It's been a long year, and the Heroes of Newerth scene has experienced steady growth. From the days of dominance of We Heart Pigs [WHP] and fiVe [5] in beta up til today, more and more teams are rising up to the challenge, a phenomenon which has been showing in the past few months. Without further ado, here are my top 10 teams for 2010.
#1 Evil Geniuses [EG]
It's been a wonderful year for the boys from We Heart Pigs, winning pretty much every major tournament they were in: the fight for the x6 sponsorship with fiVe, Alienware HoN launch finals, Honcast Invitational, Digital Youth Awards. The list goes on. Their consistent dominance over every other team in the scene, even when star player chu was inactive wins them the number 1 spot of 2010. They're recently 0-3 in their last 3 match-ups against closest rivals Fnatic, but it is without a doubt that 2010 as a whole was the year for EG. It remains to be seen if they can pull it together and cap off a remarkable 2010 by winning the Steelseries World Cup.
Roster Biggest accomplishments
bkid (Captain)
chu
Dodo
se`busca
FujiApples
`pokedex
YoDa GameReplays TS1 Invitational 1st runner-up
x6 SideWinder tournament Champions
Alienware Arena Champions
GameReplays TS2 Invitational Champions
Honcast Invitational Champions
Alienware Arena Elite Division Champions
Digital Youth Awards 2010 Champions
#2 FnaticMSI [MSI]
FnaticMSI came in relatively late to the scene when compared to old school teams such as We Heart Pigs and fiVe, but quickly established themselves as big contenders for titles. After many stages of evolution the only survivor of Fnatic's 1st generation is star player Trixi, who continues to dominate with his solid performances. The team has gotten a lot better since the merger with iLx trio Fly, N0tail and NoVa_ and they are currently in top form, beating close rivals EG 3-0 in their last 3 meetings. They come in 2nd place due to how recent their success is having played second fiddle to Evil Geniuses for quite some time now. A recent loss against a North American scrap team shows that they have room to improve before becoming the undisputed number 1 team in the world.
Roster Biggest accomplishments
Freshpro (Captain)
Trixi
N0tail
Fly
NoVa_ GameReplays TS1 Invitational 2nd runner-up
Honcast Invitational 1st runner-up
DreamHack Summer 2010 1st runner-up
ESL April, June, July, August, September, October
DreamHack Winter 2010 Champions
#3 SK Gaming [SK]
fiVe was easily one of the top 2 teams during beta, with a lineup boasting the likes of Testie and se`busca, who is now playing for Evil Geniuses. The team is currently one of the most underrated teams, mostly due to a slump mid year after star player Testie's decision to go inactive following the departure of core players se`busca and china. However, as they have shown in the World Cup, SK Gaming is back in business, winning all their games 2-0 (besides against EG and DWi) and securing at least a 3rd place finish in the HoN World Cup. Latest additions CarDinaL and Tralfamadore proved to be a good decision as both played pivotal roles in the crunch match against Deal With it. It would be reasonable to expect the team to get better especially with Testie trying to recover to his beta self.
Roster Biggest accomplishments
Bdiz (Captain)
Testie
CarDinaL
tabako
Tralfamadore
Draskyl
Blavo
Fogged GameReplays TS1 Invitational Champions
x6 SideWinder tournament 1st runner-up
Alienware Arena 1st runner-up
Honcast Invitational 4th place
#4 Duskbin eSports [DskB]
Although their 1st appearance together as Never Back Down was relatively late, a majority of this team were rocking the scene early on as People of Luzon [POL]. The addition of capt`mike formed an incredibly great team as NvD made a huge splash in the scene, defeating FnaticMSI on their 2nd streamed game. A magnificent run in the HoN World Cup followed after they were picked up by DuskBin eSports only for them to be knocked down by Evil Geniuses and eventually eliminated against dilated's dream team following some unfortunate circumstances. Even with not many tournament titles they deserve 4th considering they are one of the closest to giving top teams Evil Geniuses and FnaticMSI a close fight. Now that S2 has given top SEA teams access to International HoN expect to see more from this team in the future.
