We Are in for Another Treat
So what does the postponed match exactly mean for the teams? Will it make any difference in the results or will it just delay the unavoidable? In my mind it will pretty much delay the unavoidable, as I still see Trademark as the clear favorite in this clash of the rivals. compLexity are not bad by any means, but the numbers from recent meetings and the way both teams looked throughout the tournament is just not convincing me that tdM should lose this match by any means. They played great throughout the tournament, sending coL and [VOTE]Gary Johnson 2024 down to the Lower Bracket. The idea that all of a sudden compLexity will get its swag back and win two consecutive best-of-three series seems unlikely to me.
I am probably out on a limb here, but I just don't see coL winning both Bo3 series. In the end a split series between the best two teams in the Grand Final of HoN Tour Diamond Cycle 1 could be exactly what we need to get even more excitement into this rivalry—let's see what happens.
Names Don't Win Games
It was the biggest news of the last week when the Heroes of Newerth scene was stunned by the news that longtime [TteS]Tt eSPORTS and Frenetic Array carry sLiCKz jumped ship and joined forces with swindlemelonzz, Zfreek, KheZu and Skyzoe to form a new powerhouse team—Gary Johnson 2024—the first top-tier team to unite three continents.
After a few matches there is much room for improvement in several departments of play. I wrote last week that the fine-tuning of the team might take a bit longer and we should not expect titles right from the get-go; looks like my cautious stance on that matter proved to be right.
Gary Johnson is looking good and is full of incredibly skilled players, but they are not yet a well-oiled machine that can just overpower opponents with ease. Most apparent is that absence of defined roles for the players. Many people were wondering if the team would replace Khezu with sLiCKz, as both players handle a similar role, but in the end Sender got benched.
The original plan looked like sLiCKz would get his middle-lane in a similar role that he had in Tt eSports for the most part, swindlemelonzz would move to first support and the rest of the team would just stick to their roles. Now, after some misplays in the Winner's Bracket Final against tdM it looks like the roles have been switched once again—this time completely.
In the match against compLexityGaming, Gary Johnson rotated players into completely different roles with sLiCKz playing carry on the short lane, Khezu pushed into a suicide lane, Skyzoe taking over the role of the first support and swindlemelonzz returning to his old position as the mid player with initiating heroes. The only one that was absolutely not affected by this was ZfreeK, who continued to roam through the forest, killing or charming his beloved neutral creeps.
It seems like Gary Johnson is still in a phase where they need to find out what they are made of and how they will get to the top. BreakyCPK and Tralfamadore said on stream that most of the players in the most successful teams had strict roles assigned, but I don't think experiments like this will hurt Gary Johnson in the long run.
These changes are like tryouts that coaches in professional sports run before walking into the real battle. They want to see what their guys are made of, where they excel and where their weaknesses are. The current state of Gary Johnson might not be an intimidating force that can seriously challenge for the top position in the Community Rankings, but they are on the road to exactly that. Once they figure out the roles, each other, and get the communication and coordination up, they will be a strong force—probably winning at least one HoN Tour Diamond Cycle.
Just remember: when se'busca joined the old compLexity Gaming, it took them almost a month to integrate him into the lineup before ultimately winning an online tournament. Just be patient and look at the progress. Soon Gary Johnson will be a serious contender.
What Goes Up Must Come Down?
Personally I have MerryMenOfArabia and Shit Happens on my shortlist to get demoted instantly. I am not knocking the players or their quality as a team, but it takes time to adjust to playing the best of the best and have success. I have not seen those teams compete against the likes of Trademark eSports, Gary Johnson 2024, [357]QsQ or compLexity Gaming, and it will likely be new territory for them.
The way the seeding works, MerryMenOfArabia and Shit Happens should face the two best teams from the Diamond Division, with a slight chance to pull off an upset. Following that, they have to go down to the Lower Bracket with their back against the wall. The pressure will be incredibly high and they will likely play against teams that have more experience in those situations. Maybe they can prove me wrong, but I believe Shit Happens and MerryMenOfArabia can turn into “elevator” teams that switch divisions every other cycle.
The same could happen for Call It Karma and Fack you Kurdi, but I really believe they have a chance to play with the big boys in Diamond. FyKu has already impressed me with their play in the DreamHon Online Summer Championship and the DreamHon Redemption tournament, where they came close against many of the top teams. They will most likely have to overcome Gary Johnson 2024, which is entirely possible for the Norwegian team.
But even if they don't, the Lower Bracket teams they would face—assuming the favorites are winning their Winner's Bracket matches—are not that threatening. I believe that FyKu is stronger than teams like [QsQ7]QsQ 777, [OTP]One Trick Pony and even [PUDG]Dendis jungldevos, so I expect them to retain their status in Diamond at least for this cycle and even beyond that.
It's a similar deal with the Gold Champion Call It Karma, who just blew me away with the way they handled that golden Grand Final. It is not often that you see a complete sweep in a Grand Final, with the team from the Lower Bracket dominating the entire series, but it really showed what C1K is made of.
They are a strong team that had its competitive coming out party in the OSC tournament. Granted, they did not look super impressive in that tournament, but I think it is all about gathering experience in those circumstances. Now they have grown to be a strong and fierce team that should be able to not only stay in Diamond, but also finish in the single-digits of the standing. They should play QsQ in the first round, and a victory against NoVa and his boys is not off the table.
