The HoN Tour World Finals 2024 are within reach now as every region is on the home stretch to find its representatives. In North America and Europe Sync eSports has already clinched their spot, while four other teams are going through the grueling playoffs to snag the last remaining NA/EU ticket. Over in SEA the Wild Card Qualifiers have officially begun with teams from Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines trying their luck for a spot.
Eight hopefuls began the quest for the three open spots a few days ago, now that list is already cut down to four. Among those four are the storied franchises of Thailand with Neolution eSports.MRR and MiTH.MiXs, the core of MiTH.s2y of a few years ago. Both those rivals have already locked up their spot as well, playing the Grand Finals of the Wild Card tournament for the pride factor. It will be another epic chapter in the rivalry between the teams that has been shaping the competitive scene in Thailand for over three years now.
Overall the perception of the Western scene is probably giving the edge to Neolution eSports.MRR and their star players, Chitawan and punkpang, following their last impressive showing with the DreamHack Summer 2024 title.
In the Thai scene though, a lot can happen when rivals clash. As a matter of fact Neolution eSports.MRR might go down in the history books of HoN amongst greats like fnatic.MSI and stayGreen, yet they still couldn't win a single Thai HoN Tour season. Multiple times they were denied by MiTH.s2y or in the later parts Snoop Dogg. The most recent chapter of this rivalry ended with Neolution eSports.MRR on the ropes, as MiTH.MiXs hoisted the GSL 2024 trophy in front of a big crowd. So who will smile this time?
As only pride is on the line in the Grand Finals, the 3rd place match is actually the more important one of this tournament. Only the third place finish in the HoN Tour World Finals: SEA Wild Card Qualifier tournament will give a team the ticket to compete against the best on this planet. Throwing their hat into the ring for that honor are Kimochi and newcomer team Electronic Dance Music, short EDMs.
The story couldn't be different amongst these teams, as Kc is one of the longest-running teams in the entire HoN scene in Thailand. Back at GSL 2024 when the Western world was introduced to the Thai region, the Anime girl of Kimochi was already represented. Two of those original members are still on the roster, three years after the GSL 2024 festivities. The long tenure of b3lLz and AffeRay has not always yielded the best results, as Kimochi was flying under the radar in almost all HoN Tour seasons. They were a G-League team, but consistently in the middle of the pack without ever getting into demotion trouble.
Now they fight against EDMs, a completely new bunch. Similar to Get Together and Snoop Dogg a few months back, this team just exploded onto the scene with great results right away. From a nobody to a serious contender for a World Final spot – the American dream lived in Thailand. The road here led through the thrill of victory and agony of defeat for both teams. First both Kc and EDMs eliminated the smaller SEA contenders, only to then suffer quick and clear 0-2 defeats at the hand of the two big dogs in Thailand. Now they fight against each other for the chance to compete against Sync eSports and the rest of the world. Will the Anime girl prevail or are the sounds of Electronic Dance Music the rhythm of victory?
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.
