Blizzard finally released the details regarding the upcoming season of the Heroes Global Championship (HGC), the premier Heroes of the Storm competition, as well as schedules and several updates. The event is almost upon us, so let’s examine Blizzard’s plans for the new year!

New Levels of Consistency

Blizzard has taken painstaking precautions to preserve the best elements from last year’s esports circuit while raising the bar in other areas in order to produce a high quality production that will ensure much more consistency in 2017.

First of all, team rosters will be more stable. The most significant problems in 2016 were the roster changes between each event as teams disbanded and attempted to regroup in better configurations. While these rapid-fire rollovers promised better short-term success, they lowered the overall level of competition. That won’t be the case this year. Qualifying teams are allowed one player swap but otherwise they must keep the same roster for the following six months until they are either relegated or may make another change.

A strict region lock also clamps down on roster swaps by preventing any sort of realistic trade between regions. This may come back around to bite Blizzard, but for the first year of competition, it does make sense to help individual regions grow as much as possible.

The 2017 league format adheres to a set schedule, meaning that the action will be both continuous and predictable. Every weekend from Friday to Sunday starting on January 20, teams from North America and Europe will battle each other during two sets per day (six matches per weekend overall). There will be a one hour break between each match.

Korea’s games, played live at the OGN studio, will be joining the schedule on February 3 and will continue to broadcast every Friday. All HGC games will be streamed on the official BlizzHeroes Twitch stream.

The HGC site is also undergoing a re-launch which will contain a “comprehensive 2017 schedule, as well as league standings, news, VODs, and more.” For those who were infuriated by the lack of information on Blizzard’s site, this is a breath of fresh air.

In addition to proper scheduling, Blizzard has also enlisted the aid of several casters who will be representing each region full-time in 2017. The North American duo of Gillyweed and Dreadnaught—known for their tag team work in Beyond the Nexus—will be joined by Khaldor and Trikslyr, who will be casting Europe’s games. All of the casters are moving to Southern California to cast in the Blizzard studio.

Out in the East

The Western hemisphere is getting a lot of changes in 2017, but it appears that teams in the East will continue in the same manner. Both Korea and China will enjoy their respective offline leagues in addition to the promise of more prize money.

When first whispers of an online league first came creeping across the Internet, many Korean fans were outraged at the potential loss of OGN Super League, which has been the most reliable offline Heroes of the Storm tournament to date. Never fear, though—Super League isn’t going anywhere. Now referred to as HGC Korea, the competition in Korea will continue in much the same way as before but will sync with the Western HGC schedule. Wolf and GClef will be manning the English casting desk for HGC Korea.

In China, NetEase will continue to run the HGC Gold League. The production will include three leagues during the Spring, Summer, and Fall seasons as well as a Grand Finals event at the end of the year. Each tournament will take less than a month to complete, with the first one starting in April. No official English cast has been announced yet, but more announcements for the region will be released as we near the first Eastern Clash.

Both major regions in the East will also have their own Crucible matches to determine which teams get to stay in the league and which ones deserve promotion. It’s unclear how promotion tournaments will work in Korea and China at this time, but it’s possible that they will be open qualifiers similar to the regions’ qualifiers last year.

International Competitions

The number of international competitions in 2017 is getting a significant boost, from four to at least six. The Eastern/Western Clashes and international Brawls will thrill spectators with more frequent cross-continental action and further develop the metagame in all regions.

The first Western Clash will take place at IEM Katowice beginning on March 3. Teams from North America, Europe, Latin America, and Australia & New Zealand will participate with $100,000 in total prize money up for grabs. In the East, teams from Korea, China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia will clash at the Gold Series Stadium in Shanghai on March 17.

The Mid-Season Brawl will be the first major international tournament of the year, featuring teams from every region with twelve teams in total. The event will be held at DreamHack Summer in Jönköping, Sweden on June 17 and headlines with a quarter million dollar prize pool.

Overall, 2017 is looking like a strong year for Heroes of the Storm esports. In addition to the Open Division, HGC is sure to provide constant action around the clock for players and spectators alike. Here’s to a great year in Blizzard esports!