By Blaze

Two of the seven matches in Group B of the HoN Tour Playoffs have been settled earlier this week, with some interesting games for everyone to watch. Now we are going towards the finish and have the last five matches coming up, including two new teams that haven't seen much of a spotlight in the past but are certainly worth taking another look: [FnoH]FROG No HIPPO and [aXe]Asian Reflexes, previously known as Ride my Rocket. Lets check both of these teams out before the big games start, see what they have been doing and how far they may get.

[FnoH]FROG No HIPPO - #12 Seed
The secret third Northern American team, FROG No HIPPO has been around for the whole season and even though they stayed low key for most of it, they made it into the Playoffs and not even as the last team. Before HoN Tour Season 3 they were a casual team, but with Season 3 starting, they decided to give it a try and qualified for Gold Division right away. The Gold Division became their home for most of the season too, but they had to spend a few cycles in Silver, having to regroup and get their heads back into the game. After finally getting back to Gold Division for the last cycle, they placed third there, allowing them to gain enough points to make it into the Playoffs. Here are their exact ranks throughout the Season:

Cycle 1: Gold: 9-12th place
Cycle 2: Gold: 4th place
Cycle 3: Gold: 9-12th place
Cycle 4: Gold: 13-16th place
Cycle 5: Silver: 2nd place
Cycle 6: Gold: 3rd place
Cycle 7: Silver: 3/4th place
Cycle 8: Gold: 3rd place

Being one of the little known teams of the tournament does not make them a weak team by default, in fact they can be quite impressive when things are going their way. While they don’t have the strongest players, their specialities are their teamplay and their role versatility which allow them to outmaneuver any strong opposition they may face and with a set of unusual heroes like Bramble and Chipper at their disposal, they may catch careless opponents by surprise. Their lineup for the Playoffs is going to be as follows:

[BOHO]BoarBeater: Captain, Jungle or Suicide
[BETA]BigBigDik: Suicide, Jungle or Mid
[Snsl]DummyYummy: Support
[Snsl]StupidStu: Carry or Solo
[gL]pishie: Mid
[sG]Narcy: Sub

The chances of the Hippos to reach the Final Four is, to be blunt, tiny, but at least for the first round they have a small chance to win their match against [Hoo]Team Who. If they stick to their teamwork and get the drop on their opponents, either by drafting something fancy or just dominating them quickly, they should be able to at least take a game off of their opponents. And who knows, once that has been accomplished, their ability to change their game and their roles completely from one game to the next may be the key to winning the whole thing. No matter how it will end, it is good to see another american team in the Playoffs, hopefully we will get to see much more of them in the future.

[aXe]Asian Reflexes - #11 Seed
Last in the previews, but certainly not the weakest or lowest of teams are the guys from Asian Reflexes, earlier in the season known as Ride My Rocket and even earlier known as SuperHeroesPlayinHon. Indeed this team is a bit of a changeling, consisting of team members who have all been in numerous other teams over the years, that were also using plenty of names during ongoing events. Now these players have gathered and joined HoN Tour Season 3 during Cycle 3, where they marched through to Gold Division quickly and placing well enough to collect enough points to qualify for the Playoffs, even dipping into Diamond Division once. These are their exact rankings for Season 3:

Cycle 1: n/a
Cycle 2: n/a
Cycle 3: Bronze: 2nd place (as SuperHeroesPlayinHon)
Cycle 4: Silver: 2nd place (as SuperHeroesPlayinHon)
Cycle 5: Gold: 9-12th place (as SuperHeroesPlayinHon)
Cycle 6: Gold: second place (as Ride My Rocket)
Cycle 7: Diamond: 7/8th place (as Ride My Rocket)
Cycle 8: Gold: 4th place (as Ride My Rocket)

The team in it's current lineup consists of well experienced veterans of all Seasons of HoN Tour, where they were usually playing at Gold level. They have shown solid play bordering on the inspired, putting many other hopeful Gold Division teams in their place and advancing to almost Diamond status themselves. What they will be able to do against well accomplished teams remains to be seen, their Diamond stay was rather short and did not really tell much, as they faced far superior teams right from the start there. The lineup for the Playoffs is as follows:

[aXe]ImbaPingu: Captain, Carry
[aXe]DR0GEN: Jungle, Secondary Support
[aXe]Teltook: Suicide
[aXe]TheForgot3n1: Support
[aXe]PlatyChris: Mid

The future of this team in the Playoffs is rather uncertain. They are quite capable of defeating teams of their own strength and even stronger, but for that they need to play consistent and not get overwhelmed by their opponents right from the start. If left to their own devices, they can do quite well, so teams that play against them will try to put pressure on them right away, hoping they will crumble. No matter what, they being here is already a good thing for them and if they manage to get beyond the first round, despite their opponent being the strong [Ogr]Shrek is Love, they could go at least to the Losers Bracket finals, but once more, this is a matter of consistency, something they are not really specialized at.


And with this, all teams have had their bit of spotlight for the Playoffs, if they want more, they simply have to win their matches. Speaking of these matches, the two teams previewed here will do their next matches this Saturday, starting at 12:00 EST | 18:00 CET, with [FnoH]FROG No HIPPO playing against [Hoo]Team Who and [aXe]Asian Reflexes going up against [Ogr]Shrek is Love, two matches that will be well worth watching. And to make matters even juicier, after that at 15:00 EST | 21:00 CET, [Rea]Reason Gaming and [Null]Nullstone Gaming are set for the match of the weekend in the Winners Bracket finals that will determine the first team to advance to the Final Four and dropping the loser into the Losers Bracket Finals for another chance. Honcast will be live for these events and the follow up matches on Sunday, so make sure to tune in! Good Luck and Have Fun to all teams!

BlahC
BlahC 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, BlahC has focused on the less known teams, bringing their name to the forefront. When he isn’t writing about HoN, BlahC enjoys playing RPGs, writing fiction, and listening to Metal, Avantgarde, and Neofolk music.

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