With Gold Division Cycle 7 starting this weekend, that marks the deadline for roster changes for the rest of the season. [CM]Clan Milk, [DCx]Justice League, [hade]HAVE IT and [TFR]The Fire Rises join the Gold Division brackets as they drop down from Diamond. The key team in this group is The Fire Rises which is led by iNsania. Attempting to gather a team, he has been trying out many members over the past few weeks. Hopefully they find the practice they need in Gold to continue pushing forward in Diamond after this Cycle is over. I predict and almost expect TFR to do quite well and dominate the majority of teams. They should be able to reach the Grand Finals quite easily, seeing as they are one of the teams who are able to take games off of [tdM]Trademark eSports.

Not to discredit other teams in this bracket during Cycle 7, [DrDz]Druidz eSport for example has said they will be striving to reach Diamond after their poor showing last cycle. Another key team is Justice League, formerly QsQ 777. They have spent a few cycles in Diamond, but seem to have troubles staying there as the competition has grown. Justice League Captain BagInABox had this to say about his team entering Gold for the third time.

BaginaBox: "So my team and I have during Hon Tour played 4 cycles in the Diamond division and 2 cycles in the Gold division. In cycle 7 we will yet again be playing in Gold with the goal of reclaiming a spot in the Diamond division."

Why do you guys seem to be struggling to stay in Diamond Division?

BaginaBox: "Well first of all when the team started we were all with very low competitive experience, except for our leader at the time DeathGr0wL. So all of our players were kind of "beginners" in highly competitive HoN. Later I also took over the role as drafter for the team, which also was something I had never done before. And I still learn new stuff every day. It has taken me a long time to become better at drafting, and I am still not even close to the masterminds that are swindlemelonzz, Mynuts and more."

What about as a team?

BaginaBox: "Some of us still become a bit shaky when facing the big mammoths, but this is something that has been lowered over time. There is also some stuff that we will have to work on as a team to make sure we can keep a spot in Diamond in future seasons."

How are you guys faring in practice?

BaginaBox: "We have several times proved ourselves that we can take on the big guys on a good day. We have played several 2-1 series against teams like [LION]Lions eSportsKlubb, [357]QsQ and we have beaten many of the underdog teams both in tournaments and scrims (scrims don´t really matter though)."

Any last thoughts?

BaginaBox: "The main things I think my team and I need to improve upon would be to keep our heads calm in stressful situations, make the right decisions in the shortest possible time and consistent and good drafting vs. the bigger teams."

I'm looking forward to seeing you guys perform well in Gold, best of luck making it to the final four.

Other teams such as [SdS]SdS, [Dmsn]AnotherDimension, [TKAG]Team Kagge, [MOE]Moes Tavern and [REMI]RemigijusBubblus are all trying to get out of Gold as well, each team has just fallen short as of the past few cycles with either poor performances or rough losses to a surprising opponent.

Coming up from Silver we see [nX]Animus Vox, [BETA]Stats Matter, [Due1]Do You Even Lift Bro, Isot Pelit, [AgT]Any Given Time, [Bx3]Bloodbath N Beyond, [MOG]MVP Open Group Slott, and [DASH]Rainbow Racers make their way to Gold competition. Stats Matter, Do You Even Lift Bro, Isot Pelit and Rainbow Racers are all previous Gold teams while the rest are new. I am looking forward to seeing what these teams can do and if there will be any upsets.

To me the most important first round matches will be Stats Matter versus Team Kagge, Clan Milk vs [euni]Eunis 5, [BYE]A HonTour Team versus Druidz eSports, RemigijusBubblus versus Do You Even Lift Bro, Another Dimension versus Rainbow Racers, [WSD]Slash Defenders versus The Fire Rises, [cTi]Perfection Esp versus [wO]Wards Overrated.

- "Crowslaw"
.
.