Coming up next week, we will see two teams from North America join Astral Authority and Denial Esports in Blizzard’s prestigious Heroes Global Championship league. The two NA representatives at Blizzcon received a direct invite to the league, which will begin early in 2017, but the remaining hopefuls will have to battle it out across three qualifiers if they want a chance to compete.

The Clear Favourites– The dead certs to make it next week

Gale Force Esports (Udall, Khroen, Akaface, Equinox and Fan)

Coming off of the back of a disappointing outing in Seattle, Gale Force will look to gain their spot back at the top of NA. With the acquisition of arguably one of the best in game strategists in the scene, Equinox has for sure strengthened the roster. With him in this double tank meta, is of course Michael Udall, leader of the GFe side. With both of these players having such a large hero pool and flexibility, along with Fan in the back, this gives GFe a lot drafting potential which could lead to us seeing a range of picks and strategies coming from them. I expect to see GFE come out all guns blazing on Monday and be one of the first teams to make it to HGC through the qualifiers.

Team Naventic (Zuna, Kenma, Tomster, BigE, bkid)

Naventic are probably one of the most suited teams to drafting in this current meta, with two natural tank players; Zuna and bkid. Although he got a lot of criticism in the past, it is hard to look at Zuna as a weak link in the NVT side. His in game calling and focus is some of the strongest in NA and if he is on form, NVT can provide some of the cleanest fighting America has to offer. It will be interesting to see how they adapt to the meta of globals, but they should be more than comfortable in the drafting stage. So long as NVT can stay focused across both days, I see them coming out alongside GFE as the two teams to make it to HGC next week.

The Later Qualifiers– Teams which may not make it week one, but should find their spot later

Dumpster Tier Superstars (Iakona, Srey, Faye, Prismaticism and Goku)

The core of this roster have been around NA Heroes since its infancy and have yet to see true, tournament winning success. Iakona, Faye and Srey have a wealth of tournament experience and are all solid players. Brining in Goku, a top level melee assassin, it will be interesting to see if he is able to transition to the more bruiser-centric role. However, with the recent change on Zeratul, we may see him pick up his old favourite if the hero is able to slip through the ban phase. DTS may not make it next week, but I know they’ll give it a good run for sure and will turn their attention to the later qualifiers and use the first just to get back to that tournament feeling.

B A R R E L B O Y S (McIntyre, TigerJK, Casanova, Jason and TalkingTrees)

The classic name returns with McIntyre at the helm. The roster consists of four pretty well known players and Casanova, a Hero League warrior who has shown some skill in the amateur scene and has now been given a chance to shine. In the past, TigerJK has had a reputation to be a very emotional player and keeping that in check could be key to these guys securing themselves a spot.

Vox Nihili (Daihuu, Zoos, Hosty, LexUther and HaoNguyen)

We haven’t seen anything of Vox since the PAX qualifiers back in August. A team that was expected to make it back then fell slightly short of their goal. This time, I don’t see that happening. These guys have had a long time to get prepared, iron out all their issues and work on improving as a team. Because of this, I see them as a solid team that are definitely in with a shot of HGC, but once again it can come down to emotions. Daihuu, the warrior player for the team, has been known to be emotional on the front line and that can sometimes get the better of him. If he can remain calm, stay focused on the shot calling, and not feel pressured, he can lead Vox to their victory in the later qualifiers.

Gust or Bust (Batterry, FrozenX, DarkChimaera, nightmare and Jin)

The core of the old Astral roster with two additional players; one who took a step back for a long time and the other from the amateur scene. A few months back, nightmare was looking at retiring from Heroes and just streaming/playing for enjoyment. His biggest achievement to date was playing on Stellar Lotus back in the day, but he’s looking to change that next week. The great part about having a core three players from a previous team is that it shouldn’t take much to gel together as a team. If nightmare is able to be on his comfort picks and Jin can calm his nerves when it matters, I think as a team they’ll be able to pull through and make it to HGC.

The Big Names with Little Chance– Recognisable names which will find it hard to cross the finish line

Team Blaze (Vestige, CowboyBebops, SnarlieBrown, Oddish and auntjemima)

Blaze, as an org, has been around and seen success every now and then in the NA heroes scene. However, this time round, I think they’ll be a little further out than they may hope. A roster of mid-tier players who have seen little success in the amateur scene are hoping for big things in this set of qualifiers which is a just a little out of reach in my opinion.

NICE! (Legend, LzGaMeR, seiqooq, ElhayM and Astabroth)

Again, this team have been together a long time but have always been on the cusp of taking their success to the next level. They have consistently been in the top four of the amateur scene when they competed but always fell short in games where it mattered. I fear that may be the case with HGC as well. They may be able to sneak in if the bracket gods are on their side, but it’s unlikely in my eyes.

Dark Horses– Teams you may not know, but should look out for

Catas Encore (Ethix, Taliant, tr0pe, Zlurd and SoyYossarian)

This is an interesting team for a number of reason. A lot of these guys have been in the amateur scene for a long time on a number of different rosters, but this could be the one where they find success. Led by Ethix, who has switched from support to tank, this roster has a lot of individual skill, which can sometimes be enough to get you where you need to be. However, for the first qualifier, they will be using a sub for the support role meaning it’s just a chance for them to get some tournament experience under their belt and prepare for the later chances.

Wild Growth Black (Percival, RFSNeedham, skullkid, Grizz and Ockderek)

These names have also been floating around the amateur scene for a while, just on a few different teams. It will be interesting to see just how well they can do together. Much like NICE, they will need a little bit of bracket luck if they are to creep in, but certainly keep an eye on them as they may cause an upset.

Veterans (Shot, Erho, TR4PQU33N, Bicpes and Araragi)

A team living up to their name. The return of the old guard, plus Trap. Featuring Dorm winner Shot, former C9 player Biceps, former Naventic Erho and bouncer arounder of teams; Araragi. These guys have all seen success in the past and are forming just for a shot at the qualifier. The question comes, however, can five players with little practice rely purely on skill to qualify, in a meta that revolves around key macro play? Only time will tell.

Chu’s Team (Chu8, YoDa, Glaurung, Rawrior and ???- expected roster)

This roster is just speculation right now and isn’t confirmed. But should the roster stay as it is, it will be an interesting one to watch. All solid individual players may not transition over into a good team. Chu and Rawrior were close to qualifying for the Burbank regional way back when and they might get close to HGC this time. With Glau on their side too, we could see some big power plays come out of the former Denial player.

So, those are my predictions for how things are going to turn out. If you have any team you think could make or just think I’m dead wrong, let me know! Tweet at me @Hosselote and I’ll be sure to reply.