Starcraft 2 competition Dreamhack Open has started. But Dreamhack Open Summer runner-up HerO is troubled – by the chilly Swedish temperature.
– I know I have played really bad lately, with bad results in the last tournaments, he told Sue ”Smix” Lee after the victory over Lee ”Sacsri” Yeh Hoon.

A considerable part of the Starcraft 2 elite enters Dreamhack Open today. For two time Dreamhack winner Song ”HerO” Hyeon Deok this could be the opportunity to put a stop to the recent decline in form. And HerO seemed relieved after starting out the tournament with a win against Lee ”Sacsri” Yeh Hoon.

Troubled by chilly Sweden

HerO’s biggest problem seemed to be the low on-stage temperature. HerO complained about difficulties caused by having cold hands. With Starcraft 2 being a really micro-intense game, cold hands could mean the difference between winning and losing. HerO followed his win against Sascri with two consecutive defeats, losing to Kang ”First” Hyun Woo and Lee ”Jaedong” Jae Dong.

Dreamhack management are aware that the professional players are feeling cold.
– There’s this really heavy draft created by 10.000 people entering the conference center at the same time, and it gets really cold.

Head of e-sports at Dreamhack, Tomas Lyckedal, told Aftonbladet Esport that the finals will be played in air-conditioned booths. But the setup for early group stage play is a bit more sparing. Lyckedal don’t really see it as a problem though.
– I don’t necessarily think that it is a bad thing for e-sports. It’s pretty much the same thing in all sports. You have to adapt. You are going to have a hard time coming to a cold place if you live in a warm country. It’s the same thing for Swedes going to Spain, for example.

So Snute and Bunny should actually benefit from this?
– Yeah… But I guess skill is part of the equation as well.