By Blaze
Group A
Called the Group of Death by some, this group was indeed fun to watch. [SynC]Sync eSports, [Rea]Reason Gaming, [Null]Nullstone Gaming and [SolC]The Solaire Club were fighting for supremacy here and only two were allowed to move on. From the start it seemed clear that Sync would have it relatively easy while The Solaire Club would have a very hard time. When the tournament started on Tuesday, Reason and Nullstone fought over who would be the dominant second team here, and it was Reason Gaming triumphing at the end of the game, which was not a surprise after their splendid performance in recent weeks and months. On Thursday, Sync and the Club were set against each other and while it was a lesson for the Club indeed, it was not as bad as some would have expected and the Club managed to get out of this with their heads held high.
Moving on to Saturday, Reason Gaming had to play both of their remaining matches, one against The Solaire Club and the other against Sync eSports. The match against The Solaire Club was expected to go smoothly, but instead Reason faced an equal opponent and eventually lost the match due to the Club playing exceptionally well at that day. Rather shocked and unhappy about the result of that game, Reason now had to play against Sync eSports, which did not go completely horrible, but bad enough to make them lose it without ever coming close to having an advantage. All in all a disastrous evening for Reason, a shining moment for the Club and a normal day for Sync. Finally on Sunday, the last matches were played and a three way tie seemed to be in the making if Nullstone were to win against the Club but lose to Sync eSports. And exactly that is how it happened, with all three teams equal in score and losing to one another, so the team kill/death ratios in their matches against the other had to be used to decide second place. And here it was Nullstone who came out ahead, qualifying as second team for the Final Brackets, while leaving a sad Reason Gaming and a hopeful Solaire Club behind.
Group B
Even though some very powerful teams were in Group B, it still did not look as threatening compared to Group A, mostly because all of the teams here were known to have a bad day every now and then. So when [BMG]BadMonkeyGaming, [Mint]Fresh, [Ogr]Shrek is Love, and [Hoo]Team Who started playing, anything could happen. First to play on Tuesday were the Ogres and Team Who, who both were considered to be the weaker of the four teams. Shrek is Love were playing very organized here and got the better of Team Who, leading to the first Ogre victory in The Onslaught. Thursday then had the biggest match in the Group, a rematch of the Playoff Finals of sorts, when BMG and Fresh went at it. And this time it was Fresh who triumphed, getting some sweet revenge after the 3-0 bash they suffered only a few days earlier.
The weekend yielded 4 more matches for Group B and on Saturday, BMG was called into action again to make up for their mistake, this time against Team Who. And here everything went the way it should for BMG, they did not dominate too much but still enough to win the game without ever really getting threatened by their opponents. Team Who had lost two matches in a row and were now set to play against Fresh, another very difficult match for them. But against all odds, Team Who managed to stay in the game on an even level with Fresh the whole game long and after several big teamfights, Team Who made the upset victory a reality, bringing at least one match home. After that evening, a similar situation as it was in Group A seemed quite possible and the Sunday matches against Shrek is Love would have to decide who advances and who stays behind.
Starting this was BMG, who desperately needed another victory to advance and make the most out of the tournament that was meant to get them some more practice before Thailand. But nobody seemed to have told the Ogres because they played stellar once more and in the end defeated the winners of the Playoffs and with that qualified early for the Final Bracket. The last match of the day, Shrek is Love versus Fresh, would now decide the fate of both Fresh and BMG. The Ogres played well once more, but Fresh were eager to make up for their mistake against Team Who and defeated the Ogres soundly. This meant that they would move on and not BMG, making it there without any stats or result comparison on their own strength. A big day for the Ogres and Fresh, but a bit of a disaster for BMG, while Team Who managed to get another bite off of a top team and further making themselves known in the scene.
The Final Bracket
Well, after all that, it is now time for the Final Bracket, where the matches are now BO3, with the Grand Finals BO5. Sync eSports versus Shrek is Love will be the first match here, starting on Tuesday at 16:00 EDT | 21:00 CET, followed by Nullstone Gaming versus Fresh on Thursday at 16:00 EDT | 21:00 CET. After that the winners will move to the Winners Bracket Finals while the Losers will have another chance in the Losers Bracket, both of which will be played on Saturday, and the LB Finals as well as the Grand Finals will be played on Sunday at the usual times. As always, Honcast will cover all of these matches live, so tune in and enjoy the show! Good Luck and Have Fun to all teams!
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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