Read more of Group A Recap in Part 1, featuring the Winner’s Bracket, and the first team from group A to advance to the FInal Four.
[DoCa]Dont Care versus [C00L]CoolIo
The first Losers Bracket match featured one of the lesser known teams in the Playoffs, Dont Care, seeking to make a name of themselves by kicking out one of the bigger teams, if possible. Game 1 was not the way to go though and they quickly lost control against the veterans of CoolIo, leading to a relatively early concede by Dont Care. All hopes were in the second game to force at least a third one and at first it looked well enough for them, but CoolIo managed to stay on top of things most of the time and force teamfights in their favour. The late game got quite interesting again as Dont Care managed to gain some ground again in very close fights. Eventually the advantage that CoolIo had was the decisive factor though, finishing the game in their favour after over 55 minutes. With this CoolIo moved on and Dont Care at least managed to show their skill in the second game.
[SolC]The Solaire Club versus [NR]Night Raid
Looking at both teams, most people would have thought Night Raid to be the favoured team in this matchup, as The Solaire Club has never been in Diamond Division nor really appeared anywhere big. But the Club has been around for a while and constantly improved, up to placing second in Gold Division the last cycle of this Season, something that can indeed count as an achievement and a warning to all other teams - Watch out! And the match was indeed a very entertaining one. The Solaire Club managed to win the first game, which must have been a bit of a shock for the guys of Night Raid, who had hoped that this would be easy. So in the next game they played more seriously and took the game from The Solaire Club, forcing a third and final game. And in this game, The Solaire Club was on top of things again, playing incredibly well and eventually kicking the Northern Americans out of the Playoffs, securing their next step in the Losers Bracket and finally a match that was fully covered by Honcast.
[C00L]CoolIo versus[SolC]The Solaire Club
Not many expected this matchup to happen, but it did, and deservingly so for The Solaire Club. They did very well in their previous game and now were standing in the next round, which is not bad at all for a relatively new and unknown team. CoolIo had quite a challenge ahead of them and they took it seriously, not to mess up their chances of advancement. So it was no surprise that they put a lot of pressure on the Club right from the start, despite an unusual lineup from the Club, and gained a significant advantage over the course of the game, which lead to their victory after around 35 minutes. The second game was a bit better for the Club, at least at the start, but CoolIo fought back and managed to even out things, even gaining a slight advantage.
Overall the Club stayed ahead in kills for most of the game but CoolIo never let them out of their sights, carefully picking their fights. 30 or so minutes into the game, CoolIos dominance became too heavy to fend off and one barracks after the other were destroyed in the base of The Solaire Club, eventually leading to Mega Creeps and shortly after, victory for CoolIo. Next round for the veterans of CoolIo and good bye to The Solaire Club, for now. At the rate they keep improving, they will be a force to be reckoned with in the future.
[C00L]CoolIo versus [tree]willowkeeper
Another not so expected matchup for the finals of the Losers Bracket. willowkeeper were quite eager to make up for their mistakes from their first round match while CoolIo wanted revenge for their early drop into the Losers Bracket. So both teams forged ahead, fighting each other at every opportunity in the games. In game 1 CoolIo managed to get the advantage relatively early and put pressure on willowkeeper. The trees struggled for a while to keep up but at least did not allow their opponents to outfarm them. Their hope was to force the late game and that worked out very well for them, eventually defeating CoolIo after some very interesting team fights.
Game 2 was a little less exciting, as it was one-sided from the very beginning, with willowkeeper making the most out of their signature heroes, defeating CoolIo soundly after about 20 minutes. And because of that, willowkeeper managed to gain the second spot in the final round of the Qualifiers, not exactly where they wanted to be, but the next round nevertheless. And CoolIo, they did some good work throughout the whole Playoffs so far and can be proud of what they have achieved so far, to be continued in the future, hopefully.
So there you have it, big plays all the week, and that was just the first week. This week we will have six more teams play for the other two spots in the Final Four. Group B will feature the not so secret favourites of [Rea]Reason Gaming playing against the old Gold and now also a bit Diamond-y team of [Hoo]Team Who on Tuesday, followed by the American team of [Null]Nullstone Gaming challenging the strong [Ogr]Shrek is Love on Thursday. And two more teams are waiting to play this weekend, [FnoH]FROG No HIPPO and [RmR]Ride my Rocket are ready to take on the teams that lose their first match during the weekdays, making the big teams work hard for their money. Good times ahead and more coverage on the matchups to follow soon, so make sure to check back often and don't forget to turn on Honcast on Tuesday!
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.
