Another HoN Tour Season 3 cycle in the books and SynC has come out on top once again, in a result that could definitely be called predictable but nonetheless entertaining. willowkeeper gave the guys a run for their literal money, and came up a bit short in a match we’re sure to see several times over the next few months.
Cycle MVP – Zlapped
Last cycle KheZu took the MVP, mostly thanks to a lead in K+A:D, and a second-place finish in K:D. This time Zlapped grabs it by one-upping his buddy, leading the field in kill-to-death and kills plus assists to death. In the former category he managed a 2.93 mark, just barely edging BeaverBanger at 2.30. It’s the addition of assists that really makes him stand out; Zlapped put together a 9.64 K+A:D, nearly double that of once again silver medalist BeaverBanger at 5.03.
That’s largely due to leading everyone in deaths per game at just 1.6, plus the second-highest assist mark with 10.4. Add in 4.6 kills per game (tied for 13th, what are you even doing Zlapped) and you’ve got an incredibly good run. He also finished 5th in XPM with 509 and 10th in GPM at 377. Considering junglers usually don’t end up with priority farm, those are some pretty good numbers. In fact, kills and creep denies (0.7, second-to-last, what a slacker) were the only areas he placed outside the top 10, as he finished 10th in CK as well with 192.
Best Hero – Rhapsody
Before I begin singing the praises of Rhapsody (get it? GET IT?!), I have to acknowledge Chipper, who went 8-0 and was close to taking this title. The problem was that he was only picked up by SynC, tree, Null, and BMG, AKA the top four teams this cycle, and four of his eight games were by SynC. Rhapsody, on the other hand, was the most picked hero once again with 22 selections, and still managed a 68.2% win rate, good enough for fourth-highest. More importantly, she led the pack substantially in wins+games (37, Magmus was #2 with 26), indicating that she was not only very popular but awfully successful.
Perhaps the biggest deal is the fact that of the seven teams who used her at least once – Reason Gaming the only squad who did not say “That’s my DJ” – only two had a losing record with her. REXXARS and Dawn both played her once, and lost. They are also the teams that were relegated to Gold Division for the next cycle. Maybe it’s a coincidence. Regardless, it’s not particularly surprising that Rhapsody finished at the middle or near the bottom of most stats, including a last-place finish in K:D, but one might have expected her to outperform other supports considering how often she wins.
Worst Hero – Torturer
Unlike last cycle, when Blood Hunter went 0-5, this time around we didn’t have any qualifying heroes who didn’t pick up at least one win. That doesn’t mean we’re out of viable contenders for this spot, though, because there were plenty. Drunken Master finished 1-6, Wretched Hag was 2-7, but a 5-10 record from Torturer takes Trent Reznor’s crown, because boy did Tort “Hurt” his team.
With a 1.58 K+A:D, he was the only hero to finish below the 2.00 mark, he had the second-most deaths per game, third-fewest kills, and third-fewest assists. It’s critical to keep in mind that most of the heroes that finished worse than him in those categories were supports, while Torturer was played as a carry in three of those 15 games, with a 7.3/6.3/5.7 line and 380 GPM but an identical 33.3% win rate. Considering only support games, Torturer finished dead last in K:D, K+A:D, kills per game, and GPM, while showing up in the bottom three for deaths, assists, XPM, and CK. Support heroes aren’t necessarily supposed to do well in those categories, but this was basically Grade-A failure across the board. This isn’t a new trend, either; despite regularly being one of the top picked heroes, Torturer hasn’t cracked a 50% win rate since the start of Carnage in Caldavar.
Best Single Game Performance – Winner’s Bracket Semifinals Game 1, baltazar` on Puppet Master
22/4/5, 711 GPM, 800 XPM, 461 CK, tree wins. No surprise on that last bit, but baltazar` put up the highest single-game kill score all cycle in this victory, as well as the second-highest GPM (more on that in a second), 4th-highest XPM, and 6th-highest CK, CK/minute, and K+A-D. This was just the first game in a series that willowkeeper would eventually take 2-0, so it’s not like he was facing the Loser’s Bracket or even elimination, but baltazar` definitely turned it on this game.
Credit must be given as well to his teammates, considering tree’s playstyle is generally to focus farm on their hard carry player and then ride him to victory. baltazar` appears regularly in the top GPM games thanks not only to his skill as a ricer and carry, but also because the other four players open up farm for him. Well done to baltazar` and to willowkeeper for an amazing game.
Best Single Game K/D/A – Loser’s Bracket Round 2 Game 1, `Drentz on Empath
0/0/22. It’s the Grail. 0/0/22. What every support player strives for. 0/0/22. A line worthy of the gods. 0/0/22. Look upon it and weep for joy. 0/0/22. It’s `Drentz on Empath.
There isn’t much more to say. I don’t know what else I can add, because that is exactly what you want. In a 59:41 game as the only support, `Drentz didn’t die once. He never took a kill from his carry, initiator, jungler, or suicide. But oh, was he all over those fights. Nullstone Gaming picked up 26 kills in that game. `Drentz had a hand in 22 of them. Can there be anything more beautiful? I submit that there cannot. We bow to you, `Drentz, for showing us the light and the way.
Best Single Game Farm – Loser’s Bracket Rounds 2 Game 1, BeaverBanger on The Dark Lady
Hey, look, this game is back again! This time we’re completely on the opposite side to appreciate BeaverBanger and his ludicrous 734 GPM. In an hour-long game, that comes out to…all of the gold. He got it all. Well done. 13/2/12 was pretty helpful when it came to amassing that kind of farm, but it’s really the CK that’s the story here. Last cycle probusk on Drunken Master was the only player to exceed nine creep kills per minute and nearly broke ten. BeaverBanger showed up here with 11.08. 661 CK for him in this game wasn’t enough for the CK crown, but he was just six kills behind first place, or thirty seconds at that rate.
Best Single Game CS – Winner’s Bracket Finals Game 2, baltazar` on Doctor Repulsor
This dude’s back again for a pretty nutso 667 CK and another 55 denies, adding up to a whopping 722 CS. That’s 40 ahead of the guys we just finished talking about, who ended up at 681 when denies were added. baltazar` had the advantage of another eight minutes to farm, but this wasn’t exactly an aberrant performance for him. With 9.84 creep kills per minute he also crossed the 9 CK/min barrier, a rare feat based on last cycle when it was only done once. Except then he did it three other times, again with Doctor, plus Klanx and Puppet Master (same game as the 22/4/5 line). BigArlong of REXXARS managed it too. It’s one thing to put together the best CS score, but to do it in a cycle that ran rampant with great farming games is even more impressive.
Here are your leaders from Cycle 2 of HoN Tour Season 3 (all played at least five games):
Highest Win% – The Chipper, 100%
Lowest Win% – Drunken Master, 14.3%
Most Picked – Rhapsody, 22 games
Executioner (Most Kills) – The Chipper, 7.4
Cautious (Least Deaths) – Parasite, 2.3
Savior (Most Assists) – Pharaoh, 13.6
Best Farmer – Gemini, 513.6 GPM
Best Experience – Gemini, 625.2 XPM
Best Ricer – Doctor Repulsor, 336 CK
Best Denier – Doctor Repulsor, 25 CD
Highest K:D – Swiftblade, 2.54
Highest K+A:D – Gemini, 5.53
