Advertisement

BlizzCon 2016: The biggest esports news

South Korea's Heroes of the Storm team Ballistix. (Blizzard)
South Korea’s Heroes of the Storm team Ballistix. (Blizzard)

BlizzCon 2016 has come to a close, and there were plenty of esports events featuring the best players from all over the world. From the biggest upsets to announcements of new tournaments, we’ve got you covered with our roundup of the esports news from the show.

Overwatch

The biggest esports announcement of the show came with the reveal of Overwatch League, a formalized tournament structure that would see teams represent major cities. Players competing in Overwatch League will be provided with a minimum base salary and benefits package. Get more details on Overwatch League from our article.

Blizzard hosted the inaugural Overwatch World Cup at BlizzCon this year, and South Korea’s team proved to be unstoppable. The team won every single map they played in the group and bracket stages, eliminating Finland, the United States, Sweden, and Russia. Speaking strictly in terms of performance, the South Korean team was head and shoulders above the rest. Check out our breakdown from Yahoo Esports’ Taylor Cocke.


StarCraft 2

The StarCraft 2 World Championship Series finals played out in front of a full house at BlizzCon 2016, with South Korean player Byun “ByuN” Hyun Woo taking out Park “Dark” Ryung Woo to secure first place in a 4-2 Terran versus Zerg final. Polish Zerg player Mikołaj “Elazer” Ogonowski and South Korean Protoss player Kim “Stats” Dae Yeob finished in equal third/fourth place.

Byun embraces his win, literally. (Blizzard)
Byun embraces his win, literally. (Blizzard)

Hearthstone

Tournament favorite Pavel “Pavel” Beltiukov proved himself as deserving of the title by winning the 2016 Hearthstone World Championships. The Russian player faced off against Ukrainian competitor Arten “DrHippi” Kravets in an all-EU final. Pavel’s risk-taking paid off in a thrilling grand final, which we’ve detailed here.

Blizzard also announced a new expansion titled Mean Streets of Gadgetzan, named after the less-than-savory port city in Warcraft. It will add a whopping 132 new cards to the game–check out all the cards that have been announced so far via our gallery.


Heroes of the Storm

The biggest upset during the Heroes of the Storm Fall Championship came from Swedish team Fnatic knocking South Korea’s MVP Black out of the tournament during the semifinals. However, Fnatic met a bigger challenge in South Korean team Ballistix in the grand finals. Despite some early back-and-forth in kills, Ballistix’s teamwork ultimately proved too strong, triumphing over Fnatic in a 3-1 series.


World of Warcraft

The World of Warcraft Arena World Championship the top eight teams comprised of three to four players clash for a share of the $250,000 prize pool. The European three-man team Splyce came out in first place, beating Method NA in a close 4-3 series of games. The victory makes Splyce the first team to win two consecutive BlizzCon titles, having successfully defended their title as the World of Warcraft Arena World Champions.