Phase two of Blizzard's Heroes Open Division is fast approaching

After the roaring success of the first phase of the Open Division of Blizzard’s Heroes Global Championship, run by GosuGamers, the event is gearing up for phase two, registration for which begins on the 6th of June. The competition, designed to help grow the stars of tomorrow while providing you with stellar entertainment in the here and now, has been a huge amount of fun to run so far. From all of us here at GosuGamers comes a warm thankyou for that, as a massive chunk of that is down to you, the fans, as is so often the case in eSports.

After the first phase, we have a good idea of which teams are capable of playing at the higher level, with the likes of Even In Death and Imported Support making impressive runs into the playoffs. Check out our Crucible recap to see how they fared when the chips were all the way down, or enjoy some VoDs here for EU, or here for NA. For phase two the format will be roughly the same, with dates and information found here, but we’ll recap for those of you new to the fun.

GosuGamers will host a series of 16 HGC Open Division events, with regular season tournaments where $1,000 in prize money is up for grabs. These events will also award points based on finishing position, and the table-topping teams will advance to a playoff after seven rounds. That is where they can win or lose a place in the Crucible, the white-hot arena of competition where the bottom teams from the HGC fight for their lives against the hungry masses below.

The action takes place in both the HGC North America – Open Division and HGC Europe – Open Division, and if the Open Division sides manage to take out their Crucible opponents they will replace them in the Heroes Global Championship for at least the next phase of the competition. For Heroes, this event is obviously a wonderful boost, and the addition of this relegation system also massively reduces the chance of fans sitting through a meaningless match with nothing on the line.

The points system has been tweaked slightly, with the table below showing those changes. We've also reduced the number of teams going into the playoffs from 16 down to 8, meaning only the very best of the best will make it through.

Everything from registration to event details and results can be found on GosuGamers.net, so if you’re a returning star of the future or someone who has been inspired by the action and wants to sign up now, go here. For GosuGamers to be involved is a great honor, and we are looking forward to working with Blizzard to ensure the second half of 2017 is as spectacular for Heroes of the Storm eSports as the first was.

Dates and further information are available on our tournament hubs (for Europe and North America), along with details on how to register for what is a truly open competition. You can also connect to the HGC community and talk to our admins should you need any help by joining the HGC Open Division Discord Channel.

Be sure to check the site regularly for more info, and let us know how excited you are for the next phase of the Open Division in the comments.

Format for Open Division