In the last two cycles the Heroes of Newerth community got used to the picture of Trademark eSports reigning supreme over the Diamond Division. That image changed in the sixth cycle as Stay Green defeats compLexity Gaming in the Grand Finals to win the second Diamond title.
Championship Sunday started with huge news, as the reigning, defending and four-time Champions Trademark eSports got eliminated right away to only finish third in the sixth Cycle. Their combatants Stay Green had shown in the GSL Qualifier that they are a strong contestant for the Swedish-Danish combination when both meet on level ground. Once again Stay Green swept away the dreams of Trademark eSports in a clean and clear fashion, leaving little doubt on their quest to get to HoN throne for good.
That left two unusual fighters last standing with Stay Green and compLexity Gaming, a matchup that never occured in a Grand Final of the HoN Tour Diamond history before. With compLexity Gaming up 1-0 right from the start, Stay Green once again had to overcome adversity as they were looking to keep the momentum of their early GSL Qualification going.
They could cash in on that momentum early on with a good outing on the first match, tying the series 1-1. compLexity responded immediately with an aggressive lineup and could get the lead back. The back-and-forth continued as Stay Green showed their morale again in a lop-sided Game 3 - pushing the series to the final encounter.
That map was highly contested and will go down in the HoN Tour Season 1 history as one of the closest matches to be played. compLexity could get off to a good start, then threw in some blunders in big team fights. That left to a marginal gold and experience advantage for Stay Green around the 35 minute mark, but the real thriller occured in a very long engagement at the Kongor Pit, that was won by compLexity but ultimately cost them the game. In the meantime their base got pushed in, Stay Green wasted no time to equip Post Haste to port directly to the vulnerable Shrine and secure their victory with that move.
Therefor Stay Green captures their second title in the Diamond Division, while compLexity's re-emerging run through the bracket gets stopped just short of the ultimate victory. The North American organization can now look at three second place finishes, but no Diamond title so far.
Final Standing in the Diamond Cycle 6
1. Place:
Stay Green - $4,000 USD + 4,000 points2. Place:
compLexity Gaming - $2,500 USD + 2,500 points3. Place:
Trademark eSports - $2,000 USD + 2,000 points4. Place:
Lions eSports - $1,500 USD + 1,500 points5.-6. Place:
Tt eSports - $1,000 USD + 1,000 points5.-6. Place:
QsQ - $1,000 USD + 1,000 points| Rankings after Cycle 6 (Top 11) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | Points | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Trademark eSports | 19,800 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Stay Green | 17,275 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | compLexity Gaming | 10,975 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | QsQ | 8,750 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Lions eSports | 7,650 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Tt eSports | 6,400 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | One Trick Pony | 5,425 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | We Are Spies | 4,090 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Absolute Legends | 3,925 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Pencils | 3,625 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 11 |  Pikachu | 3,500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
In between the sixth and seventh cycle 16 qualified teams will compete from Monday till Thursday for the final spot in the Garena Star League 2013. After that tournament the regular HoN Tour Diamond Division will continue on Saturday, March, 2nd at 18 CET. The cycle will show whether Trademark eSports lost a step, compLexity is back for real and if Stay Green can remain the shining Diamond.
