Photo credit: ESPN
In a result that wasn't a surprise but still a pleasure to watch, ASU has won Heroes of the Dorm, securing college tuition and loads of other prizes.
Like last year, Heroes of the Dorm was a magical event.
I say magical because of how surreal certain moments felt. Surreal when you realize that an American esports tournament is being broadcast on ESPN, or that right next to a Seattle baseball stadium (with a game currently in progress) is another massive stadium with Heroes of the Storm banners everywhere.
It's surreal to see the two groups of fans merging throughout the city. Surreal to see people wearing Heroes of the Dorm shirts and esports merchandise outside of a tournament or a gaming convention. It's just one event (and collegiate at that) but the scope of impact towards "selling" esports to a national audience is hard to imagine.
There is me on the right in the crowd from the broadcast on ESPN. I graduated from ASU so my school pride was in full spirit. It was the first time I ever cared about what school I was from, and the energy our cheering section created was, at times, shocking to me.
Because, not everyone in the crowd had a personal stake in this. Not everyone in the crowd was from ASU, or had friends on the team, or covered events like this for their career. Most of the people I met were Heroes fans that had no idea the game was this competitive and had no idea this type of event existed.
They didn't understand a team like ASU could exist and play the game at such a high level. That they were unmatched amongst their peers and, through hard work and practice, you can give your opponents no chance of winning. Can you imagine if someone explained to them MVP Black?
Now that these fans are aware of esports, they're hooked. Imagine that multiplied by every person who saw Heroes of the Dorm on ESPN and heard the amazing casting talent, or saw natural bravado of a team like ASU. All of that is connected to gaming and our beloved game.
As for the games themselves? It was a total stomp. Team ASU outmatched every team in so many ways and the games weren't ever close. Save for one decision at the end of game three that only appeared dangerous (but actually wasn't) there is no real value in talking about the matches and how ASU won.
However, even when the grand finals were extremely one-sided, Heroes of the Storm still put on a thrilling show. That, to me, is the biggest take away from this event. The understanding that esports has been given an opportunity to truly invade a mainstream audience, that Heroes of the Storm is leading that effort, and things are going surprisingly well.
Follow us on Twitter @GosugamersHotS for more Heroes of the Storm esports news.
