By BlahC

Cycle 5 of HoN Tour Season 4 is behind us and last weekend had firework playoff matches to celebrate the end of the Cycle and the emergence of new Champions. Four teams were still standing when the Playoffs started on Saturday evening and slowly but steadily, one after the other dropped off until just one team was left. These guys are the Diamond Division Champions of Cycle 5 and earned a lot of money and points for the World Finals as well as bragging rights.


Saturday

Starting off early in the evening (from an european point of view), [BMG]BadMonkeyGaming and [Mint]Fresh had the honor of playing the first match in the Playoffs. With a long history of having good and bad days as well as playing unusually and creatively, this match was to be a feast for the eyes. The monkeys had a pretty good day and took both games from Fresh without blinking, making this a rather short but intense affair and pushing them toward the Grand finals, while Fresh could enjoy the rest of the weekend in peace at least.

Later that evening, the long awaited Winners Bracket Finals was due and the current top teams [Sync]Sync eSports and [coL]compLexity Gaming were standing ready to play. As expected, it was the high level match that people wanted to see and after three great games, it was compLexity who came out on top, which forced Sync to take the detour via the Losers Bracket. Good tidings for compLexity, who not only gained payback for their loss earlier in the Group Stage, but also were now in a pretty good position to win it all and make it another american Cycle.


Sunday

The Losers Bracket Finals was next in line and it was played early Sunday evening. BadMonkeyGaming and Sync eSports were now set to play against each other and it promised to be another exciting match. Both teams clashed with all they had in the first game and it went on for quite a while with neither team gaining a real advantage. Only forty minutes later, Sync was finally able to make the decisive push and defeat their opponents, ending this game with a nice long battle in favor of Sync. The second game was going in favour of Sync pretty much right away, but not too much, so BMG was still in the game, fighting hard to turn the game. Eventually though this advantage paid off for Sync and they gained more and more ground along with a ton of kills. BMG had one phase where they almost came back, but Sync managed to defuse the situation and bring the victory home, joining compLexity Gaming in the Grand Finals and ending BMGs hopes of making it there a second time this Season.

The Grand Finals turned out to be a rematch between Sync eSports and compLexity Gaming, and once more we got a breathtaking match. The first game was rather one-sided and featured a dominating Sync team and a rather surprised compLexity, who did not stand half a chance that game. The second game was much more even and slow paced, as neither team really wanted to risk anything. After half an hour, a long battle went in favour for compLexity Gaming and Sync realized that they should concede and focus on the third game. This third game was also slow paced and carefully played, yet still entertaining as there was never a dull moment. compLexity managed to get the advantage early on and progressed to build on it during the game, which in the end allowed them to win the game. And with this, compLexity Gaming became the Champions of HoN Tour Season 4 Cycle 5!


That's a total of three times that this team has become the Champions, clearly they are the top team right now. Sync got second and despite their earlier dominance failed to see it through, but that only means that they still have room to improve despite their already top performance. And knowing them, these improvements will come soon.

Next Cycle will be the last before christmas break, and it will offer answers to some interesting questions, like will compLexity will finally manage to win two Cycles back to back, will Sync finally win a Cycle, how will the new team do and who will go back to Gold if any. The new Cycle starts Saturday at 12:00 EST | 18:00 CET, so plan your week accordingly, you don't want to miss that!

Once more, Congrats to compLexity Gaming, well done!


BlahC
BlahC is a senior Hontour.com writer focusing on the NA/EU Diamond and Gold Divisions. After making a name for himself in the Dawn of War 1 scene, he began his career in journalism at DawnOfWar.de. As one of the first HoN Tour writers, BlahC has focused on the less known teams, bringing their name to the forefront. When he isn’t writing about HoN, BlahC enjoys playing RPGs, writing fiction, and listening to Metal, Avantgarde, and Neofolk music.

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