It has been a while since my last article about the Q sQuad. Not because there was little to write about. Quite the opposite.

For several weeks now, it seemed that big news was waiting right around the corner, and I felt that if I would write an article at that time, by the time it was uploaded something would have already changed. Many of you have noticed that the team got rid of their QsQ tag two weeks ago. I think it's part of the "growing up" phase that the team is going through right now. Their time as the newcomers who surprised everyone is gone now and they need to find their place among the well-established teams. This must be especially hard on NoVa, as he started the whole QsQ project, but I think he is quite happy with how it evolved; he’s ready now to let it go its own way, after all he left it in capable hands. For now I will continue to call them QsQ though, as they are still officially called that in HoN Tour and I've gotten used to it.

The growing up process that I mentioned holds a lot of challenges for a team, not just in finding their identity. They also have to get used to the fact that they can't always win, that things will go wrong, that there will be people out to troll them, that they have to dedicate more time to practice, and many other things.

The fact that they can't always win - they certainly learned that the last two HoN Tour cycles. To be honest, both Cycles have been really bad, and if it hadn't been for compLexitygaming also failing, QsQ would be far away from the third place now. Luckily it came down differently, and they still have the chance to claim the third place in the last three Cycles.

To make matters worse, they also lost important matches outside of HoN Tour. The CIS showmatch went horribly wrong and their performance in the first GSL Qualifiers was underwhelming. But you know, sometimes things have to get worse before they get better, so I am confident that it will get better again soon.

Adding to their troubles are personal challenges, like NoX being on vacation and having to look for Internet in the middle of nowhere, walk through -20°C cold forests and play with a terrible ping, Jonassomfan developing a rather deep sleep, and Style, who had been forced to play with just one hand the last couple of weeks. It is certainly not easy at the moment. Right now they need to deal with their personal troubles and get back into shape. They need to either get back into the game as it is or develop new strategies that will change the game, like they did when Style started to play Bombardier and they went right through the Diamond Bracket.

And not all things are bad; the stats are on their side, with NoX being the top farmer in all of Diamond and Jonassomfan and Malle are among the top in earning assists in games. Stats may not be that important, but when you play in the best international league and do a consistent top performance, this should lift your spirits for sure. Even though they lost the first GSL qualifiers, all is not lost yet. There will be another chance in two weeks and the team used the past few days to recover, get some rest and deal with real-life matters. Sometimes when things look bad, you just have to take a short break to get some perspective and realize what you can do to change things. So now when the HoN Tour Cycle starts, QsQ will be fresh and eager.


From left to right: Jonassomfan, Insomnia, Malle, NoVa, NoX, Style

On a different note, HoN Tour is now starting its sixth Cycle. A lot of time has passed and I have enjoyed my time with QsQ a lot. I can still remember the first days in Skype, when I had no idea who was whom and did not know any of the guys. This is very different now. I got to know them quite well - as much as you can via Skype, I suppose - in good and bad situations. So I would like to give others the chance to get to know them a little better too, by writing a special about each player every week from now on, starting with NoX next week. A "Who is Q", if you will.

So with all that said, let us hope for an entertaining and exciting HoN Tour Cycle 6, that QsQ will find their way back to their true form, and that NoVa and the others will refrain from singing in Skype again, for my own sanity's sake!

- Blaze