HoN eSports Weekly 9/9

Hey there HoN eSports fans! We've got another update on all the competitions going on in HoN, including the fiercly competitive HoN Tour Diamond Division, the lower divisions, and an unusual take on this week's Variety Cup. Lets dive right in!

HoN Tour Diamond Division
Cycle 2 kicked off this past weekend, and it posed a lot of questions. How dominant are Sync looking? Will BMG recover from their roster shakeup? What's with the new team, Nullstone Gaming? And who will take the big step to fill the shoes of previous top contenders. Some of those questions were answered, as Sync 2-0'd their way to a spot in the Winner's Finals,. There they will be joined by new dominant force willowkeeper, who took a similar path through REXXARS and Bad Monkey Gaming. BMG fell early into the Loser's Bracket, but recovered with a win over WOP DASH, putting them in the top four going into the second weekend.

The new North American Squad, Nullstone Gaming, was the talk of the town after their run in the Diamond Division. After being dispatched 2-0 by BMG in the upper bracket, Nullstone managed to defeat REXXARS, knocking them to Gold, and took a big upset over #3 ranked Reason Gaming. The new squad features former The Last of US talent like BeaverBanger and WhaT_YoU_GoT, but so far they are looking like real contenders. Be sure to keep an eye on them over the next few cycles

HoN Tour Lower Divisions

After being knocked out of Diamond Division after the first cycle, Shrek is Love and recently reformed The Last of US are fighting to get back into the top division. The two elevator teams are currently in the Winner's Finals of the Gold Division, with at least one guaranteed to make a Diamond comeback. Other competition for that right includes well known teams like Adrians Familj, Twisted Fuzion, DONKEKONG, and the always entertaining FROG No HIPPO.

The recently returned players of FunintheSun v2 are in the middle of an impressive run through the Silver Division. Parakletos and the boys are in the finals, where the HT Season 2 Playoff Team TangZangPang looks to put a stop to the run, and claim victory for themselves. Both teams have already qualified for Gold Division next cycle, so look out for these names. The large Bronze Division is also narrowed down to just four. Each of the teams will bump up to Silver in just a few weeks, but until then The Boy5, Viper eSportsklubb, GermanSquad5 Alpha, and Coil are looking to bring home a Bronze championship.

Variety Cup

Though they were stopped short in the Diamond Division, Dawn came through in the Variety Cup #22. With back-to-back victories in the Grimm's Crossing event they're looking to one up the boys of Grimm's United, but the competition of this event was a bit less than usual. In any case, this week the competition will likely be back in force as the Variety Cup goes to Forests of Caldavar.

This Week's Events

Registration for Variety Cup #23 is open now! The weekly takes a journey into Forests of Caldavar with this Captain's Pick Tournament, so be sure to test your might against some formidable 5v5 teams! HoN Tour Cycle 2 continues this weekend, so be sure to tune in to coverage from Honcast and the HoN Community Casters!

Catch you next week for another report on HoN eSports!

Several robust, well thought-out, and entertaining map ideas were submitted, but in the end, creative cacophony was silenced by eight front runners. 

Congratulations!!

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