If you’re an old-school Heroes of the Storm fan, you might remember BlizzCon 2018, when we had a great final. Then, weeks later, Blizzard announced the death of competitive HoTS esports. We could have had a great send-off for the game. But alas, it was not meant to be.

However, Blizzard is trying to reconnect with its smaller community by offering the Blizzard Classic Cup to fans. The cup features the somewhat revival of the esport scenes for Heroes of the Storm, StarCraft: Remastered, StarCraft II, and Warcraft III: Reforged. Maybe we can get that send-off and closure now by returning to the scene of the crime.

What is the Blizzard Classic Cup at BlizzCon?

StarCraft is still going, though it’s much smaller nowadays. Yet, it’s nice to see one of its core titles still getting some attention at BlizzCon. Brood War OGs can also be happy that the game is once again back at BlizzCon. Warcraft 3 Reforged hasn’t had the best life, bar some community tournaments, but again, a return to BlizzCon is very exciting.

And for MOBA fans, HoTS is indeed back, but it’s no longer the big final it once was.

That’s largely the theme of this Blizzard Classic Cup. Blizz is giving some of its earliest and less prevalent esport titles some love. It’s not quite a classic esports scheme, but more of a community influenced led thing. All of which is fairly common nowadays for games, like the Marathon community showcase last weekend.  

There are two teams running the show, with Captains Nick “Tasteless” Plott and Dan “Artosis” Stemkoski leading them. We don’t quite know who is turning up, but it’s described as a classic rivalry returning, alongside some strange pairings and surprises along the way.

Remember that point about closure. Bring the Dignitas boys back, presuming they are still around?

Expect some old names and faces to pop up, along with any hype competitors still competing with StarCraft II, since that’s still going on to this day across various events. My proverbial money is on Khlador making an appearance since he’s fairly deep in streaming and running community events still.

The other esports are still at BlizzCon

BlizzCon will also host the mainstream esports titles, with the Overwatch World Cup once again back at BlizzCon, alongside the Hearthstone Championship too. For WoW fans, we still get the Arena and MDI, the two staples of the last ten years of WoW’s esports pillar.

I’m low-key hoping that HoTS is on the mend, as are many copers on Reddit. New skins being made, occasional balance patches, and now a community esports event. Come on, let HoTS do its best Murky impression and revive to cause chaos on the map once again.