For the better part of the last three months, three teams have shined on the big stages. Those stages were mostly DreamHoN tournaments, but also other smaller competitions like the Vanguard Tournament or the It's Gosu opens. Those tournaments differed in the prize pool or the publicity but had one thing in common – three teams have reigned supreme across the board. HoNTour could turn the tides on that one, as it provides a competitive environment and a steady flow of competition. The teams will meet each other on a consistent basis and the “second tier” could overwhelm the established compLexity Gaming, Trademark eSports or Tt eSports. Let's meet the hungry teams, that could end up playing a major role in HoNTour and the HoN scene in general.

QsQ357
They are the popular choice for this one since they have made it into the group stage of the DreamHoN events three times and even clinched playoff berths in two of those tournaments. Their best outing so far was the Redemption playoff run, where they knocked on the door of the Lower Bracket Finals heavily. Unfortunately for them Tt eSports answered that door and took them on in an epic series. QsQ357 had the lead in two games, but could only manage to get the deal sealed once. They now not only steam for revenge against Tt eSports, but they are also poised to become a fixture in the landscape of professional HoN. Carry player NoX is on the record saying, that they will grow as a team and they will come out stronger then ever. Put a little bit more time into the team and they will be a serious contender in every tournament they sign up. Could HoNTour be their tournament, their time?

Pikachu
They are known, they are good and they have seriously great players on their roster. The Scandinavian – mostly Danish – team is lead by the veteran presence of Buch, who is a standout in the scene for a long time now. Together with his team they could win both group stages for the Online Summer Championship and the Redemption tournament and fared well in the playoff stage as well. The fate of the brackets let them meet Tt eSports twice in the second round of the Lower Bracket, which spelled doom for them twice. Now, with the new roster, they are looking to avenge that stain off of their record and HoNTour provides the perfect platform for that. They will compete with the best teams in the world on a weekly or monthly basis and no one should be surprised if they even put some of the big dogs to sleep.

GaryJohnson2012
The new team of controversial community figure Swindlemelonzz has been in the scene for only a little bit, but they made a serious splash in that time. The American Swindlemelonzz gathered great free agents like Sender, Skyzoe and Khezu to form a new competitive team, a team that can hang with anyone. It is very early to say whether this team can sustain their high level play for long time, but with all the veterans on the team it should be a possibility. They have already impressed a lot of folks in their recent run in the It's Gosu Invitational and in the DreamHoN Destination tournament, where they are sitting on top of Group A with a marvelous record of 3-0 after taking out The Returners recently.

FackyouKurdi
Their name does not get thrown around in these types of articles very often, but the players from FyKu have shown numerous times that they are for real. A shallow look at the standings of the OSC, Redemption or the Destination tournament might indicate that these guys are in over their heads, but people that pay close attention know that FyKu is always in the games. They do not get blown away by any team, they showed terrific series against high profile teams like Tt eSports, QsQ357 or Lions. Just a few more practices and opportunities to play with the first class teams in the world and they will not only grow their experience, but also their play. Everybody should trifle the team as it can take down everyone.

Lions
The Lions organization can look back at a very successful history with a Bronze Medal from the DreamHack Winter 2024 and the big trophy for the NASL Season 2 finale. Their new squad might not be on top of the world like the old team used to be, but they could make a serious push to get to those highs again. After a little bit of house-cleaning they have gathered a great squad once again, making a run for the DreamHoN tickets. DreamHoN is all fine, but the real challenge awaits the promising team in the HoNTour event, when they face steady competition week in and week out. Still the team is good enough to overcome those competitions, those challenges and end up being a prominent name to be reminiscing about at the end of the first season.

Other teams real quick:

Druidz – ArchiTiger has been around for a while and his teams have always had decent success. When this team can stay together, practice enough and build up a chemistry together, they could be in it for a long time.

TheReturners – No official statement yet if they enter the HoNTour competition, but everything is indicating to that so far. They have all-stars across the board, tons of experience and people with a winner mentality. When they can scrap the rust off and grow together as a team, they could make some noise.

PUDG – The Destination qualifier was a huge setback for the team, but still they can learn from that experience. You have to walk through some valleys in order to get to the top, this might have been their deepest valley for them and now it is all rise.

BunkerDown – They play great HoN currently, but can they keep it up? When they can keep the trolling to a minimum and focus on the tasks at hand, they could be a serious contender not only for the Top 10, but for the podium.


- Sören "Fantasy"