Confetti rained down on the stage as the Real Dream Team was crowned the Heroes of the Dorms 2016 on Sunday evening after defeating the University of Texas at Arlington’s Dark Blaze 3-0 in Seattle, Washington.
The team did not lose a single game in the entire tournament.
This is the second year that ASU has competed in the Grand Finals of the Dorm tournament, falling to UC Berkeley 3-1 in the best of five series. They’ve spent the last year practicing and rebuilding their roster with only three returning members.
The Real Dream Team consists of business communication sophomore Michael “MichaelUdall” Udall, criminal justice senior Stefan “akaface” Anderson, electrical engineering junior Parham “Pham” Emami, sociology senior Austin "Shot" Lonsert and business and civil engineering senior Isaiah “Snickers” Rubin. Communication senior Vann “Vannity” Childs is a substitute for the team.
ASU was the crowd favorite going into the tournament, with nearly 10 percent of all brackets picking The Real Dream Team to win it all. ASU’s roster boasted strong mechanical skills despite UTA’s reputation for unexpected draft picks.
We won the tournament without dropping a single game! 2016 HOTTEST D CONFIRMED!
— Michael Udall (@Mikeudall) April 11, 2016
The two teams took to Blackhearts Bay for the first game, a three lane battleground with six mercenary camps and the opportunity for each team to trade coins in for the aid of Blackheart’s cannons taking down forts. The Real Dream Team lost three of their favorite heroes to UTA’s bans and draft picks, but ASU created a composition of Illidan (MichaelUdall, Tassadar (Shot), Li-ming (Pham), Rehgar (akaface) and Muridan (Snickers).
Despite UTA coming out aggressive and taking the first kill when they took out Li-Ming, Udall’s Illidan was able to go after mercenary camps to gain enough coins to cash in with Blackheart. UTA was later able to turn in coins of their own and gain their level ten heroic abilities first as they took out Udall and akaface.
During The Real Dream Team’s next chance at turning in coins, they were able to take down one of UTA’s forts despite being down three. Although the Dark Blaze was able to gain control of the boss, ASU was able to take down two of their players in a team fight. The Real Dream Team killed three members of the Dark Blaze and go in for the final two forts. At 14:18, ASU defeated UTA’s core with their double-threat composition.
we did it! @Shot_HOTS @Mikeudall @akafacehots @PhamHotS @Snickers_HotS #ASU #HeroesOfTheDorm #Champions
— MikeUdall'sHair (@MikeUdallsHair) April 11, 2016
Game two was played on the one of the newest three lane battlegrounds, Towers of Doom, with four mercenary camps and a tough boss that shoots at the enemy’s core. In this battleground, heroes are unable to attack the core themselves, instead having to rely on active alters and the boss to deal damage to it. One again, the Dark Blaze banned Udall’s strong Falstad pick ad Greymane. The Real Dream Team drafted Sonya (MichaelUdall), Brightwing (akaface), Muradin (Snickers), Thrall (Shot) and Raynor (Pham).
ASU took the first blood in the top lane only 48 seconds in and received their second kill at 1:33 before winning the use of both alters. The Real Dream Team gained a mercenary camp and took down a top lane gate while UTA took down ASU’s front wall in the bottom lane. ASU received their level ten heroics first in a team fight where they took down Dark Blaze’s team captain.
UTA gained their level ten heroics and chased the Real Dream Team, taking down Udall and Pham before ASU took control of another alter, leaving UTA’s core at 24 health. The Dark Blaze pushed on the map when despite a need to regroup, allowing ASU to catch them off guard and pick off one of their members. While four of ASU ‘s members engaged in a team fight, akaface channeled an alter to leave UTA’s core at only seven health. After another team fight left UTA down two members, the Real Dream Team was able to capitalize by using an alter and the boss to deal the last bit of damage to the core.
Ughh. Didn't play well. Could have been better. @akafacehots really clutched a lot of heals out though
— Eugene Tseng | Yuuj (@Yuujers) April 11, 2016
The teams battled it out in game three on the Infernal Shrines, a three lane battleground with shrines that spawn three different punishers to aid the team that kills forty minions first. The Dark Blaze opted to pick a warrior-less composition after banning Zagara and Cho’gall. ASU picked up Sonya (MichaelUdall), Valla (Pham), Zeratul (Shot), Uther (akaface) and E.T.C. (Snickers). The Real Dream Team got the first kill early at only 20 seconds.
Although UTA got the lead in killing minions, ASU was able to gain the use of the first punisher. Udall quickly cleared minions to spawn a Mortar punisher, allowing ASU to split-push far into the top lane. After a team fight with no losses, the Real Dream Team lost Udall and Snickers in their attempt to protect an Arcane Punisher, allowing UTA to take a full level lead for the first time in the series.
The Dark Blaze went after ASU’s fort but retreated when the Sun Devils took pursuit, showcasing their solid defense. Both teams were at full heroics when the next shrine activate, where ASU took down four members of UTA and made their way to the core. Despite dealing a fair amount of damage to UTA’s core, The Real Dream Team lost Shot, akaface, Udall and Snickers, giving the Dark Blaze the freedom to take a Frozen Punisher with a level lead and go after ASU’s keep in the mid-lane before retreating.
The Real Dream Team took to the top lane, where UTA’s defense was waiting for them. They went straight for the core, losing akaface before winning at just under twenty minutes.
Each member of the Real Dream Team will receive tuition for their college career and take home a gaming PC built by Cyberpower for making it to the Heroic Four.
“We always kind of joked about going undefeated,” Lonsert said. “It’s like, ‘Oh yeah, we’ll go undefeated.’ You can’t always expect to go undefeated but to go undefeated is kind of the best feeling ever. It just blows all expectations out of the water. It’s just the best feeling in the world.”
Reach the reporter at dlbarnet@asu.edu or follow @danicalbarnett on Twitter.
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