This week's content line-up is headlined by Moraxus Axia, the newest URSA CORP member:

Luna Moth Cherub Available now! Moraxus Axia Available now! Malice Pearl 9/5

Manticore Bramble 9/8 Dionysus 9/10 Space Merlin 9/12

HoN eSports Weekly 9/4

The HoN Tour Season is in full swing, and with it comes new winners, story lines, and tons of prizes in competitive play! Cycle 1 finished up last week, and a new champion is in the spotlight, but in just a few short days, teams will get another chance to dethrone the kings. Let's take a look at what is going on in HoN eSports!

HoN Tour Season 3

With the first cycle having closed up, some fans were a bit shocked to see Sync eSports, the #2 ranked team in HoN, take a win in the Grand Finals. The 3-2 victory over Bad Monkey Gaming was hard fraught, but in the end Sync came out on top, taking home the lion's share of the over $30,000 cycle 1 prize pool. Shortly after, BMG went through a roster shakeup, with captain Handsken and long-time members Sealkid and Jonassomfan departing, only to be replaced by returning competitors Haxxeren, Tankafett, and Support. The new Monkeys will be put to the test in the upcoming weeks, while Sync looks to defend their new found throne.

Outside of the top two, Willowkeeper brought home the Bronze with a 2-0 sweep over fourth place Reason Gaming. These two squads will be in prime contention for a spot in the Grand Finals, as a vacancy may well be created in the absence of the former BMG lineup. Teams Shrek is Love and The Last of US were knocked out of the Diamond division due to poor performance, though some members of the NA based tUS joined a newly promoted squad, Nullstone Gaming.

The recent Gold Division Champions will be tested against BMG in the first match of Cycle 2, this Saturday. Finally, Moes Tavern, now known as WOP WOP, were promoted from the Gold Division, and will face considerable competition in Sync eSports during their first round match. Former Diamond team You Love To Party found some success with a win in the Silver Division, while FunintheSun v2 took the Bronze Division in a blast from the past.

Weekly Cups

This past weekend showed a reincarnation of the 5v5 Cup as a means of giving teams a competitive outlet during off-weeks of HoN Tour. The 5v5 Cup saw many Gold and even Diamond level teams, and provided lots of action to fans on the streams of HoN Community Casters. In the end, Twisted Fuzion brought down DONKEKONG 2-1 in the finals, in what could soon be a Diamond Division match-up.

Variety Cup #21 took teams back to the 3v3 arena, Grimm's Crossing. Here, many of the regulars showed up, including Midwars gods, Big Bux Money Crew, Gold Division (and future 5v5 Cup #4 champs) Twisted Fuzion, and even the solid Diamond squad, Dawn. In the end, the high level competition of the Diamond Division seems to have prepared Dawn for all levels of battle, as they took home the win 2-0 over BUX in the Finals.

This Week's Events

Registration is still open for Variety Cup #22, with a trip once more to Grimm's Crossing. Returning victors, Dawn, are sure to be there, so make sure to practice up for this exciting 3v3 event. Additionally, HoN Tour Cycle 2 kicks off on Saturday with a prize pool of nearly $32,000; well done community! Sign-ups for the Bronze division are still open, so be sure to get in on the action and fun! For those who prefer to watch, Honcast coverage begins on Saturday at 12pm EDT | 1800 CEST with match-ups like Nullstone Gaming vs BMG, or REXXARS vs Willowkeeper. Be sure to tune in for all the fun!

See you next week for more HoN eSports Weekly!

-Beef

Patch 3.5.4 is live! Aside from some awesome new content you'll notice changes elsewhere including modifications to Heroes of Newerth's in-game payments system: 

The use of PayPal is NO LONGER REQUIRED to make in-game purchases. 

Your eyes do not deceive you: PayPal accounts are no longer required to make in-game purchases. 

Oh happy day! 

Have a great Wednesday, everyone!
--Trugo

• Over the course of five days, thousands competed for the title of Gamescom 2014 Prophets Champion. Shout out to our winner, Ertug Eren, tournament champion and proud new owner of €1000!
• The Prophets finals were featured on the front page of Twitch and casted by the soothing baritones of Beefpotpie and the one-and-only Milkfat.
• Headsets, mice, and keyboards, oh my! Lots of swag was given away. Lots. We also gave away Ultimate Prophets avatar codes and “EAT. SLEEP. HON.” T-shirts. Very nice!
• We estimate that nearly 60 friendships were decimated as the result of Prophets’ FFA, skill shot action. … yikes. It’s just a game, bros.*

There you have it! It was an absolute pleasure meeting so many passionate HoN fans face-to-face – thanks for droppin’ by.

Hey, all!