By Blaze
Tuesday: Group B - [SynC]Sync eSports versus [Who]Team Who
Stakes were high for Team Who here. If they were to defeat Sync eSports, they would kick Reason Gaming to the dust and claim second place on their own, while a loss would mean an end for their ambitions in the DEBL. Since they failed last weekend in a close match against Bad Monkey Gaming, they were pretty eager to make things happen, despite their opponent being that much of a big dog. And the first game looked pretty nice for them early on. They got some kills in at the start and put some pressure on Sync eSports, which turned out well going into the mid game. But here Syncs patience was rewarded and due to their lead in gold and experience, they were able to outmaneuver Team Who in the late game. Team Who was able to gain an advantage again near the 45th minute and they put up some pressure again, but Sync eSports continued to be patient and built up their heroes. After more than an hour of gameplay, a final team fight at Kongor brought the decision and it was Sync eSports who laughed the last, winning the first game in style.
The second game was a bit of an oddball. Sync eSports decided to pick Artesia for their lineup, the "ranged creep" of the heroes available, and Team Who capitalized heavily on her lack of useful skills in the early game, gaining several easy kills quickly. But Sync would not be Sync if they gave up easily. Despite voices that advocated an early concede, Sync fought on, and they were rewarded. After Team Who’s initial lead, Sync eSports were able to win several fights and even Artesia was able to get some kills, and with this farm, getting back into the game. Indeed it was going so well for Sync that they gained a pretty huge lead and it turned out that Artesia is insania-ly op after all! And just 18 minutes after the dreadful start, Sync scored the second victory in the match, putting Team Who in very hot water. Game 3 started out as a back and forth between the two games and despite Team Whos best efforts, they were unable to keep up with gold and experience despite getting several good kills. In the mid game, Sync won a huge teamfight and got a nice lead, but Team Who caught back up quickly again, forcing the game to go on. An action packed game continued and every minute, at least two kills were made. In the end it was Sync eSports who also won this third and last game, but Team Who made it pretty entertaining and Sync work hard for this win.
And with this result, Sync cements their first place in the group while Team Who is out, placing third after Reason Gaming, who were probably watching this match and must have sweated big time during the early game in game 2. Congrats Sync and Reason, better luck next time Team Who and The Solaire Club!
Thursday: Group A - [BMG]BadMonkeyGaming versus [Null]Nullstone Gaming/[coL]compLexity Gaming
This was a pretty tough match for the HoN Tour Season 3 World Champions of BMG. In recent weeks they messed up several times and it took them almost forever to qualify for Dreamhack Summer 2024. Last weekend they finally managed to do that and now they were able to focus back on the DEBL, where they had to win their last match if they wanted to continue. To do that, they had to defeat the Nullstonies of old, now compLexity Gaming. And this was a pretty hard task, as compLexity had not shown a single weakness in all of DEBL and qualified quite early for Dreamhack Summer as well. The first game was a relatively careful and slow paced game early on, with the odd surprise pick of Tarot for Bad Monkey Gaming. Moving on in the game, BMG gained a little advantage, but nothing to really be happy about it. compLexity kept on pressuring their opponents and were able to succeed several times in team fights. In the late game, the advantage swung back to BMG again and with this they were able to finally push in and defeat compLexity in one last teamfight, which resulted in their first victory.
Game number two had another rare combo of heroes, BMG decided to pick Wretched Hag and Lodestone, hoping to make maximum use on their teamfight synergy. But compLexity quickly took over the game early on and a quick Kongor kill and some won teamfights ended the whole game pretty quickly, allowing compLexity to get even in score. Game 3 had Monkey King on coL's side, while BMG picked Voodoo Jester to be different. compLexity quickly outplayed BMG in terms of hero kills, but BMG was able to keep up with gold and experience for a while until coL increased the pressure and started pushing around minute 15, which allowed them to finally get a proper lead. Several teamfights and some hard work later, compLexity were firmly in the lead and made maximum use of it, forcing another big fight and winning this, after which BMG conceded the game, knowing that it was impossible to win now.
The fourth game saw rather normal lineups for both teams and was very even in every aspect initially. Both teams played well and they were careful enough not to allow the other team to take over. It took a big teamfight to finally break the status quo and it was compLexity who came out ahead. BMG came back during one fight, but were caught off guard in their opponents base and compLexity reclaimed their advantage. From that point on it was a straight play for coL and after several more minutes and fights, they were in BMGs base and wreaking havoc, which ended in a third win for the americans of compLexity.
The result of this match spelled doom for BMGs ambitions to continue their path in the DEBL. It became clear that they still had a long way to go to get back to their former self, but it also showed that this compLexity team is one of the favourites to not only win the DEBL, but also Dreamhack Summer and perhaps even HoN Tour Season 4, being the new and most direct threat to Sync eSports. For Group A this meant that compLexity and Fresh (now Druidz) made it to the final stage of the DEBL while Bad Monkey Gaming and DsBn will have to watch the next matches on Honcast.
And with these last matches completed, it is now time to advance to the brackets of the final stage of the Dead Eye Bounty League, which will start this weekend on Saturday with the first match of [coL]compLexity Gaming versus [Rea]Reason Gaming at 12:00 EDT | 18:00 CEST, followed by [SynC]Sync eSports versus [DRz]Druidz on Sunday at 12:00 EDT | 18:00 CEST. Honcast will cover these BO5 matches live, so make sure to tune in on time, it's going to be great, especially now with much more money on the line, as the winner of each match this weekend will grab $1500 in prize money, and the chance to fight for much more! 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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