Welcome back to another NerdHawk’s Guide to the nerd world! This week we are continuing with the coverage of Blizzcon 2015 and all the fun stuff that has been previewed. In the opening ceremony of Blizzcon the world was shown the first full length trailer to the live action feature film adaptation of the Warcraft universe. This is huge for the upcoming release of the new expansion to World of Warcraft titled, Legion and I can’t wait to check it out in IMAX 3D. You can follow this link for the Warcraft trailer.https://youtu.be/2Rxoz13Bthc
The opening ceremony also showed us a glimpse of the sixth expansion to World of Warcraft
This beautiful cinematic hurls us straight into the dark rift that has opened above the above the Tomb of Sargeras, the Dark Titan. Following King Varian Wrynn through the clouds on a dwarven airship, we find Lady Sylvanas Windrunner leading the fleet of towards the portal, and lending Wrynn a hand when an infernal crashes into the hull of his ship. As creative mastermind for the entire Warcraft universe Chris Metzen says, “What may well might be the end of the World, begins here.” This Burning Legion invasion has been prophesied for nearly 10,000 years, and just may bring the end of Azeroth. However, time will tell if this is really just the makings of a WoW2 or not. It has been 11 years of one title, and the level cap being raised to 110 in Legion it may be time to start considering a fresh start. Subscription numbers have been dropping recently and maybe starting at level 1 on a new title is what the citizens of Azeroth and Draenor need.
While Team NaVi didn’t see it through to the final round, Cloud9 did. Facing off against Team Dignitas, C9 had no problem taking the trophy from them. The most exciting round of the entire tournament however, was round two of the semifinals between Cloud9 and Team DK. A combination of American showmanship, and the effects of a large scale tournament on a team were at play in the semifinals. Team NaVi appears to have choked in their round against Team Dignitas forfeiting their seat in the final round, but C9 in the semifinals shocked the entire convention center by drafting Murky as their 5th pick in game two.
Due to his low health and armor Murky the Murloc is considered one of the least viable characters in tournament play. But with the right team composition, as Cloud 9 demonstrated, Murky brings a utility belt full of everything you need to win a Heroes of Storm game. Below is the matchup between C9 and DK. You can see the moment the crowd goes wild from the draft pick at just about the 57 minute mark.
The entire match shows the versatility of a composition that capitalizes on the individual strengths of each character. Consisting of Tassadar, Brightwing, Abathur, Leoric, and Murky there are so many things that make the blue team, in this matchup great. Tassadar’s force walls and Leoric’s entomb secured multiple valuable kills in the late game proving that Cloud 9 had the superior tactics. Heroes of the Storm World Championships was an exciting tournament to watch live and I highly recommend checking it out to see how the pros are pushing their lanes and completing objectives as a way to learn how to play on your own.
