By Blaze

The weekday matches of Group A in the HoN Tour Season 3 Playoffs are over and after the dust settled two teams have taken the first step towards Thailand. The other two have already played have been granted another chance in the Losers Bracket. Here they will meet the two teams on their group that placed 10th to 13th and had to start out in the Losers Bracket right away, rewarding the better teams with two chances but still giving at least one chance to the lesser known teams. The two lower ranked teams in this case are [SolC]The Solaire Club and [DoCa]Dont Care and in case you don't know anything about them, here's a summary of the two for you.

[SolC]The Solaire Club - #10 Seed
The Solaire Club has a history going back to HoN Tour Season 2 where they played as Sanctuary, and though the name has changed, they will probably be around for quite a while. The reason is that these guys have constantly evolved and gotten better. At first they were barely getting anywhere in the Bronze Division in Season 2, but starting with Carnage in Caldavar they decided to give it their best and attempt to get into the realm of the top teams. Their efforts resulted in rather good matches in the CiC event and even participating in the Playoffs there. In Season 3 they managed to place into Gold Division right away, where they at first struggled but gradually progressed, eventually placing second in Gold in Cycle 8, which would have been their promotion to Diamond Division if the cycles hadn't ended there. Here are their exact rankings during Season 3:

Cycle 1: Gold: 13th-16th place
Cycle 2: Gold: 7/8th place
Cycle 3: Gold: 7/8th place
Cycle 4: Gold: 4th place
Cycle 5: Gold: 3rd place
Cycle 6: Gold: 4th place
Cycle 7: Gold: 7/8th place
Cycle 8: Gold: 2nd place

The Solaire Club is a fun team to watch. While they lack a bit of the routine of more experienced and higher ranked teams, they do have a good understanding of what they want to play and how to do that. They often give their carry player all the advantages possible and then have him obliterate their opponents, which can be very frustrating for the opposing team. Of course this strategy can turn into a weakness if the carry is shut down properly, but over time the Club players have learned how to avoid that by supporting and causing distractions. The roster of The Solaire Club for the Playoffs is as follows:

[SolC]NoobMcNoob: Captain, Jungle, Second Support
[SolC]jistman: Mid, Initiator
[SolC]Canondwarf: Carry
[SolC]Armyofmums: Suicide
[SolC]StanMarch: Support

For more details on this team, there is an interview with NoobMcNoob and jistman up that was taken just yesterday, so read all about them and their thoughts on HoN Tour here. As for their chances in the Playoffs, they will certainly have a tough time from the very beginning as they will be facing only higher ranking teams and will drop out if they lose a match, but if things continue like before, they will be playing better than ever and might succeed in an upset win or two. And even if not, they have proven that even a small amateur team can improve and eventually make it into Diamond Division, making them a role model for so many teams out there.


[DoCa]Dont Care - #13 Seed
Don't let the low seed fool you, these guys know exactly what they are doing and they will be a test for every team they encounter in the Playoffs. Dont Care may not have a very promising name but they have had a solid Season so far, and this should be proof enough that they actually do care. Their history as a team starts in the Qualifiers for Season 3 as "Catmans Champions" where they managed to reach Silver Division for Cycle 1 and promptly made it to Gold Division the very next cycle. From that time on it was Gold Division all the way where they encountered and even sometimes defeated stronger teams than their own and improved their own skills. They may not be an outstanding team but it was enough to get into the Playoffs where they can now show everyone what they’ve got. Here is a list of their placements during Season 3:

Cycle 1: Silver: 2nd place
Cycle 2: Gold: 9th-12th place
Cycle 3: Gold: 9th-12th place
Cycle 4: Gold: 7/8th place
Cycle 5: Gold: 5/6th place
Cycle 6: Gold: 5/6th place
Cycle 7: Gold: 9th-12th place
Cycle 8: Gold: 7/8th place

A rather steady and solid Gold team, Dont Care should not be taken lightly by the stronger teams. They may not have the top players or the most exciting strategies, but if teams get too experimental or have a bad day, Dont Care will stand ready and happily take the victory. And who knows what these guys have in store for us, since most of the higher ranking teams probably have never heard of them or played against them. It might be such a strange matchup that roles get switched and DoCa find themselves in the drivers seat. The lineup for them in the Playoffs is as follows:

[DoCa]babybkid: Captain, Carry
[KNX]Solo`Vulka: Suicide
[DoCa]CptStrawHat_: Solo Mid
[HeFu]`Okami[URL]: new addition
[WoG]kruzh1: new addition

It remains to be seen how far Dont Care can go in this tournament, they may have just this one match, considering how strong their opponents are, but they may surprise us all also. Don't expect them to go without a fight but also don't expect to see them in Thailand. Their greatest strength is their low profile, so if their opponents underestimate them, they got a chance.

This takes care of the last teams in Group A and we can now focus on the weekend matches ahead, first [C00L]CoolIo versus [http://hontour.com/team/view/6448/][DoCa]Dont Care[/URL] and [SolC]The Solaire Club versus [NR]Night Raid in the Loser Bracket on Saturday at 12:00 EST | 18:00 CET, followed by the Winners Bracket Finals between [tree]willowkeeper and [Mint]Fresh at 15:00 EST | 21:00 CET. The matches will be covered live by Honcast and SaintroX, who will be casting the other LB match, as these start at the same time. Get ready for a whole weekend of HoN entertainment, certainly enough to create an awesome Valentines day! Good Luck and Have Fun to all teams!

Blaze
Blaze is a senior Hontour.com writer focusing on the NA/EU Diamond and Gold Divisions. After making a name for himself in the Dawn of War 1 scene, he began his career in journalism at DawnOfWar.de. As one of the first HoN Tour writers, Blaze has focused on the less known teams, bringing their name to the forefront. When he isn’t writing about HoN, Blaze enjoys playing RPGs, writing fiction, and listening to Metal, Avantgarde, and Neofolk music.

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