Best Betting Sites For Heroes Of the Storm (HotS)

How Does Competitive HotS Work?

Given its standard five vs five hero gameplay, it’s fair to say that HotS was developed and created with competitive play in mind. As such, the game is indeed played at a high level in a number of competitions and events around the world. Those events all have slightly different formats and rules but in general, competitive HotS always has certain hallmarks.

Battlegrounds

HotS brings together heroes from a wide range of different Blizzard Entertainment video game franchises and takes place in a location known as ‘The Nexus’. In ‘The Nexus’ the Blizzard Entertainment heroes can do battle across a variety of different dynamic battlegrounds. Each of the battlegrounds feature unique gameplay elements and have their own objectives to complete within certain game modes. Some of the most popular battlegrounds are known as ‘Blackheart’s Bay’, ‘Cursed Hollow’ and ‘Dragon Shire’.

Heroes

Having only been released in 2015, it is perfectly possible that the total number of different heroes available to play in HotS will continue to increase. At time of writing (late 2017), however, there are a little over 70 heroes from across the Blizzard Entertainment empire which are playable by HotS players. All of those heroes are placed into one of four different categories, all of which are crucial to success in a competitive HotS contest.

Heroes within the ‘Warrior’ category excel at initiating and sustaining fights with other characters within the game. ‘Supports’, meanwhile, are less concerned with dealing damage and more focussed on healing the other members of their team. ‘Assassins’ are heroes who can deal a huge amount of damage in the right circumstances but who must pick their moments as they cannot sustain much punishment. Finally, ‘Specialists’ are a complex category of heroes who each have special and unique abilities which may be required in certain battlegrounds.

Team Gameplay

In competitive HotS contests a five player team will typically include a mix of the above types of hero. In each match, therefore, teams must act as one and that is reflected in the game’s levelling. Rather than each individual player levelling up when they gain a certain amount of experience, the experience gained by each player is pooled until enough has been garnered for a whole team to level up. Gaining team levels quicker than the opposition, therefore, is key and allows teams to perform crucial power plays at certain stages of a match.

What Are the Big Events?

In spite of the fact that at time of writing HotS has only been out for two years, the eSport already boasts a number of high profile and big prize money tournaments and competitions. These competitions and events attract players from all round the world and some of the biggest and best of the tournaments are discussed briefly below.

HotS Global Championship

The HotS Global Championship is the name given to the top tier of professional HotS competition in the world. Run across the course of a year, the Global Championship encompasses regional professional leagues from all corners of the globe. The top teams from each region compete in those leagues and are then further tested through events known as International Clashes and a Mid-Season Brawl. Results from all of those leagues and events are combined to decide which 16 side will progress to the annual HotS Global Championship Grand Finals.

HotS Global Championship Grand Finals

The showpiece event of the HotS calendar, the HotS Global Championship Grand Finals are held once a year and see the world’s 16 best teams face off against one another. A group stage begins the Grand Finals and sees the sides split into four groups of four, from which only the top two progress to the tournament’s knockout stages. Those knockout stages then whittle the field down to produce an ultimate champion team, which in the 2017 edition of the event took home a cool $500,000.

What Bet Types are Available?

HotS is one of the newer eSports on the block but online bookmakers are already beginning to cater to punters wishing to bet on the game’s biggest global events. Both traditional online bookmakers and eSports specific firms offer a handful of different types of eSports bets, and some of the most common are described briefly below.

Match Winner Bets – Most online bookmakers that offer HotS markets, will allow punters to bet on the winner of each match played out as part of a major international competition. Odds available for these types of bet vary greatly but in a match with a strong favourite, the team that is favoured can be as short as 1/150.

Match Handicap Bets – Due to the aforementioned really short odds that a favourite in a HotS contest can be available at, many bookmakers also run match handicap markets. Generally speaking, those markets offer a -1.5 bet for the favourite and a +1.5 bet for the underdog. What that means is that a handicap bet on the favourite pays out if they win 2-0 and a wager on the underdog pays out if they win or only lose 2-1 rather than 2-0.

Correct Map Score Bets – Just like a correct score market for a football match, correct map score bets let punters select what they think will be the final scoreline for an HotS contest. For a standard best of three match, therefore, punters are able to bet on either side to win either 2-0 or 2-1.

Total Maps Over/Under Bets – Even though most HotS contests are only the best of three maps, many bookmakers do let punters bet on the total number of maps required to settle a match. Typically the over/under figure is 2.5, meaning that you are essentially betting on whether a deciding third map will be required.