By RoLanD

A new year, a new cycle, new opportunities, new strategies and new heroes.

First of all, a warm welcome for our new Diamond teams for this cycle: [PNIS]Pencils, [DrDz]Druidz eSports, [oo7]We Are Spies and [vtL]Vitriolic Gaming.

I’m sure we all know that Gold Cycle 2 was full of drama between few a teams, especially between Druidz and Vitrolic / DmSn. Druidz has been in the forum spotlight these past weeks a lot, receiving many different opinions and emotions. Let’s see if their attitude will change in the Diamond Division where they face the best teams of Heroes of Newerth!

The mighty three:

[coL]compLexityGaming; long past the days where they were the kings of Newerth. They are no longer as big of a threat, as we have already seen teams like [LION]Lions eSportsKlubb and [OTP]One Trick Pony scaring them. This cycle, we will see if coL has figured out what they are doing wrong and changed their style to get back on track, or if they're sitting comfortably waiting for other teams to practice enough until they come on top.

[tdM]Trademark eSports; do I even need to say anything? They are no doubt the strongest team at the moment. Both with individual skills and team coordination, they come out on top against every team they face. No more comments needed here. Let's wait and see if they will be able to continue their dominance.

[sG]Stay Green; going up and down, not performing at a stable good level just yet in my opinion. There is no doubt the team has amazing potential and skill, and with the new addition of sliCkz they needed some time to adjust their gameplay to the new roles in the team. Has the time come? sG will definitely be looking to sit in the top spot this cycle. Let’s see if they have what it takes.

Make sure to read Riser’s article on these 3 teams for a more detailed review on the HoNCast site by clicking here

The Inhouse League:

C9 Inhouse League was introduced last week. We see top players spending hours playing in the IHL, practicing and trying out different heroes. Might this be an opportunity to bring new heroes to our classic and rather boring Lock Pick games? We shall see.

It is not just the hero variety that this IHL brought to Newerth though. Together with this new mode of competition amongst top players, we have seen the rivalry between some members of the top teams *don’t want to give names here* grow bigger.

The heat is increasing, and it is coming to a point that matches in the Diamond Division are becoming more than just a game in order to get to the prize; but a matter of pride to send your rivals where they belong and determine who is the mightier, bigger and better.

Expect to see much more interesting, close, hardcore games from now on.

To learn more about the IHL you can read my interview with its owner here

Good luck to all teams in the up and coming cycle of HoN Tour !

SHINE BRIGHT LIKE A DIAMOND

- RoLanD