Thumbnail image courtesy of Activision/Blizzard
The $150,000 ESL Trinity Series will kick off on Jan. 18, with eight teams of the most loved personalities in Hearthstone competing over seven-weeks.
Unlike other team tournaments, the Trinity Series will see each team of three playing as a group in their best-of-11 matches, with open comms viewers will get to listen in on. At the end of the round robin, ESL will hold a LAN final at their studios in Burbank in March.
Not sure how the competition stacks up? theScore esports have assembled a short guide to the eight teams and their respective achievements.
G2 Esports
Players: Adrian "Lifecoach" Koy, Thijs "Thijs" Molendijk, Dima "RDU" Radu
Even outside of Hearthstone, few orgs can say they’ve retained the same roster for consecutive years, but Lifecoach, Thijs, RDU and their captain/manager Jakub "Lothar" Szygulski have stayed together for just over two years, as the trio originally with Team Nihilium before joining up with G2.
While all three are highly skilled individuals, they have proven success in team competitions, having won the original Archon Team League Championships in 2015 with a 6-2 win over Cloud9.
"We are having quite a lot of experience with the team league in general because we know each other really well," Thijs said. "We can adapt to each other really well, we know the weaknesses and the strengths of each other."
Considering the group format of the Trinity Series, the familiarity G2’s players share might be their single strongest asset. That is, of course, if Thijs and RDU have no problem with Lifecoach roping every turn.
Alliance
Players: Sebastian "Ostkaka" Engwall, Jon "Orange" Westberg, Harald "Powder" Gimre
While Alliance might be new to Hearthstone, they’ve jumped into the space in a big way, first by signing Orange and then 2015 world champion Ostaka before picking up ex-SK player Powder. While Ostkaka is certainly the team’s headliner, Orange has been racking up some notable placings, with a big win at SeatStory Cup VI in December and a more recent second-place finish at the WESG 2016 Finals. However, it remains to be seen how well the newly formed Swedish trio gels together as the league goes on.
compLexity
Players: Jan "superjj" Janßen, Tugay "MrYagut" Evsan, Simon "Crane333" Raunholst
One of the strongest Hearthstone lineups in a strong region, compLexity’s roster has nothing to prove. Jan "superJJ" Janßen has been on a hot-streak of late, winning Zagreb Gaming Arena and Xfinity Hearthstone Invitational II, placing second at Esport Superstars and third at PGL Bucharest Tavern Tales 2016. Meanwhile his teammate Mryagut is possibly one of the best Rogue players in the game, having pioneered the Oil Rogue and Bubble Rogue archetypes in previous metas. Crane333 is another strong talent, with a second place finish at DreamHack Valencia 2016 and top eight finishes at PGL Bucharest and the HCT Europe Spring Championship.
Virtus.pro
Players: Artem "DrHippi" Kravets, Ole "Naiman" Batyrbekov, Raphael "BunnyHoppor" Peltzer
Though Bunnyhoppor, DrHippi and Naiman will be playing together in the Trinity Series, it’s telling that the three started out as rivals at the 2016 Europe Winter Championship. While all three reached the Top 4, Naiman defeated both Bunny in the semis and DrHippi in the Grand Final, to qualify for the global championship at BlizzCon. Virtus.pro signed all three players shortly after the tournament, but it was ultimately DrHippi who reached the HGC Grand Final against Pavel “Pavel” Beltiukov, while Naiman was knocked out in the group stage. Though all three have the distinction of making it through the 2016 HCT’s gruelling qualification system, one issue they might face in the Trinity Series is communication, as neither Naiman or DrHippi are the most confident English speakers while it's unknown how Bunnyhoppor’s Russian is.
Luminosity
Players: Keaton "Chakki" Gill, Frank "fr0zen" Zhang, Paul "Zalae" Nemeth
If you only know Chakki from Twitter, you might think he’s just a troll from Indiana. However, if you’ve watched him play in a tournament, you would know he’s a lot more than that. While he won DreamHack Austin 2016 and made Top 4 at the 2016 HCT Americas Winter Championship, he ended up losing the ONOG 2016 Pax West Finals to none other than his teammate, fr0zen. fr0zen also came in second at DreamHack Summer 2016, losing 3-1 to RDU, and competed in the HCT Americas Last Call Invitational. Rounding out the roster is Blackrock Mountain Launch Invitational winner Zalae. While the ex-Archon player might have attended more tournaments as a caster in 2016 than an attendee, doesn’t mean he’s lost his edge.
Tempo Storm
Players: Victor "VLPS" Lopez, Petar "Gaara" Stevanovic, David "JustSaiyan" Shan
While Tempo Storm might lean more towards content creators than tournament winners, there’s no denying the house Reynad built has some extremely talented players under its roof. For instance, VLPS was one of the first players to popularize the Leeroy-Power Overwhelming-Faceless combo that’s probably kicked your ass on the ladder once or twice. JustSaiyan and Gaara are also highly regarded players in the community with a number of high ladder finishes to their names.
Cloud9
Players: James "Firebat" Kostesich, Cong "StrifeCro" Shu, Andrew "TidesofTime" Biessener
Featuring 2014 world champion, Firebat as well as StrifeCro, and TidesofTime, Cloud9’s Trinity Series roster might be one of the most analytical. While none were big tournament players in 2016, though StrifeCro won OGN’s Seoul Cup Invitational in May, anyone who’s watched them stream can tell you they’re methodical players who take the time to consider their lines of play.
Team Liquid
Players: David "Dog" Caero, Jeffrey "Sjow" Brusi, Yevhenii "Neirea" Shumilin
Another team that did more streaming in 2016 than tournament competition, but ex-SC II pro Sjow did end 2016 on a strong note. He placed second at SeatStory Cup VI after a narrow 4-3 loss to Orange before finishing 5-6th at Amaz’s Gang Wars tournament. His teammate Dog, who is currently defending his CN vs NA Challenge title, placed fourth at Gang Wars. Neirea meanwhile is a top European ladder-climber, reaching fifth on the Legend ladder in December 2016.
Sasha Erfanian is the Eredar lord of theScore esports. Follow him on Twitter.
