By Fantasy
Cycle 4 ended in similar fashion as the third one, with Neolution eSports.MRR on top of the leaderboard. Ever since overcoming their demons in the Cycle 2 Grand Finals against Snoop Dogg, the team around legendary carry duqui and star Chitawan`X has been on a roll again. Shades of their old dominations appeared back into the observer’s minds, when the team was terrorizing the entire Thai scene for a couple of months. Now they are back at it, looking to finally add that important title of HoN Tour Season Champions. The DreamHack victory this summer was a huge milestone for the team, but international competition is only one pillar of their legacy. The other one would be a Thai HoN Tour title, something they were denied four times in a row, despite entering some of the seasons as the clear-cut favorite.
Before entering the competition with the other Top 6 teams of the region, Neolution eSports.MRR first had their eyes set on the Cycle hattrick. After the shameful display in the first cycle, missing the postseason for the first time in ages, the team rallied back and regrouped. In this tough region, they realized, you can’t take anything for granted. In the words of the immortal Frank Costello: “No one gives it to you. You have to take it!”
That is exactly what the team plans to do this weekend in two separate postseason events. With a change in schedule, the Thai officials opted for a rather unorthodox and unconventional solution. Instead of ending the third cycle, they pushed the Grand Finals event back to have a double header on Saturday and Sunday. This weekend the Thai HoN Tour studios will host the Cycle 3 and Cycle 4 finals, followed by announcing the postseason bracket with the Top 6 teams.
In that bracket, just like in both Grand Finals events, the young rivalry of Snoop Dogg and Neolution eSports.MRR will most likely continue and write a few more chapters. In the third cycle Turtle Master will join the two defining teams of the region, and in the fourth they will be joined by Hybrid Gaming - both a blast from the past. It was not that long ago that both Turtle Master and Hybrid Gaming, formerly known as MiTH.s2y, ruled the region, breaking the dominance of Neolution eSports.MRR at the Garena Star League 2024 to start their reign.
For Turtle Master it was only a short reign, for MiTH.s2y it resulted in a Thai HoN Tour Season title, a SEA HoN Tour Season Championship, as well as two trips abroad to beautiful Sweden. Now Neolution eSports.MRR has returned, Snoop Dogg has risen as the youngster team, rivaling the old establishment already.
Looking past this weekend, the Top 6 are already set - more or less. The six teams are determined, but the order is still up for grabs. With the brackets only including the best six teams of the region, the first two seeds will receive, in Thai HoN typical fashion, a pass straight to the Semifinals. Those spots will most likely go to Neolution eSports and Snoop Dogg, but their order is still undetermined as well. Still carrying the burden of the first cycle, Neo.MRR is trailing by 1300 points still. In case DDOG and Neo.MRR split the two remaining Grand Finals, DDOG will walk away with the #1 seed, getting a slightly easier path to the final showdown. For MRR only the cycle hattrick clinches the top spot, added motivation for the team.
Beneath these two gold standards of the region, Hybrid Gaming, Turtle Master, Get Together and Kimochi.Tt eSports will make the Top 6 for sure. For Get Together and Kimochi.Tt eSports, the next weekend doesn’t really matter that much, as they are fifth and sixth place respectively. For Turtle Master a Cycle 3 title would be necessary to catch up to Hybrid Gaming on the finish line - a rather difficult venture with their current form. Else, if everything goes according to plan, the first round matchups in the postseason event would pair up Kimochi Tt.eSports against Hybrid Gaming and Turtle Master against the young team of Get Together.
Final confirmation of that will not be given until after this weekend, so tune in to the Thai Garena channel on Saturday and Sunday starting at 5 AM CET / 11 PM EST (the day before). On Saturday with Neo.MRR, Snoop Dogg and Turtle Master, on Sunday with Neo.MRR, Snoop Dogg and Hybrid Gaming.
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.
