CraftWars

CraftWars is a StarCraft and Warcraft-themed event in Heroes of the Storm that began on September 08.

Background
The reemergence of the Dark Nexus has led to fiercer competition for Singularities than ever before — but a small group of Heroes is transforming the conflict. The Realm Crafter they’ve developed doesn’t just bring Heroes from multiple dimensions together in the Nexus — it actually fuses them, along with their friendships, rivalries, and powers.

Does Mei have it in her to be a Death Knight? What are the odds that Gazlowe will excel as a pro SCV pilot? Who’s the biggest heartthrob: Anduin Wrynn, Valerian Mengsk, or a combination of their wonderfully symmetrical faces?

While some body-melded Heroes take the time to learn from one another and their new circumstances, others are double-mindedly focused on the war to become MVP. The CraftWars are spiraling throughout the realms, and you’ll need to choose a side carefully — the King of Blades waits to absorb stragglers from every corner of the battlefield.

Prove you’re more than the sum of your parts as mash-ups of your favorite Heroes in the wildest matchup the Nexus has ever seen.

Development
In Assistant Art Director Trevor Jacobs’ point of view, Arthas—Warcraft’s Crown Prince of the Alliance turned Lich King—was the key actor that unraveled the worlds of possibility in CraftWars. “We were thinking that Arthas—Lord of the Dead, Lich King—would somehow take Kerrigan’s throne,” Jacobs says, slowly, his eyes growing wide. “But is Arthas conquering all the worlds? Or is he just after StarCraft?” the artist muses to himself.

Jacobs and Senior Artist Andrew Kinabrew admit Mei—a climatologist fighting for world peace in the Overwatch universe—isn’t exactly “cross-craft”, but interpreting her as an icy, evil Death Knight was simply too irresistible. “We thought this skin just had to happen,” says Jacobs. “We were seeing it pop up in the community, and we were like ‘dude, we’re doing it,’ and were stoked to be riding the wave.” Kinabrew made the skin quite some time before CraftWars was put on the production schedule and seized the opportunity to make her the perfect accomplice for the King of Blades in his coldhearted plot.

Based on the StarCraft SCV, Gazlowe’s newest skin drops with this pack just in time for his rework. “I think my favorite is the Gazlowe skin,” says Kinabrew. “I was really proud we could finally get that one in. We’ve been mulling it over for a long time.” Jacobs tells us in hushed tones that he wasn’t sure about the idea in the beginning, but that he was willing to be convinced by Kinabrew. “So, Gazlowe fans, you have Brew to thank,” says Jacobs. “Now he’s one of my favorite skins in the pack, too.”

Artanis, the Executor of the Protoss army in StarCraft, appears in CraftWars as a Draenei, an ancient spacefaring race uncorrupted by Kil’Jaeden’s dark power. In their vision of the clash, the artists say Artanis would be a key player in the opposition force to the King of Blades’ invasion. “We’ve worked on all these games,” says Jacobs. “This is a team that helped spawn characters like Artanis. So, this was a fun history of us just throwing things together and seeing what stuck.”

In CraftWars, Anduin has crossed over from being a prince in Warcraft to being… a prince in StarCraft. When asked about Anduin’s new look, Jacobs and Kinabrew take turns interrupting each other’s responses with punctuated laughter. “It’s the funniest one to me,” says Jacobs. “I feel bad even saying it… but Anduin, Valerian… they’re just so close. To me there’s so much humor here in this skin.” Being long-time fans of both Warcraft and StarCraft, Jacobs and Kinabrew say working on Heroes is a unique opportunity to poke fun at the characters they love from time to time, and they hope the players get a good laugh, too.

So, who WOULD win? “By just combining the power of the Lich King with the Primal Zerg power, in addition to the never-ending forces he would summon… Arthas should win,” says Jacobs. Here he pauses. “But that would never happen,” he says. “I am sure we would have Gazlowe invent an off-switch for the undead Zerg. Mei would fall in love with Anduin and turn against Arthas. And Artanis would sacrifice himself and become the King of Blades, but nice.” Kinabrew mulls that over. “I imagine they would probably grow flowers, or something,” he says thoughtfully.