Heroes of the Dorm, the school spirit-infused event, kicked off its bracket play Saturday, with 64 of the nation's best university teams in a fight for scholarship prize money.
After two days of action, the 64-team bracket tournament was trimmed down to 16. With no second chance at the grand prize, the stakes and pressure could not be higher. Of the final 16 teams, there were certainly some surprise storylines.
Cal-Berkeley's loss on Day 1 guaranteed that this year's tournament will have a new champion. There are two double-digit seeds still in the running, Ohio State Third String (13 seed) and the school that defeated last year's champion, Harvard Ambush (15 seed), that could really run the tables and win the entire tournament. And, in addition to the underdogs, there are still the dominant teams remaining such as the UConn Tricky Turtles and Boston College Pool Plato ST.
Day 1 highlights
Experience against newcomers: Illinois Mad Banners against Miami Tribal Toucans
The matchup between Mad Banners, a returning lineup to Heroes of the Dorm, and Tribal Toucans, the first-timers, went the distance and showcased how any team could win.
In Game 1, Tribal Toucans drafted several comfort picks, but Mad Banners countered well and executed a strong early-game plan with consistent rotations and favorable fights to take the kill lead and map control. Tribal Toucans responded with constant five-group fights, but never found a way back in. Whenever Mad Banners grouped up, it was a winning fight and another advantageous objective. With the lead, the team from Illinois bullied its way to the Tribal Toucans' base for the victory.
Illinois absolutely crushed through the majority of the early-game skirmishes and allowed for positive objective and level gains with a burst lineup in Game 2. Tribal Toucans' defense and clutch stuns started the comeback trail and tied up the levels at the 14-minute mark. The stalemate was finally broken when Miami caught its opponents at the boss and stole it, which led to the game-winning push for the comeback victory.
Game 3 featured more of the same with another Mad Banners' lead in the early game. Through the complete control over the Mortar Punisher, Mad Banners dictated the pace of the match and pushed all sides of the map. The slow suffocation caused Tribal Toucans to force fights at objectives, but could not completely grasp a breakout engagement. One last Mortar Punishment and a slow crawl into the enemy base was all Illinois needed to close out the set.
Comebacks are absolutely real: Ohio State Bucks against UCLA Kyles Kimchi
Kyles Kimchi took the initiative with impressive pressure and pushing power to start the first game. Ohio State Bucks responded by forcing fights to deal with the objective control of their foes and created a stalemate into the 10-minute mark. Even with one big fight that gave the kill lead to Bucks, it was Kyles Kimchi that pressured the map and the opposing base. Kyles Kimchi made the miraculous comeback when Bucks took down the boss and used it for an all-in fight at the core, but they were thwarted and lost their entire team in the process. As a result, Game 1 was a return push from UCLA.
UCLA was assertive to start the second match, with constant rotations and aggression after the initial collection of doubloons. The team forced fight after fight and continued to dive behind enemy lines to really take firm control of the momentum. One big fight from Ohio State's team virtually tied the game with just a deficit in experience. With a calculated risk to get to the boss first, Kyles Kimchi used that objective to boulder past Bucks' base and took the set.
Day 2 highlights
Goliath triumphs over David: Boston College Pool Plato ST against Western Washington How Play
What's a tournament without a squash match? Last year's final four finisher, Boston College Pool Plato ST, looked every bit the part against Western Washington How Play. It was a clinic of execution and patience displayed over two fast games in what was probably a warning shot to future opponents.
Game 1 was a drubbing. While the experience was not heavily in favor of Pool Plato ST, the objective and kill lead certainly was. With a near shutout on the map during the first 10 minutes, the team from Boston College snowballed their enemies into a forced engagement and crushed through to claim the enemy's base.
Both teams took it slow and steady with a heavy emphasis on safety and objective control over any large fights or engagements in the second game. The difference in skill was evident in Game 2, with Pool Plato ST bullying How Play despite avoiding any large fights because of their quicker decision-making, execution in objective control and the few skirmishes in the early game. When the first fight finally went down, it was a wipe -- what small advantages were accrued absolutely paid off.
Team fighting matters: Utah Real Meme Team against Johns Hopkins The Button Mashers
The difference in team-fight execution really showed in this matchup -- whether through individual ganks or rotations or big clashes, it really matters to have stellar teamwork.
Game 1 was a game of independent pickoffs and team fight wipes for The Button Mashers. From the early kill and pickoffs, their vintage and mobile draft was a shoutout to last year's popular trends in Heroes of the Storm. Johns Hopkins collapsed on its opponent and suffocated the team from Utah with a perfect blend of combination attacks and chain stuns to rip through the first game.
In a similar draft to Game 1, The Button Mashers proved that team fight execution was better than any kind of counterpick. Despite Real Meme Team's pocket picks, it boiled down to who could perform better in fights. Johns Hopkins used its superior lane phase and slight leads to snowball into easy fights and wipes. The advantage was clearly too high for any kind of meme, and The Button Mashers walked through their second-round matchup.
The final 16 teams are set to play. The remaining matchups are rich in narrative and deserving of a story, which speaks of the balance that exists within Heroes of the Storm. Tune in March 26 and 27 as the field of 16 is trimmed down to the Heroic Four and we draw closer to naming this year's Heroes of the Dorm.