Southeast Asia Championship Finals

After several rounds of grueling qualifiers and a national final in each of their respective countries, the best Heroes of the Storm teams in Southeast Asia—each representing Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand—have finally been determined.

These four teams will be converging in Bangkok, Thailand this Saturday (August 8) for the Heroes SEA Championship where they will compete for the US$40,000 prize pool.

The winners of the SEA Championship will advance to the Americas Championship Tournament, where they will face off against two teams from North America, one from Latin America, and one from the Australia/New Zealand Championship—for their shot at going into the World Championship, to be held at BlizzCon on November 6-7 in Anaheim.

QUALIFIED TEAMS

Representing Malaysia: Salt Gaming MY

Part of a gaming clan with players from all over the Southeast Asian region, Salt Gaming Malaysia is a group of relatively new Heroes of the Storm players who formed the team just two weeks before the Malaysia national finals.

Rather than playing Heroes considered stronger in the present meta, Salt Gaming MY prefers to focus on unconventional heroes that accommodate their play styles—such as Sonya, whom they won with at the Malaysia finals.

For the SEA Championships, Salt Gaming MY's team captain Edgar ‘angryfatbear’ Ng said to expect to see the team draft Sonya again—but only if the right opportunity arises, as they also plan to make other uncommon Hero picks.

"We are developing new strategies that few players would think of. Anyone who follows the meta will once again get caught off-guard.” – Edgar ‘angryfatbear’ Ng

Representing Singapore: Relics

Representing Singapore is team Relics—so-called because the team members are in their own words, "top-tier has-beens from other games."

Team captain Marcus ‘Revenant’ Tan was formerly a StarCraft II champion. Meanwhile, members Michael ‘Mirr’ Luo, Kenny ‘Trinity’ Widjaja and Bjorn ‘Zeys’ Ong are top competitive players in other MOBA games. Zeys is also a Legend-rank Hearthstone player.

Some of Relics' favorite team compositions include those centered around Abathur and the Lost Vikings. However all members of the team can each play a wide variety of Heroes at a high level, and this allows them to counter opposing teams with customized strategies.  

"Expect to be surprised by a wide array of playstyles from us [at the SEA Championships]." – Kevin ‘Relyzer’ Tan

Representing Philippines: Bibingka

Bibingka is quite fond of drafting Abathur along with Heroes that can go well with him, such as Illidan, Jaina, and Valla. They also favor engagement-heavy team compositions. The Philippine champions have yet to lose a single game with these strategies.

Bibingka's team captain Oliver ‘CZz’ Cu Chan feels Bibingka are the underdogs, partially due to the challenges Philippine players face in competitive gaming. They often have to travel to Internet cafes to train because of inconsistent home broadband connections. 

Representing Thailand: Play 10 Lose 11

(Left to right: Pansean "Louda" Prempree, Atith "nOcsm" Chitvarakorn, Piyalap "Coupe" Ungprasert, Supanut "LionaX" Chow, Tawatchai "chaitee" Brusuthikun)

The current line-up for Play 10 Lose 11 was formed when Pansean ‘Louda’ Prempree, formerly with another top Thai team, joined the eSports group's Heroes of the Storm division earlier this year.

While the team specializes in engagement-heavy strategies that utilize Heroes with high burst damage, Play 10 Lose 11 is always contemplating new Heroes and tactics to try out.

The team regularly watches replays from the Chinese, Korean, and American competitive scenes for inspiration and tests out what they've learned by scrimming with top overseas teams.

"We will do our best and show what we're capable of—and maybe some new tactics you have never seen before too." – Piyalap ‘Coupe’ Ungprasert