:
145pm-245pm Art
It all starts with the Opening Ceremony on Friday. This is where we will get our first look at what new and exciting things are in store for the Nexus. Expect a lot of information to be released as soon as the Opening Ceremonies conclude. As you would expect from the title, the Deep Dive panel is where we will get all the juicy details of what was teased in the Opening Ceremonies. The State of the Game panel is usually a look at where the game is currently and where we can expect it to go in the future. For those in the mood for something lighter, the Heroes Comedy Hour is for you. Imagine if your favorite Heroes voice actors played Whose Line is it Anyway. An often underappreciated panel is the Art panel on Saturday. The Nexus is a beautiful place and this panel is your chance to see how that amazing artwork is born.
Judging from past Blizzcons, we can probably expect to see three new Heroes announced, with one being something outside the norm such as Cho’Gall or The Lost Vikings. Possible Spoilers ahead!!! Based on clues that people have uncovered, Varian Wrynn and Reaper are two of the more popular guesses for what might be announced. It is unclear if the Reaper in question is the Overwatch version, or Malthael from Diablo. Another popular pick is Deckard Cain, which would tie in nicely with the 20 year anniversary of Diablo. When it comes to offbeat Heroes, a lot of people are predicting something from Rock n’ Roll Racing. This has been high on the wish list for many old school Blizzard fans. Personally, I am guessing that we get The Innkeeper from Hearthstone, mainly because he was featured on one of the slides last year and I think they could do something really cool with him.
eSports
Friday:
4pm-10pm Group Play
Saturday:
12pm-4pm Semifinals
430pm-630pm Finals
While Blizzcon is famous for the big game announcements, it is also the culmination for all of the various Blizzard eSports. For Heroes this means the Fall Championship. Two teams, MVP Black and Ballistix (formerly known as L5), have already qualified for the playoffs as a result of their performance during Opening Week. Six other teams will battle it out on Friday as the group stage concludes to see which two teams will earn the right to join the two Korean teams in the playoffs on Saturday. The hopes of North America are riding on Astral Authority (formerly known as Murloc Geniuses) and Team Denial. European fans will probably be rooting for Dignitas and Fanatic. Dignitas is often sited by the experts as the team most likely to be able to compete with the Korean favorites. ZeroPanda is the lone remaining representative from China. If you are looking for a Cinderella story, then Please Buff Arthas is the team for you. This plucky upstart from the Taiwanese region is the only team outside of the four major regions (NA, EU, China, and Korean) to ever make the Top 8 in a global event, and they are doing it for the second time here at Blizzcon. Whether they win or lose, expect to see aggressive play from them. MVP Black is the clear favorite, and anything other than a MVP Victory would be a major surprise.
If you can’t make it out to Blizzcon in person, you can catch all of the action via the Virtual Ticket. We will also have updates on all of the Blizzcon news on the various Blizzpro pages, so check back often.
