For the last year HoN Tour has promoted competitive play at all levels, and in all parts of the world. While each region has their own localized competitions, the worldwide season has been leading up to one thing - the crowning of a World Champion. The upcoming HoN Tour World Finals will showcase talents from the three main regions; four teams from Southeast Asia, three from North America and Europe, and the pride CIS region. Over $150,000 is on the line in the three day event, so lets meet the teams competing for the largest prize pool in Heroes of Newerth history.
Achievements
1st - HoN Tour Season 2 Playoffs
1st - HoN Tour Season 2 Gold Division, Cycle 5
1st - HoN Tour Season 2 Silver Division, Cycle 4
1st - HoN Tour Season 2 Bronze Division, Cycle 3
2nd - DreamHack Winter 2024
3rd - HoN Tour Season 2 Diamond Division, Cycle 7
3rd - HoN Tour Season 2 Diamond Division, Cycle 8
3rd - HoN Tour Season 2 Diamond Division, Cycle 10
HoN Tour Season 2, Rank 5 Overall Standings
Roster
Zlapped - Captain/Jungler - Sweden
Flensmeister - Carry - Sweden
m`ICKe - Mid - Sweden
Support - Support - Sweden
KheZu - Suicide - Germany
Player Interviews
Road to Thailand
While most other team profiles start with glorious stints at DreamHack Winter 2024 or with accomplishments from the Garena Star League 2024, Sync eSports’ road to glory has it’s roots all the way down in the Bronze Division. The collection of notable players, streaming icons, and veterans on second tier teams got together a few weeks after the HoN Tour qualification officially ended, and therefore had to endure the long road through the minors to get to the big show.
With much poise, composure, and little to no limelight they fought through Bronze, Silver and Gold, reaching the Diamond Division at the fastest pace possible. On the way they added a ton of Gold Coins to their purse, HoN Tour points to their standings, and some much needed practice, helping to build team cohesion in the process. The dream of the completed “Royal Road” was there when they got up to the Diamond Division in Cycle 6, but the transition period between the lower ranks and the absolute elite of HoN proved to be a little bit tougher than anticipated. Additionally, some roster changes made waves as captain VnSensation traveled to Thailand to join the iMpunity.Storm project, forcing a shift in roles and ranks within the team.
Former second support Zlapped rotated into the jungle and picked up the reigns for the draft and the ingame calls, while the team had much success in free agency with veteran support player and Empath specialist Support joining the squad. The acquisition worked out instantly and so the results in the highest class of HoN Tour got better and better - with some upsets along the way. Third place in two consecutive cycles and a successful DreamHack qualification through the Nordic Qualifiers helped to grow the support base for the new team. Denial eSports gained an interest in the operation centered around captain and popular streamer Zlapped. The climb from the low ranks of Bronze all the way to the summit of HoN Olympus was nearly complete.
The wave of momentum, crowd support, and maybe even the mental support of swindlemelonzz in the clutch semifinals of DreamHack Winter 2024 created an aura about the team, solidifying them as more than just another Top 5 team. They were there, ready to play, ready to hang with toughest opposition - even in the unusual and stressful situation on a big LAN. It turned out that they didn’t go out with much of a bang - more with a silent crowd as the sG train overran them in the DreamArena, securing the DreamHack Grand Finals. In the end, a silver medal and a big check are not too shabby for a team that was in the Bronze Division just a few months earlier.
Fortunately for the fans and the team, the regular post-DreamHack roster shuffle carousel affected them, but not substantially. Fan favorite and story of DreamHack Winter 2024 m`ICKe left, giving the team space to pick up veteran KheZu as a replacement on the suicide spot. The acquisition of the Triple Crown champ granted them a major boost in terms of offline experience, something they would surely need in the future. The success didn’t drop as the team continued to perform and work through adversaries each week. King of the Hill victories over stayGreen, a two week long reign, an unprecedented walk through the HoN Tour playoffs, featuring a crushing win over Bad Monkey Gaming to kick that event off - everything seemed to go right for the freshly rebranded Sync eSports team.
Recently some doubts creeped into projections of the teams future after the removal of long-time member probusk from the team, the reasons for which having never been made public. Bottom line is the return of m`ICKe to HoN and a reunion with his old team. During the first games back in the saddle he was shaky to some extent, but he has quickly improved after consistently practicing with the toughest competition in the NA/EU scene. Still, doubts will stay until they travel to Thailand, facing jetlag, an even bigger LAN, and a roster change only 2 weeks before the main event of HoN’s entire year. The role change of m`ICKe away from the suicide position into the middle lane is also a cause for concern, seeing as role transitions historically take some time for every player.
In Thailand?
The observations and gathered opinions for the team are all evolving around the old squad, perhaps even around their DreamHack Winter 2024 success. Recent changes might have made the team a bit of a different beast from previous incarnations, starting with the loss of the beastmaster himself, probusk. The heroesm`ICKe usually found himself on were some like Monkey King or Drunken Master, making the team unpredictable and deadly on the suicide lane. That touch and factor might be diminished with KheZu having a different, less aggressive style to handle the lane, instead gearing his farm more towards being a major factor in the mid game, not necessarily the all-out aggression m`ICKe fans might be used to.
This doesn’t have to be a bad change or anything mind-blowing for the entire team, it is merely an observation and a change in pace. By default the midlane becomes way more aggressive now with m`ICKe taking control there, while another positive comes from this in that his trademark heroes transition easily to his new role.What definitely still works is the rest of the team, especially going into Thailand with an “odd” pick like Empath. Teams outside of this region might not be aware of Support’s love for that hero, addressing it late, if at all, in the draft. That means Sync eSports does not have to force their hand like they were doing at the DreamArena stage, picking Empath first or second, just to fill that need for Support.
Aside from that, the regular jungle heroes or carries that Zlapped and Flensmeister work with will be contested, as they are pretty much the standard picks for every region. Whatever that means now, Sync eSports is in a prime position to repeat the “upset” of DreamHack Winter 2024 - this time off the home stage. The Thai teams, the wildcard teams, and Cats Gaming should be well within their grasp, while Bad Monkey Gaming and stayGreen are toss-ups. All three teams battled each other on numerous occasions, and the recent results are quite even. The daily form of the team, player’s nerves on the big stage, and other factors like jet lag might come into play. The squad goes in with easy hopes for a podium placement, but with a massive potential for upsets only one thing is certain - don’t count out Sync eSports.