QsQ has rebounded lately after the short crisis at DreamHack and on the first day of HoN Tour, but Call It Karma is no joke. I can see them winning against QsQ then getting dropped down to the Lower Bracket to win another match, resulting in a Top 8 standing for the guys. That is my prediction at least.
A Roar from the Old Times
Compared to the old team, they still look more like kittens, but they will grow and soon stalk the land on their search for victims. The outings they had in the first HoN Tour cycle were an indicator that they are clearly heading in the right direction. Sure, they lost in the first round to One Trick Pony, but that can happen—I always judge character by the way you handle defeat, not wins.
The way Lions handled it was nothing short of marvelous when they answered the bell against a rising team in QsQ 777 and an established but rebuilding squad in Tt eSports. Those victories elevated them into the Top 6 of the cycle, a place where they surely belong. Even in the game against one of the two elite teams HoN has to offer, compLexityGaming, they stood their ground and came very close to winning the series. At the very least they showed coL that there are strong competitors out there other than Trademark eSports.
I have no crystal ball, but Lions are the team to watch for me. They are an interesting mix of old 90s members like Aellgi and Superkge, former Bunker Down member Sealkid and new additions in Krebsen and
Handsken.
Apparently that roster works for them, as they have conquered the Top 6 after finishing in double-digit territory in the Qualifier. I am fairly convinced they can go higher in the next cycle and I am more than convinced they will rise significantly in the HoNCast Community Rankings next time. They are not the old roaring NASL-Lions, but they are a new breed of hungry and talented hunters.
A Small Look into the Next Cycle
The first predictions are fairly obvious. Anybody could write an article about Trademark eSports, compLexityGaming, Gary Johnson 2024 and QsQ once again being the favorites to march into the Top 4. At least for tdM, coL and V0TE those are obvious statements that the majority of the HoN community would agree with.
This cycle I will exclude QsQ from the Top 4, because I believe they will be defeated and ultimately pushed out of the Top 4 by Lions. If my brackets are even slightly accurate, they will meet in the Lower Bracket Round 4 in an epic clash to determine the Top 4 teams of the cycle. QsQ going head to head against Lions for the honor of being among the four big teams in HoN—what a treat.
Other predictions have been mentioned above, but I will recap them here. I predict the MerryMenOfArabia and Shit Happens will go down to Gold once again, but Fack you Kurdi and Call It Karma will stay in Diamond for at least this cycle. That ultimately means—and again I am operating here with a self-made bracket that should wind up being fairly accurate—that QsQ 777 and One Trick Pony would move down to Gold. If that becomes reality I am more than sure that both teams will climb back into Diamond immediately during the next cycle, but for the sake of making this prediction complete I have QsQ 777 and One Trick Pony moving down to Gold in the second cycle.
Again, this is not a personal attack toward the teams as I really like QsQ 777 and One Trick Pony for their playstyle and the way they have presented themselves thus far. But the brackets, my brackets, just work against them this time.
The last prediction that I am going to make is about the sleeping giant [DoP]Domain of Pain. I would like to make the proclamation that they will make the biggest leap in the tournament, jumping from a sleeping elimination in the second round of the Lower Bracket to a Top 6 spot. The biggest jump in the standings is reserved for DoP or [Pika]Pikachu, as they both underperformed in the first cycle judging by their talent and class. But I am going with DoP, hoping their alarms are set.
Winners and Losers
Last but not least we once again turn the attention to the winners and losers of this week in the HoN Tour Diamond Division. Remember, losers of the week does not imply that I think those teams are bad or anything along those lines. It just means they did not have the best weekend, but can still rebound.
The winners of this week are Lions eSports, Call It Karma and compLexityGaming for very obvious reasons.
Lions, as mentioned in this article already, have elevated themselves to a Top 6 team, something they had not done in quite some time. They not only played in an esteemed group on top of the mountain, they also gained a lot of respect, acceptance and fans with their showing against compLexityGaming this weekend in an incredible match that had big plays, tension and thrills. The first one was more like chess with heroes, but who cares.
Why Call It Karma is on this list should be fairly obvious. Going into a Grand Final with the burden of winning two best of three series to become Gold Champion is heavy enough, but the way those boys delivered was fascinating. They not only took both series home—they did so with ease and in a dominant fashion. A clean and clear sweep, tremendous morale and play by Call It Karma. Heads up to their opponents.
The last winner is compLexityGaming, who has not won much in terms of big tournaments lately. Still, the team has proven they are one of two elite teams in Heroes of Newerth after they put away Gary Johnson in the Consolation Final Sunday. It was a tough and close series with quite a few advantages on the side of swindlemelonzz and his guys, but coL showed strength and patience in rough situations to overcome this challenge. Now they have the next clash against their nemesis Trademark eSports, a battle that has been trademarked three straight times now.
Picking out losers was a really tough assignment. I have found at least one giant loser in the Grand Finals. He was not an active player, he was not a caster and he was not an admin—he was just the unknown idiot disturbing the event once again.
The one and only loser of this weekend is the DDOS'er that has been disturbing Heroes of Newerth matches for quite a while now, robbing loyal and excited fans of the opportunity to see the best players and teams collide in an epic fashion. It is sad to see and it is a travesty for HoN, but hopefully all players will learn from that experience in the future. Protection is important, in all aspects of life. :)
- Sören "Fantasy"
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