By Enthozz
With all of the recent hype surrounding Nullstone Gaming [Null], HoN enthusiasts anxiously awaited what would become of them in HoN Tour Season 3 – Cycle 2. After losing to Bad Monkey Gaming [BMG] in the winner’s bracket, Null was granted an opportunity for vengeance as both teams squared off for a best of three series in the Loser’s Bracket. Encapsulated in this article is a summary of the vengeful game one between Null and BMG. With the two hottest and newly reformed teams battling one another, viewers watched in eager anticipation to see which team would have a shot at the Grand Finals.

Welcome To The Jungle

Preluding this match, `Drentz and Tankafett each made a bold statement concerning their tactful mastery in regards to the drafting phase. Each team composition consisted of heavy AoE damage, push presence, team fight, and carry potential. Null drafted a Rhapsody, Tempest, Magmus, and Bubbles, with Beaverbanger playing his infamous Gemini. On the other hand, BMG insisted on choosing Glacius, Wretched Hag, Pebbles, Kraken, and Ophelia. Anybody who may have doubted these new captains’ ability to draft was sure to repent as both team compositions were nothing short of being masterfully crafted works of art.

Action emanated primarily from the bottom lane and Legion jungle as Gemini and Rhapsody faced Glacius and Pebbles while Ophelia and Tempest fought for the neutral camps. Blood was drawn in the top lane just two minutes in when Fuzzysloth’s Magmus dove the tier one tower to slay Haxxeren’s Wretched Hag. Kills were secured from both teams over the next few minutes, with a notable kill from Xibbe’s Pebbles tossing Ophelia’s minotaur onto Gemini for a follow up stun which killed him. By the seventeen minute mark, four heroes had attained portal keys and BMG was eager to make use of theirs. BMG attempted to push Null’s tier two tower at the top lane until Bubbles punished BMG’s bad positioning with a Kelp Field. Fuzzysloth swiftly followed up by erupting onto the enemy team, resulting in a devastating 4-for-none trade in Null’s favor. A mere twenty minutes into this game, Null held a dominating lead of 12-8 hero kills and a 3k/7k gold and experience lead.

Who Let The Dogs Out?

Heading into the mid game, Gemini and Wretched Hag were the top contenders on the gold per minute charts, with both hovering around the 370 GPM mark. Gemini took the lead after he secured a quick kill onto Wretched Hag close to BMG’s base. BMG decided to slay Kongor with their Wretched Hag dead, and succeeded in doing so by toying with Null’s expectations that BMG wouldn’t dare attempt such a feat with their carry dead. Pebbles picked up the token, only to be killed off a few minutes later by Gemini and Bubbles. While these two heroes awaited Pebbles’ resurrection from the token, BMG’s other four heroes were fast approaching. Release the Kraken brought Gemini a quick and watery death, but this skirmish resulted in a three-for-one trade in Null’s favor due to exceptional positioning on their team’s part. The next ten minutes were virtually void of any action, with both teams farming for big items. Bubbles and Magmus each got a Sheepstick to accompany their already deadly jump potential. Gemini finished a Frostwolf Skull, and three of BMG’s heroes finished Shrunken Heads along with Wretched Hag picking up a Hellflower.

Exactly forty minutes into the match, Ophelia and all of her creeps fell prey to Null’s entire team. Null seized the opportunity to push BMG’s mid rax, only to be met with a fierce defense. Xibbe attempted to toss Gemini back to his team, missing entirely and providing Null the confidence needed to initiate with no mercy. Bubbles and Magmus PK’d in only to be met with a huge Kraken ultimate which killed both of them immediately. Gemini managed to drop Pebbles before realizing his entire team was dead and barely escaped with his life. Surprisingly enough, BMG prevailed with a massive four-for-one exchange in their favor. This turn of the tides enabled BMG to slay Kongor, take the middle melee rax, and position themselves accordingly in an attempt to take the bottom rax as well. Null was reluctant to let another rax go and initiated onto Superkge’s Kraken, drowning him immediately. In response, however, Wretched Hag dove the base to decimate both Bubbles and Rhapsody. Meanwhile, Tempest landed a sensational ultimate catching the three other heroes from BMG and giving Gemini the opportunity to land a perfect stun, resulting in a hat trick for Beaverbanger and a genocide against BMG. Null capitalized by pushing into BMG’s base, and another exquisitely placed Tempest ultimate sealed BMG’s fate in a five-for-two exchange in Null’s favor. Magmus, Bubbles, and Rhapsody destroyed all remaining rax thus securing a huge victory in game one.

Willowkeeper Comes Close, Sync Does it Again

Null went on to defeat BMG 2-1 in this series, but fell short to Willowkeeper in the semi-finals. Despite losing 2-0 to Willowkeeper, Nullstone Gaming, and the newly reformed BMG showed serious potential in Cycle 2 of HoN Tour Season Three. Since both of these teams are fairly new, there is room for nothing but improvement and it may only be a matter of time before either of these teams can triumph over Sync eSports, who have now won the Grand Finals twice in a row.