By Geranium Battle

​In the beginning, there was only THL. Then, after 3 seasons, there was the SHL, and many of the players from the inaugural series gave it a try. Most players would enter and leave just as quickly, and the early years of this Last Hero Standing format saw a lot of overturn. Some prominent players made deep playoff runs in multiple seasons, with Kawasaki Ninjas Rule making it to finals in Season 2 and winning Season 3. The core group of Switters, Thatjester, and jimphilos reached finals in Season 5 and 6, but missed the crown both times. Lefty2111 with Tam Pam’s Surf Slam comrades Ozmanaut and ItsMeMikeV reached finals in Season 10, and returned to win Season 12. But for the most part, if there was a dominant team, it would fall early in playoffs the following seasons if it made it there at all. There were kings and rulers for a time, but hardly anything could be called a “dynasty” in what would eventually be known as Hero Series up to this point. 

Meanwhile, quietly, in Season 8, CmaccompH played his first season of Hero. It wasn’t a  glorious burst onto the scene, and he quickly disappeared soon after. The team that went on to win that season was helmed by BillSnyder, who also vanished from the series. Similarly, Nineeyebrows had a negative Season 11 debut and did not return the following season. Suddenly, BillSnyder returned in Season 13 and brought on CmaccompH and Nineeyebrows to make the Wild Aces.

What made Wild Aces the first of many seasons that Cmac and Nine would go on to win? Well, the amount of work that they both put into playing and learning Hearthstone certainly helped. Cmac joined an insane amount of open cup tournaments, which was how the players on the team met. It wasn’t uncommon to share theory and experience in calls, and the drive to prove themselves pushed everyone to the heights of their ability. This cooperation and friendship was the impetus behind the title of this article: a dynasty. 

By Wild9

On November 1, 2019, Blizzard announced their new battleground mode at Blizzcon. Inspired by Teamfight Tactics, at first, the only way to play Blizzard’s Autobattler was on a ladder system. Soon enough,  group play and lobbies were introduced.  Well before the news dropped, however, the THL team wheels were churning.

Once private lobbies were confirmed, it was only a matter of time before THL would create its own Battlegrounds Series for the community to compete in. Challenges existed, but the league would find a way to get it done.
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FIRST THL POWER RANKINGS OF THE EMERALD DREAM! As a reminder, we use internal data calculated into a formula called PAR to create these rankings. PAR calculates data such as win/loss, game win rates, and strength of schedule. If you would like to read more about how this is calculated, read the blog that Marty wrote explaining how it all works! Each week we will be updating you on how these players and teams shift throughout their respective series, as well as highlighting individuals and their journeys.

Legacy is off to a hot start, but with Embers of the World Tree just around, they are just warming up. The Red Conference has come out the gate swinging, with ET C’Thun, I’m a Legacy 3 Seed :), and Ashmane’s Pest Management taking all 3 of the top spots. Rumham of course is represented here on the power rankings due to their strong performance for ET, but despite very strong undefeated starts, RonMexico and GeraniumBattle will have to do better next time to make it on the board. Rounding it out for Red, Glacier has delivered a near identical performance to teammate Ron in the 4 seed, and their headliner performance earned them a spot on the podium. Despite what the name might suggest, I’m a Legacy 3 Seed has schmooved on up to number 2 in the rankings, with every single player delivering a winning record to start of the season. GeraniumBattle, SkrtReynolds, TAB, RockedYou, and Moonkie all have had great starts to their seasons, and if they keep their pace they might all be one seeds when the dust settles. And of course, for the team at the top, ET C’thun has a whopping 3 undefeated players in the top 3 seeds, with Rumham, Nedkek, and Lucero all cleaning house in dominating fashion. KingofSpades and inkycyanfrog also are not far behind, and if they join their teammates in the remainder of the season, we’re going to need a taller podium.
Looking on the player side of things, Chair42 and Toofly have put in the work in the 4 and 1 seeds respectively, piloting Death Knight, Demon Hunter, and Druid cores to great success. Pokemon661, however, breaks the mold, playing Hunter and Paladin to drunkenly stumble into an undefeated run. Empol’s lineups have featured many of these classes, but Priest also made a winning appearance, an interesting meta call that paid dividends in Week 3. If it returns, hopefully we see it on stream. Lulnenko, perhaps clicking on Standard instead of Battlegrounds by mistake, has thrived nevertheless, and with Mage and Warlock in the lineup, clearly is flexing some skills to a commanding 3-0 start. Some players like HSDragon, on the other hand, don’t fix what isn’t (or is?) broken, and running the same lineup of Death Knight, Demon Hunter, Priest, and Rogue every week has given their nameless team a chance to stay in the running. Finally, despite starting a mere 2-1, Ozmanaut has given his opponents Da Stubbs in the face of tough competition, with the only blemish on his record being a 2-3 loss to Glacier, the player at the top of the rankings. Congratulations to everyone featured this week, and if you want a guaranteed feature next time, get on stream and play! See you next time.
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Welcome to the Pro Series Season 18 Power Rankings!  We've got two powerhouse conferences already four weeks into the season, so let's get you caught up!

Leading the Pink conference, and the entire Pro Series at the moment, is Unidentified Pet Tracking!  Back for another season of making me type out their 25-charactor long name every week as they stay on top of the series!  Right behind them at number two overall is a fellow Pink conference team: F2L.  I know I'm not supposed to have favorites but it is so much easier typing out F2L.

Leading the Black conference and in third place overall in the series is Ada's Litter.  While they have racked up two team losses so far, they've also won enough individual games that they sit ahead of The Staff of Five Dubs by one point.  Just a reminder:  Every point matters!  Grind out those 3-2 games, they mean a lot to both teams and they're so much more fun to watch!

The undefeated player race is wide open going into Week 4.  It's easiest to highlight the teams that have multiple 3-0 players:  Unidentified Pet Tracking has three players - CalebEM, Alex, Eswaff.  Staff of the Five Dubs has two players - Empol, LBomb25.  And, ET Yogg-Saron has two players - Rumham, nedkek.  Good luck to all, and I'll see you next week!
-Whodack