By Fantasy

Ever since they typed out their final “GG” at the DreamHack Summer 2024 competition the dominant Sync team has been more or less quiet. After two failed attempts to transform their stunning form online to the LAN setting, everyone has been eagerly awaiting whether the bunch would stick together or part ways to pursue their goals in Heroes of Newerth with another set of players. Yesterday the first hammer dropped and split one of the fan favorites from the squad.

For the second time in his career, mid-laner m’Icke is leaving Sync eSports and Heroes of Newerth for new challenges. Back after the DreamHack Winter 2024 Grand Finals alongside Denial eSports, the young prodigy had already called it a day with HoN, only to return back to the team for the World Finals of 2024 in Bangkok, Thailand. As a replacement for probusk after some internal turmoil, m’icke was tapped, helping the squad reach the bronze medal at the first ever global World Finals in HoN history.

Since then the 1v1 champion and risk-taking player has been a prominent fixture on the successful team. Over two years he developed a team deep spirit, especially with fellow Swedish players Flensmeister and Zlapped. In the hayday of Sync eSports m’icke and the squad dominated the scene in North America and Europe, winning seven out of the eight possible HoN Tour Diamond Division cycle titles in the third season. That domination quickly turned them into the favorite for whatever tournament they entered, a burden they didn’t seem to carry well in the offline setting.

After the first disappointment in Bangkok at the 2024 World Finals, the team rallied around the “redemption” theme for the announced return of HoN to the DreamHack stage. The general vibe seemed to be, that they will try their hardest and best to avenge the stain of the World Finals with a good outing on their home stage in Jönköping. Now, two weeks after Neolution eSports.MRR and Reason Gaming ended that dream with two bitter 1-2 defeats on the mainstage at the Elmia, the team will undergo some adjustments.

On the bright side, while the team made a heartfelt farewell post for their young player on the forums and Facebook, they also vouch to continue their quest in the lands of Newerth. That dispels the notion of the team or several individual players of the team leaving for other games or to focus more on their real life.

So the next weeks will be used for Sync eSports to find an adequate replacement for the middle lane, a task they’ve already started according to the statement. For the sake of privacy and not stirring up any rumors or anything, the list of players for tryouts will not be revealed until a final decision on m’icke’s replacement is made. With the fourth season of HoN Tour looming and a DreamHack Winter 2024 event not out of the question, the team will focus their energy on getting a suitable fifth player to continue their dominance online - to eventually break out of the slump offline and hoist a big check.

As far as m’icke is concerned, the HoN community is saying farewell to one of their most beloved players of the new generation. Not only his charm and risk-taking mentality of playing the game have made him into a star, but also his demeanor and tendancy to talk a big game. The skilled player has earned many accomplishments over his tenure in HoN, both in a team setting and as an individual. Most notably there is his 1v1 tournament victory back in the days, that earned him the Twitch chat nickname of “Minimeander”. The community was fortunate to have a player like him in their midst, being passionate about the game, embracing it’s challenges, but never losing sight of the fact that it is also supposed to be enjoyable. We wish him the best of luck in his future.

Sync Official Announcement

About The Author: Fantasy
Fantasy is a journalist with four years of experience working in various eSports. He is currently the HoN Tour correspondent for the CIS and SEA regions, as well as an editor for both ESL Gaming and compLexity Gaming. In addition to his online endeavors, he studies Publicity and Communication, plays American football, and loves movies.