By Fantasy

In life it’s not always about how you start, but how you finish. Turtle Master had to learn that the hard way in the fourth and final cycle of the Thai HoN Tour G-League. The Turtles had to fight through adversity from the get-go of the cycle, with the punishment hanging over them. TurS, alongside Neolution eSports.MRR, Shooter eSports, Hybrid Gaming, KaiD and 4Dok were involved in dirty-ringing affairs during the third cycle which let to penalties. For all those involved teams the major penalty effecting the Cycle 4 campaign was the loss of six points. In projections it showed that no other team than Neo.MRR would be able to overcome those deducted points for a real chance at the playoffs - TurS proved those projections wrong for the most part, up until the last possible time.

It was the 17th round of the competition, the last scheduled matches for everyone involved. For some teams it was supposed to not only be the last game of the cycle, but also of the season. Only the 12 best teams from all four cycles would make it into the big postseason event to fight for a spot in the World Championship event, so it was the last chance for the lower teams to showcase their talent. The main focus was on Turtle Master and Snoop Dogg though, who had clawed their way through the entire cycle with their hopes and dreams dangling by a threat. Before the match Snoop Dogg was only 5 points behind Turtle Master. With the six point hammer waiting to drop down, a draw or a win by Snoop Dogg would seal the fate of Turtle Master and push them out of the playoffs for the second straight time.

All the valiant efforts the beloved team would have done this cycle would be for essentially nothing. In one of their best performances so far, the former Thai HoN Tour Season 1 champions seemed poised on the idea to rally through adversity. In sports the phenomenon of teams getting better after a crucial loss in some regards is well documented, in eSports that hasn’t happened that often. Turtle Master now showed it for the first time with them suddenly playing at a very high level after knowing they have to be much better than anyone else. Losing six points before the matches even started was a huge hit for everyone. FIghting from two games down right away can not only psychologically pull you down, it’s also mathematically hard to be on point every single day. That Neolution eSports.MRR would make it through this with ease was expected, but TurS was on the decline as of late.

Now they fought back, played one heck of a cycle and are left empty handed regardless. In a shocking turn of events they couldn’t pull out the most crucial win of the cycle against rising team Snoop Dogg, only managing to tie the contest. That meant Dogg hanging on to their narrow lead of one point after deduction, giving them the third spot in the playoffs. For TurS it was not only this last match though - it was the last couple of days. As the fourth cycle was drawing closer and closer to the end, TurS was still looking at a fine lead to overcome the sanctions. Up by eight points over the first non-playoff spot was their starting point, only to see that margin slowly but surely shrinking. Before the 15th round it was down to seven points, then before the final game it was down to five. The failure to close out an otherwise splendid cycle can now be discussed amongst the team members during the off-time, getting ready for the big postseason event of the cycle.

Before that is next on the schedule, the three “best” teams of the Thai HoN Tour Cycle 4 will battle it out in the Garena Thailand studios for supremacy once more. Heading into that tournament as the clear favorite is once more Neolution eSports.MRR led by Chitawan`X. The team completely turned around their fortune in the last couple of months going from a team that couldn’t win a title, to a team that can’t stop winning them. After the year long drought with plenty of heartbreaking Grand Finals losses including the unprecedented achievement of three runner-up positions in the SEA HoN Tour events, Neolution eSports. MRR has it’s eyes set and locked on the Thai HoN Tour hattrick. Another win would give them three in a row and once and for all put the Neolution eSports stamp on the entire Thai scene. Not just the male dominance, but also the Dominatrix clutch in the female division. Both are affiliated and associated with Neolution, both have gathered trophies like crazy. When all is set and done the organization might very well look at seven of the eight possible titles this season, considering that both teams go into the finals weekend as the heavy favorite once more.

To back up this position with numbers is the undefeated streak Chitawan`X and his team have gone through. Ever since the loss in the Grand Finals of the first cycle against Hybrid Gaming, the team has not lost. They had to concede some matches, but never a full game. Adding that all up with 17 regular season games in each cycle and three playoff wins at this point, Neolution eSports.MRR is working with a 53 game winning-streak. After Championship Sunday it might be up to 54 with three Thai HoN Tour cycle titles on the resume.

Only Get Together or Snoop Dogg will be able to snap that streak and claim a title of their own - something they’ve not been able to do all this time. Last playoffs both fell to the wrath of Neolution eSports.MRR being punished more heavily than the other dirty-ringing teams. This time Chitawan`X and his squad won’t have to go through the semifinals, they won’t have to play on Saturday already, but only have to play that one game to make history.

About The Author: Fantasy

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