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Blizzcon 2017 – ANZ Esports Teams Will Take On The World’s Best

Everything you need to know about the ANZ squads heading into the world finals

Published

October 25, 2017

Australia will boast a powerhouse presence at the BlizzCon esports finals events taking place in Anaheim, California this November. After a year of hard work, competition, and qualification, teams from Australia are now set to compete in the Overwatch World Cup, World of Warcraft Arena, and Heroes of the Storm Grand Finals.

Beating opponents from ANZ, the broader Asia-Pacific region, and across the globe, these three teams move on to battle the very best in the world for the ultimate crown as Champions in their respective games.

Thousands of dedicated fans will flock to the Anaheim Convention Center to watch the competitions live in-person, with many more tuning in online via live broadcasts on the BlizzCon website. The tournaments will begin on 30 October, with Opening Week at the new, state of the art Blizzard Arena, with Grand Finals taking place on the main stages at BlizzCon.

World of Warcraft Arena World Championship

Prize Pool: $280,000 USD
In the expanded 2017 format, World of Warcraft Arena teams battled through closely-contested local and regional qualifiers to earn one of 12 places in the World of Warcraft Arena Championship. Begins 31 October AEDT.

Captained by Kane “Yunex” Dennis, Blank Esports, (formerly Team Rock) has been together for three years. The players recently showed they have the focus and skill required for the world stage, qualifying at the Asia-Pacific Championships held in Taiwan. This will be the group’s debut BlizzCon appearance, and the first time a team from ANZ has represented the region at a World of Warcraft Arena Championship Final.

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Kane “Yunex” Dennis (Captain)
Nathan “Primez” Saccuzzo
Joel “Streaming” Barker
Jonny “Rook”

Heroes of the Storm: Heroes Global Championship

Prize Pool: $1,000,000 USD

A new league, under a new structure, and at a new level of professionalism, this is the Heroes Global Championship (HGC). Watch as teams from Asia-Pacific (including Australia), Europe, Latin America, China, and North America battle for glory. Begins 28 October AEDT.

Team Dark Sided defeated its long-time regional rival, Nomia, at the HGC ANZ Season 4 Final, earning its ticket to BlizzCon. Led by captain, Jeremy “Moops” Setio, the team will face FNATIC in the first round. Dark Sided is focused, and is looking forward to the challenge of taking on the big-name international competition.

Jeremy “Moops” Setio (Captain)
Hayden “Sashin” Kang
Joshua “Hacky” Hackett
Ashley “DeMiSe” Branson
Robert “robadobah” Purling
Daniel “Morton” Morton (Team Manager and Coach)

Overwatch World Cup 2017

The top 32 countries from around the globe qualified to participate in the Overwatch World Cup, but only eight earned the right to compete at BlizzCon. Held across four events, the series travelled to Shanghai, Sydney, Katowice, and Los Angeles. In the end, Australia, China, France, Sweden, South Korea, Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom advanced. At BlizzCon, these teams will face each other in a thrilling single-elimination bracket to determine the best Overwatch nation in the world. Begins 4 November AEDT.

After earning a nail-biting win in overtime against Japan at the Sydney Group Stage, Team Australia has its sights firmly set on claiming the title of Overwatch World Cup winners. The first round will be a Commonwealth showdown, and will see Australia play against Canada. Andrew ‘Rqt’ Haws will lead the team at its first BlizzCon appearance, building on the group’s solid performance at domestic and international events throughout 2017.

Andrew “Rqt” Haws (Captain)
Jason “ieatuup” Ho
Ashley “Trill” Powell
Jordan “Gunba” Graham
Ajay “Aetar” Umasankar
Marcus ‘Kiki’ Jacob
Jason “SereNity” Wang (Coach)

BlizzCon will also play host to multiple other Blizzard esports events throughout the weekend, including the World Championship Series Finals for StarCraft II, and the Hearthstone Inn-vitational.

More information on BlizzCon esports can be found at https://blizzcon.com/en-us/esports

In this article:2017, arena, blizzard, blizzcon, esports, HGC, OWC, wow

Written By Trent Saunders

Although he has been gaming since the Sega Mega Drive launched in 1990, he still sucks at most games. When not being trash he watches French horror films, drinks herbal tea and secretly loves the music of Taylor Swift.