By Fantasy
Back to back Thai HoN Tour Champions Snoop Dogg
After Neolution eSports.MRR wrote history for their own brand and the entire nation of Thailand in Jönköping earlier this month, reality caught up to them at home. After being celebrated and cheered upon by the entire gaming scene in Thailand, the team once more failed to win the most prestigious title in Thailand - for the fourth straight time. The dynasty around famous player Chitawan and carry sensation punkpang was once more stopped in the Grand Finals by one of their biggest nemesis of the most recent times.
Yet again it was Snoop Dogg getting the better of Neolution eSports.MRR, taking them back down memory lane of their last meeting in the Thai HoN Tour playoffs. Back a few months ago it was the Semifinals where this matchup took place, the moment Snoop Dogg ascended into higher spheres. In one of the biggest upsets in Thai HoN history, the young and rising squad of Snoop Dogg eliminated the clear-cut favorite. The result of that was a sponsorship deal for DD0G and extra work for Neolution eSports.MRR to get to the World Finals.
Since then the scene was more or less split up in two faces of the Thai scene, which was solidified at the Elmia just two weeks ago. To the international fans it looked like Neolution eSports.MRR is the dynasty team, the best team in Thailand and maybe even the world, while Snoop Dogg continued to cause problems in the home region. Not only did the Dogg’s secure the cycles of the last two G-Leagues, but now they’ve also grabbed the Thai HoN Tour title for the fourth season.
At first it looked like the domination over the Thai rivals wouldn’t continue though. After the first game of the series it was advantage Neolution eSports.MRR, who got their hands on a Klanx for punkpang and a Moraxus for Chitawan. After that it was all DD0G’s game, playing in the fashion the Thai spectators grew accustomed to. Not even a Puppet Master or Silhouette on punkpang, or a Deadwood on Chitawan could sway the match back in Neo.MRR’s favor. Snoop Dogg executed better, worked great in a team, coordinated their pick offs to perfection and once more showed the patience in critical situations. Another thing to note, next to the sublime team work showcased, was the variety of heroes that DD0G had at their disposal. 14 different heroes were picked out of the 20 possible picks with only Doctor Repulsor, Bubbles, Moira and Deadwood making multiple appearances. Outside of that the team put their versatility on display especially on the support position with heroes like Empath, Blitz and Circe making a rare competitive appearance.
With this the Snoop Dogg team is joining an elite club of HoN teams in this world that have clinched more than one major title in their tenure. Next to the immortal North American and European juggernauts of fnatic and stayGreen, they join fellow Thai team MiTH.s2y with two Thai HoN Tour titles. Out of that list is Neolution eSports.MRR though. The squad came close to a HoN Tour title in Thailand and South East Asia three times now, twice losing the finals to MiTH.s2y and twice being kicked out of the running by Snoop Dogg.
Recent DreamHack Champions Neo.MRR continue to fall short on Thai soil.
The popular team will stick together though, making another attempt to capture the most important title on the Thai HoN scene - the Thai HoN Tour. The next season is already announced and will start in August, as the registration for the qualifiers will go live on at the end of July. Then a lot of the teams can make another attempt to get into the G-League, as well as the veteran teams making another run at the gold. For Snoop Dogg history will be on the line, as they get a chance to go for the third consecutive title, an accomplishment that has never been reached in the Thai HoN scene - at least on the male side. For everyone else, the season will be a fresh start. Younger teams like Get Together or PoCc will have a chance to reach for the sky, rebuilding squads like Hybrid Gaming, Turtle Master or Sorry Sorry can go for improvements, while Neolution eSports.MRR is still hustling and chasing that one missing title in their trophy case.
End Results of the Thai HoN Tour Season 4:
1st - Snoop Dogg - 250,000 THB (~$7500 USD)
2nd - Neolution eSports.MRR - 50,000 THB (~$1500 USD)
3rd - Get Together - 40,000 THB (~ $1200 USD)
4th - Hybrid Gaming - 30,000 THB (~$900 USD)
5th/6th - s2y and Turtle Master - 15,000 THB each (~$450 USD)
Fantasy is a journalist with four years of experience working in various eSports. He is currently the HoN Tour correspondent for the CIS and SEA regions, as well as an editor for both ESL Gaming and compLexity Gaming. In addition to his online endeavors, he studies Publicity and Communication, plays American football, and loves movies.
