After the biggest "roster-pocalypse" in North American Heroes of the Storm history, it was difficult to predict which of the newly minted teams would fare well in the upcoming HotS Fall regional qualifiers. Held by ESL, these qualifiers took place on July 10, 17 and 24 to determine which team would compete in the first of two fall regionals on Aug. 5.
The qualifiers featured a mixture of 21 teams battling it out for a top-two finish. Two newly created teams, Crescendo and High Score, were able to walk away with the first qualifiers, and what each team lacked in experience, it made up for in talent. Crescendo is led by John Paul "KingCaffeine" Lopez, the former main tank for Cloud9, and Mike "Glaurung" Fisk, who was the leader of COGnitive gaming's HotS team and one of the best melee assassin players in North America. With these two powerhouses leading the pack, Crescendo was able to post an impressive 6-1 finish, beating Vox Nihili 2-1 to secure a spot in the fall regionals.
High Score, on the other hand, not only has Stafford "McIntyre" McIntyre, a flex player formerly on Team Naventic, but also Quinn "Srey" Fischer, the former main tank and shot-caller for Tempo Storm and Brain Power. This team, full of seasoned professionals, managed an even more impressive 6-0, taking down the team Peter Dinklage in the last round of the qualifiers to earn its place at the fall regional.
With these two juggernauts having already qualified, the second qualifier allowed some lesser known players to bring their teams into the spotlight.
The first was Vox Nihili, a team less than one month old with few to no recognizable names on the roster. Despite that, this team had some incredible moments and a phenomenal support in Todd "LexUther" Stevenson. In the first qualifier, Vox Nihili went 5-2, losing only to Crescendo during the semifinals, but it managed to redeem itself in the second qualifier, posting a perfect 6-0 mark to secure an invitation.
The second team to qualify could go down as one of America's favorite teams: Murloc Geniuses. While this team disbanded for most of this year, it reformed its roster with Manuel "Fury" Medina, formerly of Gale Force eSports, and Rori "CauthonLuck" Bryant-Raible, who was a member of COGnitive Gaming. Murloc Geniuses also fell to Crescendo early on in the first qualifier, ending at 2-2, but managed to come back strong a week later and post a 6-0 finish for a total of 8-2.
As the third and final qualifier was about to begin, former pro-gamer and HotS streaming personality Jaehyung "Chu8" Park quickly formed a team to compete, making it all the way to the semifinals before losing to Astral Authority, the team that would eventually qualify for the fall regional.
Astral Authority has consistently been one of the top finishers in all three qualifiers, posting an overall record of 14-4, with a 6-0 mark on the third and final day. However, that success might have had something to do with the intentional abuse of an in-game bug, as it was announced late Sunday night that Astral Authority would be disqualified from the fall regional due to breaking ESL rules 1.10 and 5.6. Because of the disqualification, the open regional spot will go to the winner of an upcoming match between Incoming Support and Chu8's team, Chu 8 my hot doge.
The final team to make it to the fall regional event was Team Name Change. While it was eliminated early during the first qualifier, it made a strong run in the third qualifier, going 6-0 to secure a spot in the fall regional.