Roster Biggest accomplishments
capt`mike (Captain)
Dragon_punch
zekaykay
lutan
polwiders
OctoberKiss
ismification Garena HoN LAN 2010 Champions
SEA World Cup Qualifiers Champions
#5 Deal With it [DWi]
Often unnoticed in the background during beta, DWi basked in the spotlight during the Honcast Invitational, upsetting KD-Gaming which consisted of the like of DotA legends Kebap, H4nn1 and LevenT en route to a 3rd place finish. This streak was followed by a period where DWi was seen as the closest team to Loaded (now Evil Geniuses) before unfortunately going inactive due to the loss of star player EternalEnvy and AMXZaku. They recently made their comeback to the scene for the HoN World Cup and have certainly come a long way, with sniperdad420 filling EternalEnvy's shoes nicely as the primary carry player. The team seems to be playing well at the moment but it remains to be seen if they will be around to stay after the World Cup, having only featured in the 1st out of GameReplays's 3 Qualifier events.
Roster Biggest accomplishments
Tarano (Captain)
sLicKz
sniperdad420
KiWiKiD
braxton911
DirgeSnoopy
WaFFOMGZ
Killsky GameReplays TS2 Invitational 2nd runner-up
Newegg Wanfest Champion
Honcast Invitational 3rd place
USA World Cup Qualifiers 1st runner-up
#6 iMpUniTy [iMp]
While not having many titles to their name, the Singaporean team has time and time again proven itself to be worthy opponents of the world's top teams. In the HoN World Cup they remain the only team to have taken a game against FnaticMSI, who seems to be in unstoppable form. They were also the only team to take a game against Evil Geniuses during their dominating display at the Digital Youth Awards. Consistency is what's hurting them at the moment, and if they can get that sorted out they will definitely be serious contenders for tournaments.
Roster Biggest accomplishments
Ricardo (Captain)
ken
Air
Act
beanbeanbean
CapellzorFnatic PLAY tournament 4th place
Digital Youth Awards 2nd runner-up
#7 Infused TT eSports [Infs]
With a lineup boasting well-known names from old teams Lanes Are Obvious, uniQue eSports, Take it to the House and unZ, this team deserves a top 10 slot simply due to a combination of the inactivity of more established teams, the instant impact they had on the scene plus their ability to compete with the best of the best. Many jaws were dropped as they beat SK and EG en route to their 1st Gamereplays finals, even leading MSI at one point in that game. Within a month's formation the team was also invited to participate in ESL's December Invitational. and are about to go up against Online Kingdom in the semifinals. It is reasonable to expect a lot more out of these boys in the upcoming year.
Roster Biggest accomplishments
PiIIows (Captain)
AstonL
Amingo
Asway
iSkiLL
CaptainBoner UNGL Zowie HoN Cup 1st runner-up
GameReplays TS3 Qualifier 2 1st runner-up
GameReplays TS3 Qualifier 3 2nd runner-up
#8 Online Kingdom [OK]
Ever since the Digital Youth Awards the European powerhouse has been a complete shadow of it's former KD self. With recent inactivity along with the lack of a complete 5 man roster, the only reason they made it in the top 10 was the success of it's former lineups, winning DreamHack Summer in tremendous fashion. Now, with only Mag1X, Overpow and Akke left on the official roster, one can only hope that they will be able to pick up 2 great players to get back on track. Based on the people who have played for them in the past possible candidates are Abborre and Karate_KenT, while captain of the former TCM-Gaming HenryD has already been sporting the OK tag.
Roster Biggest accomplishments
Mag1X (Captain)
Akke
Overpow
HenryD DreamHack Summer Champion
Fnatic PLAY tournament 3rd place
ESL May and March Champion
East Europe World Cup Qualifier Champion
#9 Dirty Minds [DM]
Dirty Minds first made an impact on the scene back in beta, as Dreamrage's Ophelia created the first ever tournament final that was not WHP vs 5, knocking out tournament favourites WHP. They then progressed on to use a push strat against 5, with the likes of Warbeast and Wildsoul in their lineup, cementing themselves as a crowd favourite to watch. 2010 has been somewhat of a roller coaster ride for the team organisation wise, having gone inactive during the sign up and qualifying stages of the World Cup, only to come back due to the mass drop out of teams and going strong into the top 4 of the winner's bracket. They then finally pick up a sponsor in the form of KD-Gaming, before learning that they can't go to DreamHack Winter. The team has been seen rocking a [BALL] tag and their clan name has been changed to TCM Gaming. While nothing is official as of now, looks like the team will be getting a new home. With old member JerAx returning to the team and the departures of kay`, SemiJew and wooti, perhaps this will be the stable roster that will give them success in 2011.
