Interview with Nurok about the team's shift to HotS: "We're aiming to be a top three team"

One of the biggest changes coming in the eSports landscape this year is the emergence of Heroes of the Storm's competitive scene. Players from games as different as League and Starcraft are making the switch over to the scene, and our own Heroes team is no different.

Nils 'Nurok' Gebhardt and the rest of Team Dignitas' Infinite Crisis squad are making the switch to Heroes of the Storm after the EU vs NA Showdown on February 14th. I had the chance to sit down with Nils and ask him a few questions about why the team is making the switch and their expectations for 2015.

Let's start with the elephant in the room. You guys are swapping games, changing from Infinite Crisis to Blizzard's Heroes of the Storm. Why did you guys make that decision?

Nurok: Several factors led us to switching games eventually to be honest. Our "old" game, Infinite Crisis, was making only sluggish progress in some respects (especially the technical problems) after the huge September patch in 2014. It was a great patch with a mass of cool additions, but in the end some problems remained. The community didn't really grow, which is the reason why they didn't release the ranked queues in September. Additionally, we had technical issues, sometimes even at tournaments, because of the sloppy EU-servers plus the fact that we had mostly only one cup a week with the same few enemy teams. (Props to ESL for keeping up this game by the way.) Lastly, we had several discussions at the end of 2014 and eventually we decided to switch to Blizzard's new MOBA Heroes of the Storm, because of its fresh concept and thus promising potential.

Are you going to miss anything from the Infinite Crisis scene?

Nurok: From the game itself, I'm gonna miss my lovely champion Atomic Green Lantern. For the LoL players among you, it was a toplaning Blitzcrank with an aggressive ability kit, and yeah I love to play aggressive. (My team doesn't want me to usually, since it ends in massive feeding because five guys coming toplane all the time. And yes, I blame my mates!). Apart from that, I have to say that it was a joy and honor at the same time working together with such a great developer team. They're probably the nicest and coolest developers I've ever encountered. 

You guys qualified for the Season 2 Championships by beating Epsilon and Ze Dregenslejers. Since it's your last hurrah, do you guys think you'll be able to leave Infinite Crisis on top?

Nurok: A definite 'yes' - we didn't stop playing the game yet and the other teams should be scared of a motivated Team Dignitas lineup. The EU vs NA Showdown is gonna be huge, so be sure to tune in on Twitch at the 14th February.

What's going to be the biggest obstacle in the team's transition?

Nurok: Definitely SaiiLess, our Ranged Assassin Player. Just kidding. On a serious note, probably the switch from the classical playstyle which we all know from MOBAs, having a laning phase where you have to get as much Gold/XP as possible by last hitting and other game mechanics. Heroes of the Storm is different. It's faster, it punishes individual mistakes harder, mostly because of the snowbally nature of some maps and communication is the key to win games. Because of its fast-paced playstyle you have to make a huge amount of calls in a single game, it might even get chaotic at some point.

Heroes is fairly unique in the lack of items - do you feel that talents compensate for items when it comes to reacting to the enemy in game?

Nurok: At the first sight you might think that the given talents can't be enough in terms of variety. You have a choice of 2-5 different talents (depending on the hero and the level) at certain stages in the game, which offers many possibilities. For example, there is a talent which offers CC reduction. Obviously, taht is a great pick up against cc-heavy teams. There are plenty of others, but I think I will let you discover those mechanics by yourself. (laughs) Maybe I will write a guide in the future, we will see.

You're the team's Assassin/Specialist. For those new to competitive HotS, what exactly does that mean? Should we expect you on one of the two a majority of the time, or will you be switching depending on the team's composition?

Nurok:  I'm more like an all-rounder for the team. I'm able to play around ten heroes on the same level, all from different roles, which gives us more flexibility in the draft phase. Obviously I play whatever is needed for our team composition, but in the end we (and other teams) mostly go for the top tier picks, which ends up for me in playing the same hero three times in a row. The map is a huge factor for the Pick/Ban phase. Some heroes might be completely bad on map A for example, but all the better on map B.

Position aside, who is your favorite character?

Nurok: I'm really deep into the lore since I've grown up with Warcraft III and other Blizzard franchises, so I would say Arthas is definitely my favorite character in the game at the moment.

What is your favorite map?

Nurok: Definitely the 'Haunted Mines', though my team hates this map.

Are there any maps that you never, ever want to see in a tournament?

Nurok: There are one or two maps, I really don't like at all but I think at some point we might eventually play on it anyways. Small hint: I hate plants.

What are your expectations for the team in 2015?

Nurok: After our Infinite Crisis Finals, we're aiming to be at least a top three team. Of course I would love to tell that we will be the 'undefeated', but I try to be realistic with our purposes. The competition is great in this game already and I'm sure it's going to be even more great with the release.

Do you have any shoutouts?

Nurok: I want to thank Team Dignitas for giving me the opportunity to play for them as a Heroes of the Storm player, our sponsors, and all the people who contribute to make the game even better. Lastly, I greet my teammates and my lovely girlfriend. Thanks for the interview!

I'd like to thank Nils for taking the time out of his busy schedule to do this interview. You can watch him play on his Twitch channel and follow him on Twitter and Facebook. Be sure to support Nils and the team on February 14th, where they plan to go out on top at the Infinite Crisis Season 2 International Finals.