by JR Cook - 9 years ago     show comments

Like we told you a few days ago, the full roster of participants for the $250.000 Archon Team League Championships was soon to be announced. It looks like the crew of the new and revamped TeamArchon.com has been working the extra hours, bringing us not only the roster, but also the entire phase 1 match-ups.

The Teams

Team Celestial:

No surprises here as Team Celestial brings its standard three man lineup.Dreamhack Summer champion, Blizzcon Runner-up, and Team Captain Tiddler, will be joined as always by Taiwanese powerhouse Frozenice and the Winner of ESL Legendary Series S1, Silentstorm. This multiregion team has been very dominating this year, as all of these players are currently in the top 8 of their respective Regions.

Team Liquid:

The Trio of Sjow, Neirea, and Savjz, will represent Team Liquid. They’ll look to repeat the early success of Neirea on the Hearthstone Pro League, where he started  with an impressive 4 win streak that included victories over Archon members Zalae and Purple. But can Liquid go into Archon’s house and take their cup? It remains to be seen.

Tempo Storm:

Reynad fans will be disappointed to see that he’s not on this tournament. Instead, “The Inn Crowd” Cast Members Gaara and Hyped,  will be joined by Tempo Storm’s new signee Eloise. Eloise, formerly known as “ailv 哀绿”, has been a standout on the Chinese scene and was just short of qualifying to last year’s BlizzCon World Championships. With the backing of her new team, she could be an even more dangerous opponent.

Team Archon:

The Home Team of the Tournament will be going with the proven trio of Firebat, Zalae, and Xixo. Firebat is the current reigning World Champion, but he has remained very active in 2015 winning back to back Gfinities and placing 2nd at Dreamhack Bucharest. Everyone’s favorite duck boy Zalae is the perfect partner for Firebat as the two of them show great chemistry together, as evidenced by their streams. Zalae is a former Magic Online player of the year and a major threat to any tournament he’s in. The host team is rounded up by Ladder machine Xixo, who has been the first to hit legend in more seasons that I can count.

Nihilum:

Nihilum started its Hearthstone division early this year and has quickly put everyone on notice. Lifecoach has been one of the most consistent players this years, staying near the top of the gosugamers rankings for most of the year. He’s won the Viagame Housecup #3, along with the Kinguin for Charity, and a bunch of minor tournaments. But he’s also placed second on several majors aswell. RDU is also no stranger to winning, one of the most successful players of 2014, this young Romanian player will be trying to make sure his 2015 is just as good. Team Nihilum’s completes his roster with the well known Dutch player, Thijs.

Cloud9:

Strifecro and Kolento, show I say more? Strifecro and Kolento have both been long called some of the best players in the Pro Hearthstone Scene and for good reason. Their consistently good results stand as proof as their success. The team is rounded up by Ek0p, who has been a part of the scene ever since the beta.

Value Town:

TSM’s Trump will leading a pair of strong players into battle. Brian “M” Kibler, aka (BM)Kibler of Brian Kibler Gaming, and Complexity’s Dog, will defend a different team during this league as they fight and die for the flag of Value Town. These three and their makeshift team will be underdogs, as despite Dog’s recent success that includes a second place finish of Dreamhack Summer, Kibler and Trump have yet to show consistent results in the pro scene. If that wasn’t enough, they’ll have to face teams that are sure to have a lot more chemistry, but this is Hearthstone and you can’t count anyone out.

Forsen Boys:

What is a tournament without a dad? Reynad isn’t here, but Forsen is, and he will lead his own team of misfits. Dignitas Chakki, and ROOT Ostkaka should be ready to bring the Dank Memes to ATLC! All Jokes aside, Forsen is mostly known by his stream shenanigans but his competitive 2015 has been pretty good. Professional 2nd place finisher Chakki could make sure this team at least makes it past the first phase. And perhaps in the final phase Ostkaka and Forsen can team up for some Swedish power and grind out an unlikely win.

Week One Match-ups