HoN Tour Cycle 7 came to a close recently, with our HoN players taking 2nd against reigning champions, Sync eSports. The tournament started with Reason going 2-0 against Dawn, advancing them to face long time rival, Willowkeeper. Willowkeeper was a tough match up, but the boys in red and white were able to take the match 2-1, placing them against the toughest challenge in Sync eSports.
Our team was able to take a game off of Sync, but sadly fell 1-2, forcing them into the loser’s bracket where they would once again, face Willowkeeper. Much like the winner’s bracket match, Willowkeeper brought their A-game, taking a game off of Reason. Reason would soon fight back, forcing Willowkeeper to make mistakes that they would then capitilze on. After a 2-1 victory, the momentum was in their hands, but would again have to face their biggest rival, Sync eSports, in the Grand Finals. Sync was given the 1-0 advantage before hand as they had previously beat Reason in the Winner’s Finals.
The advantage was a bit intimidating, as they took Game 2, and the 2-0 advantage. Game 3 was a different story, where Reason had the advantage and held it the entire game, giving them the victory, but still behind 2-1. Game 4, the final match, would be their toughest challenge. They could tie it up and force the Game 5, or take 2nd and Sync would be retain their thrown. After multiple advantage swaps, and a late push, Sync was able to wipe Reason in their base, and push for the victory, taking 1st place, $10,000, and an easy trip to Thailand for the HoN Tour LAN.
Even with 2nd place, we are incredibly proud of our HoN team, and are incredibly excited to see what they bring in Cycle 8. I decided to sit down with our support player, Chaoly (formerly TPSPriceless), to get his opinion on Cycle 7, and to ask what they have prepared for Cycle 8.
How did you guys feel coming out of the Loser’s Finals 2-1 against Willowkeeper?
Chaoly: “It felt really rewarding for us to get another victory over them in this cycle, especially as they had knocked us down to Gold in a previous one. With this victory we are a step closer to beating Sync which is our goal in the first place.”
Sync ended up being the bigger challenge. Did you think the momentum would carry with you?
Chaoly: “We knew we were in for a big challenge vs the Sync giants, especially with them being 1 game up, however…[This is when they began scrimming, and I patiently waited, twiddling my thumbs.]…We knew we were in for a big challenge vs the Sync giants, especially with them being 1 game up, howeverwe were confident in our play and played on even terms with them throughout most of the series. Unfortunately coming to the grand finals from the losers’ bracket fatigue started kicking in pretty early and killed some of our momentum.
Now, you guys were playing a lot of Deadwood, taking it away from Sync. Was that a plan or just hidden genius?
Chaoly: “In Reason Gaming we like to win however we prefer being innovative about it. Deadwood was buffed recently and never before seen in the offlane position however I thought it fit Z4NE’s playstyle perfectly and obviously he repaid our faith in him by bloodlusting the enemy trilanes both against Sync and Tree. Did we pick it to take it away from Sync? No. We have our style and they have theirs.”
“Since returning from our Moba break (most of us were gone for over a year from Mobas) we have been focusing on beating the number 2 team (Tree) which we have achieved now. We had quite a few ‘sneaky’ plans against Tree, for example double jungle or hardcore push. Our attention now turns to Sync and you can definitely bet on seeing a strategy a bit more elaborate than a level-1 kongor sneak.”
Last question. Without giving anything away, what are you plans for Cycle 8?
Chaoly: “Our over-all plan is very simple. We’re going to keep on scrimming in the upcoming weeks and play a lot of public games in preparation for the final cycle. All I’m going to say about our strategy is – beware of the Nymphora.”
Well, it’s been a pleasure speaking with you. You are a gentleman and a scholar. Is there anything else you would like to say?
Chaoly: “Shoutout to S2 for giving the competitive players more money and content and we at Reason Gaming will be happily anticipating the announcement of Hontour Season 4.”
