Last year was a pretty busy year for Heroes of the Storm that ended strong with the gripping Grand Finals at BlizzCon last year. This year, Blizzard want to take “Heroes esports to a whole new level” and that starts with their announcement of more details on the 2016 Spring Championship. The tournament’s qualifiers are now underway and the finals set to run April 1-3 in Seoul, Korea.
New to HotS? Check out our list of best Heroes of the Storm heroes for beginners.
Mondays can be a bit shit, I’m sure you’ll agree. They’re about getting back to work after a couple of days off, reminding yourself why you shouldn’t drink Jager bombs, and typing through the pain of a migraine that just won’t quit.
This Monday ain’t all that bad, though, as Blizzard have announced the latest details of the Heroes of the Storm 2016 Spring Global Championship – the first of a trio of events that make up the new Global Championship Circuit. All told, a total of more than $4 million is on the line for the best HotS teams across the globe to challenge for. If you’re one of them, I bet your Monday just got a bit better.
Here’s the ins and outs of the 2016 Spring Global Championship qualifiers (and just look at those prize pools):
Australia/New Zealand – Spring Regional
- Dates: February 7–28
- Location: Preliminaries online; Finals in Sydney, Australia
- Partner: ESL
- Prize Pool: $20k USD
- Details TBA
China – Gold League
- Dates: January 15–24
- Location: Shanghai, China
- Partner: NetEase / NeoTV
- Prize Pool: $100k USD*
- Details at http://gold.blizzard.cn/live-stream/
Europe – Spring Regional
- Dates: March 5–6 (Finals)
- Location: Preliminaries online; Finals in Katowice, Poland
- Partner: ESL
- Prize Pool: $100k USD
- Details at http://play.eslgaming.com/heroesofthestorm/europe/championship/katowice/
Korea – Super League
- Dates: January 12–March 20
- Location: Preliminaries online; Finals in Seoul, South Korea
- Partner: OGN
- Prize Pool: $200k USD
- Details at http://www.playxp.com/heroes/ogn/superleague/
Latin America – Copa America
- Dates: January 21–March 19
- Location: Preliminaries online; Finals in Brazil
- Partner: VIU / BRMA
- Prize Pool: $20k USD
- Details at http://esports.viustudio.com/heroes-of-the-storm-copa-america
North America – Spring Regional
- Dates: February 27–28 (Finals)
- Location: Preliminaries online; Finals in Los Angeles, California
- Partner: ESL
- Prize Pool: $100k USD
- Details TBA
South East Asia – Spring Regional
- Dates: January 16–March 6
- Location: Preliminaries online and offline; SEA Finals online, cast live from Singapore
- Partner: AsiaSoft
- Prize Pool: $22.5k USD*
- Details at http://esports.heroessea.com/en/index.html
Taiwan – Spring Regional
- Dates: February 18–March 13
- Location: Preliminaries online; Finals in Taipei, Taiwan
- Partner: 4Gamers
- Prize Pool: $60k USD
- Details at http://tw.battle.net/heroes/zh/blog/
Of that lot, 12 teams will advance to the finals: two from Europe, the USA, Korea and China; and just one from Latin America, Australia and New Zealand, Southeast Asia and Taiwan. A $500,000 prize will be up for grabs when the finals conclude on April 3.