Whether you’re a lapsed player or a new fan
Three years ago, then-Blizzard-president J Allen Brack (remember those weird times?) delivered what was henceforth known as the “Brack Letter,” which dropped the hammer of Heroes of the Storm esports and essentially put the game in maintenance mode. It was a devastating blow for the community, but it persisted, and is as strong as ever. If you wanted to catch up with all the Heroes of the Storm 2022 goings-on, this is the place!
Here are a few ways Heroes of the Storm (which is still free-to-play) continues to cement its legacy, and differentiate itself from a lot of the other MOBAs out there.
The CCL (esports league)
Just because Blizzard killed official esport support, it doesn’t mean that esports ever really died for Heroes of the Storm.
In short, the Heroes CCL (or Heroes Community Clash League) is now the defacto big dog Heroes of the Storm esport organization. You can find the full rundown on how and why it was created here.
Here’s the latest info on season 4 (and the org itself) directly from CCL leadership:
“HeroesCCL Season 4 is a 13-week long Heroes of the Storm league composed of Masters-plus players from any region. HeroesCCL is owned and operated by Wisdom Gaming Group d/b/a Heroes Hearth and not affiliated with or administrated by Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. in any way. The eight (8) Orgs from Season 3 will continue to be a part of CCL and those Orgs are selected by CCL Admin. Orgs are responsible for drafting their team, managing their rosters and paying Players their monthly stipend and prize money.”
That’s right, they’re on season 4, which is a testament to how passionate everyone is about Heroes esports, from top to bottom. CCL games will kick off on Saturdays and Sundays at 2PM ET, and the regular season into the playoffs will run from May 7 through August 7, 2022 (with pre-season starting on April 8). If you’re interested, you can apply via the free agent pool here. Yes, the CCL has a free agent pool: it’s arguably more put together and better ran than a lot of officially supported/publisher-ran esports orgs.
Speaking of general Heroes esports happenings, there was even a big Heroes of the Storm LAN tournament recently in Miami, Florida. If you’re looking for more; Khaldor, one of the finest commentators in HOTS history, is still going strong, providing recaps and commentaries on their YouTube channel, just in case you wanted to chase that old esports BlizzCon finals high.
The Into the Nexus podcast
Into the Nexus is one of the longest-running Blizzard podcasts, and in my eyes, the finest.
Without missing a beat, hosts Garrett and Kyle dive into the latest Heroes of the Storm events and patches in granular detail, and aren’t afraid to shy away from topics involving Blizzard’s current situation. If there’s a new piece of Heroes news happening, they’re typically talking about it first. You can find the homepage for the podcast here (if you aren’t seeing the latest episodes on the hub, check here), and they’re supported by their Patreon campaign.
Kyle also has a YouTube channel that is very approachable. Speaking of YouTube!
YouTube and evergreen tutorials
For a game like Heroes of the Storm, which has been around for a long time and has undergone so many changes and character reworks, it’s super hard to find up-to-date info.
A lot of esports/strategy sites have came and went, and although they provided fantastic information at the time; some of it is outdated, due to reworks that fundamentally altered the characters so much that they barely resemble their former selves.
Kiyeberries’ YouTube channel has a host of videos on the recent Heroes meta. Fan has been doing similar videos for quite some time now. The aforementioned Grubby is also an invaluable resource, and they create general interest Heroes videos, too. The same goes for NotParadox.
Some older videos are helpful though (like Kala’s coaching series), as they go over basic MOBA/Heroes of the Storm principles that are still in place today.
HOTSLogs and data trackers
Once you’re actually playing and have exhausted all your tutorial resources, it’s time to get a little more precise. That’s where HOTSLogs comes in, which provides winrate and talent data based on Heroes of the Storm replay files. It’s just one tool in your toolkit, but looking at what currently works and what doesn’t can be very helpful when deciding which character to try out, especially at higher ranks.
Heroes Profile is another option if you’re looking for more stats.
Into the unknown
Who knows what Microsoft is going to do with the IP.
But in my mind, it’s ripe for a rejuvenation of the development team with more resources, a full “3.0” launch, and possibly even an engine upgrade (to alleviate technical concerns and push the game forward for the next 10 years with a higher ceiling). The Heroes team has created something really special over the past eight years or so (more than that if you count pre-technical-alpha development), and it deserves to live on.
In any case it’s alive right now, so take advantage of it! If you’re looking for even more resources, you can find them on the Nexus Compendium.
[Editor’s note: Originally another content creator was linked in the YouTube section, but was removed after a community heads-up. Similarly, some were added, to make the section more comprehensive.]
Published: Feb 25, 2022 03:00 pm