The Real Dream Team took home the title “Best of the West” for collegiate Heroes of the Storm on Saturday night after defeating the University of Utah in the final round of the TeSPA West Collegiate Colosseum.
Hosted at the eSports Arena in Santa Ana, California, the Collegiate Colosseum featured more than thirty universities competing in a variety of PC, console, handheld and table-top games.
In the Final Four, The Real Dream went 3-0 against UC Irvine, a school that recently launched an esports initiative to create a gaming arena and offer scholarships to esports athletes.
In the opposite side of the bracket, UC Berkeley was knocked out of the tournament by Utah in a 3-0 defeat. Berkeley defeated ASU in last year's Heroes of the Dorms finals.
This year, ASU got into the finals. When Utah's team cheered something derogatory in the Sun Devils' direction, business communication sophomore Michael Udall responded by saying The Real Dream Team had an “easy 3-0 coming for us for sure.”
The first game was played on the Battlefield of Eternity, a two-lane map where Immortals aid teams by attacking the enemy’s fort. ASU’s team composition consisted of Falstad (MichaelUdall), Xul (Shot), Uther (akaface), Muradin (Snickers) and Zagara (Pham). ASU took the first Immortal just before Lunara’s poison damage took down Pham. The Real Dream Team defeated Utah’s core at 15:19 while Utah had three heroes down.
Game two was played on Infernal Shrines, where teams have to slay thirty Guardians to bring to life a Punisher that attacks the enemy team’s heroes. ASU played as Li-Ming (Pham), E.T.C. (Snickers), Uther (akaface), Tyrande (Shot) and Kerrigan (MichaelUdall). Utah was the first to secure an Arcane Punisher, which leaves a beam of magic in that deals damage to any enemy caught in its path. Nearly twelve minutes into the game, ASU took down four of Utah’s players. With a three-level lead and three of Utah’s players out, The Real Dream Team was able to move on to the core and end the game at 17:02.
The third game in the best-of-five series was played on Blackheart’s Bay, a three-lane Diablo-themed map where players collect doubloons to trade with Blackheart in exchange for his help for taking down the enemy’s forts. The Real Dream Team picked Illidan (MichaelUdall), Abathur (Shot), Tassadar (Snickers), Li-Ming (Pham) and Rehgar (akaface). Utah gave ASU a challenge when they took the first Blackheart’s Bay and received their level seven talent, but The Real Dream Team was able to defeat Utah’s core at 20:34.
“I feel great,” Udall said in a post-game interview with the gamecasters. “I think the team all feels really good. We played really well today. It’s just a preview for what’s going to happen next weekend in Seattle. We’re for sure going to win the whole thing so we’re really excited.”
The Real Dream Team took home $1,500 for taking first place in the collegiate tournament. They will compete on Saturday against the University of Connecticut in the Heroes of the Dorm Heroic Four.
Related links:
ASU's Dream Team pave the way for the future of eSports
ESPN made significant push for eSports and ASU was a major part of it
Reach the reporter at dlbarnet@asu.edu or follow @danicalbarnett on Twitter.
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