The bracket phase of The Onslaught tournament is now behind us and it is time to recap the events that we witnessed before moving on to the biggest event of the year, the World Finals of HoN Tour Season 3 in Thailand! Four teams had made it out of the group stage and to the surprise of many, only one of the two teams going to Thailand was among those, the other, [BMG]BadMonkeyGaming, were beaten by [Ogr]Shrek is Love right before the finishing line. So let's take a look how the Ogres and the other teams did and who won the whole thing.
Weekday matches
The first two matches started with very interesting matchups and while a loss here did not mean the end right away, it was certainly not a good way to start. In the first match we had the favourite to win the tournament, [SynC]Sync eSports, set to play against the surprise team of the tournament, Shrek is Love. At first this looked like an easy win for Sync, but when the first game finally started, it turned out to be long and quite entertaining. At first the Ogres were able to get a slight lead over their opponents and throughout the game they managed to keep up with Sync until very late into the game, when the teamwork of Sync eSports was too much for them and they eventually lost their base barracks, leading to Syncs first victory. Followed by that was another exciting game, and once more the Ogres were able to keep up with Sync until very late into the game, where Syncs teamwork became unbeatable. So Shrek moved to the Losers Bracket but certainly impressed a lot of players and viewers with their plays that day.
The Thursday match was between [Null]Nullstone Gaming and [Mint]Fresh, two teams that have been playing extremely well these last few weeks and who will give anything to advance further, not just to claim the prize money here but also to make sure everyone knows that they will be the top contenders for the throne in future tournaments. Game 1 had Fresh take the lead early, but Nullstone waited patiently and took every chance they got to get back, eventually surpassing their opponents. From that point on they were in a firm lead and took the game home. Game 2 was basically the same, just with a bigger initial lead by Fresh and a stronger comeback by the Nullstonies. Two very impressive games by Nullstone Gaming, who now went to the Winners Bracket Finals while Fresh got another chance in the Losers Bracket.
Saturday matches
The first match of the day was for the Losers of the days before, Shrek is Love and Fresh met once more on the battlefield. Game 1 was pretty much balanced at first, but Fresh were able to get ahead after a while and held this advantage firmly until they were able to force a teamfight and win it after about half an hour, leading to their first victory. Game 2 now forced the Ogres to give everything if they wanted to stay in the match and so they dominated from the very beginning. Fresh recovered from this early domination in the mid game and it looked promising for them for a while, but at the end of the game it was the Ogres who won by simply going for the enemies Tree of Life instead of forcing another teamfight they would have lost. A final game was needed and once more the Ogres started strong in the early game, but this time they did not allow Fresh to get back into the game and took the game home, thus moving forward to the Losers Bracket Finals while Fresh unfortunately were out.
The other match that day, Sync eSports versus Nullstone Gaming, promised to be just as exciting as the first one. Both teams had shown some great skill in the tournament already and now it was time for them to meet on the battlefield. The first game was mostly Sync eSports showing off their skills and make use of the hero Salomon in the game, a hero that would find much more use in the games to come. After their first victory, Sync decided to take it a bit easier and Nullstone Gaming took that chance and got ahead early in the game. Of course Sync would not be Sync if they just left it at that and so they came back and even took over in the later stage of the game. Now it was all about team fights and being clever and to the surprise of many it was Nullstone who came out ahead in this, taking good fights and eventually defeating Sync, making this the first time that Sync lost a game in this tournament.
Game 3 was on and even though it had way too many pauses for comfort, it still had it's glorious moments, with Nullstone gaining a slight advantage later in the game. It got pretty dramatic at the end of the game when Nullstones player Masatoshi dropped out of the game and even though they were only 4 players, the Nullstonies kept on the pressure, but it was not enough to bring the victory home and Sync eSports managed to turn it around and win. A bit unlucky perhaps, but that is how it is and Sync moved on to the Grand Finals while Nullstone Gaming had to play in the Losers Bracket Finals next.
Sunday matches
Losers Bracket Finals were up and we got the Ogres playing against Nullstone Gaming. It took a while to start this match, but when it finally started, it was all good. Shrek is Love took over quickly in the first game, hoping to overwhelm Nullstone Gaming. But the Nullstonies were ready for that and bided their time, carefully fighting back at opportune times and nullifying their opponents lead towards the mid game where they themselves took over. They held on to their slight advantage now, but neither team was able to break this stalemate until very late, after almost 70 minutes, when Nullstone Gaming was finally able to get through and win the game. A victory was now needed for the Ogres to stay in the match, but that was nothing new for them, in fact they often turned things around like that and so they went into this game with high hopes and motivation. It turned out to be very even once more in the beginning and only in the later stages of the game the Ogres started to gain an advantage over their opponents. They held on to this for a long time but Nullstone Gaming stayed in the game and held their ground, once more patiently waiting for Shrek is Love to make a mistake. A huge teamfight after 62 minutes then decided the whole game and it was once more the Nullstonies who came out ahead, earning a second attempt at taking out Sync eSports in the Grand Finals.
The Grand Finals were finally on and both teams eagerly started into the first game. Sync eSports forged ahead and took over the early game, but Nullstone Gaming stood their ground and held back the tide for now. But even though they fought back valiantly, it was not enough and Sync eSports secured their first win in this match, only one victory away from becoming the Champions of the tournament while Nullstone Gaming still had to win 3 games if they wanted to be the Champions instead. Game 2 was Syncs first match point and while the game was pretty even in the early stage, Sync took over the mid game phase again, making maximum use of Salomon once more. As the game progressed, the lead of Sync eSports grow slightly as well and Nullstone Gaming were now in hot water. A final push by Sync eSports sealed the deal and Sync won the game, the match and the tournament, becoming the Champions of The Onslaught, winning a good deal of prize money and a great morale boost for their coming Thailand trip.
Congrats to Sync eSports for this marvelous victory and also thanks for playing and helping Sync to get some more practice to the other teams. Going forward we now have the Thailand International Finals ahead of us, where Sync eSports and Bad Monkey Gaming will take part as the qualified NA/EU teams. The whole thing will start next week, with plenty of coverage coming your way soon, so stay tuned and check back often, the best of the best are gathering and you will get a front row seat to witness this epic event!
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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