Roster Biggest accomplishments
SMaK_ (Captain)
LoLQoP
WehSing
Fluxje
Era
JerAx GameReplays TS2 Invitational 2nd runner-up
#10 Binary Evasion [b3V]
Originally named WeLackBrains, Binary Evasion is one of the emerging talents from Europe. The team is placing solidly in all tournaments it's participated in so far, including a 3rd place finish at DreamHack Winter, which is also due to an unfortunate early meeting with Fnatic in the semifinals. Unfortunately with the team not participating in the HoN World Cup it seems as though they aren't competing as often, but they are a force to reckon with and it should be interesting to see how far they will succeed in 2011.
Roster Biggest accomplishments
Loiz (Captain)
likmasken
Reyz
Buch
Dreamwalker
SJOLOL DreamHack Winter 2nd runner-up
--- Teams to watch out for in 2011 ---
Inner Circle Elite [IcE] - The original Team Epic [ICE] didn't make it into the top 10 as they have disbanded. But from the ashes rises a reformed ICE created by brized and jah`. From the looks of it ikZu formerly of TCM-Gaming has joined their ranks. With his tactical prowess proven on countless occassions with Neva (MILK) and during the DYA, this teams shows a lot of promise.
Team Wahlin [Wahl] - The last slot in the top 10 was a tough decision between these guys and b3V. These guys performed solidly especially in the HoN World Cup, reaching stages much later than anybody would have expected. With former DrDz captain Revyy joining their ranks, these guys have the potential to challenge the big boys in the scene.
Dotally rad dot com [DRD] - For a team that's baller enough to pick a hero lineup based on facial hair for a competitive game, DRD's performaces have actually been very good. Moonmeander` has proven to be a solid addition to their roster and on a good day with their game face on they can dish it out surprisingly hard.
TS-Gaming [TSoG] - The recent addition of Black was a shocking move indeed, having previously been always an all Swedish team despite some roster changes. The team definitely has talent with 3 players having already proven their worth during their DotA times at Online Kingdom. They should really work on getting more consistent. On a good day they could beat even MSI, but on some days they can lose to random 2nd tier teams.
Roam and KiLL [RAK] - It's quite unfortunate that these guys are in South East Asia, but despite that they are surpisingly active. This team tends to succeed in strategies involving a hard carry, and probably need to add more variety into the mix to get to the next level.
Empire Multigaming [Empr] - The team started out so strongly, when PhB convincingly beat Loaded. However, the team sort of remained stagnant while other teams were improving and newer teams emerging, causing them to fall off the radar. With star player Phe`V seeming to have left, one can only ponder what's in store for the Russian team. Although manager Rean says that they will be back for more in 2011, things don't look good for the Russian side. I don't see them breaking into the top 10 unless major changes happen.
Discuss: So how did the teams perform in 2010 according to you? Share your thoughts in the comments section.
#1 Evil Geniuses [EG]
It's been a wonderful year for the boys from We Heart Pigs, winning pretty much every major tournament they were in: the fight for the x6 sponsorship with fiVe, Alienware HoN launch finals, Honcast Invitational, Digital Youth Awards. The list goes on. Their consistent dominance over every other team in the scene, even when star player chu was inactive wins them the number 1 spot of 2010. They're recently 0-3 in their last 3 match-ups against closest rivals Fnatic, but it is without a doubt that 2010 as a whole was the year for EG. It remains to be seen if they can pull it together and cap off a remarkable 2010 by winning the Steelseries World Cup.
Roster Biggest accomplishments
bkid (Captain)
chu
Dodo
se`busca
FujiApples
`pokedex
YoDa GameReplays TS1 Invitational 1st runner-up
x6 SideWinder tournament Champions
Alienware Arena Champions
GameReplays TS2 Invitational Champions
Honcast Invitational Champions
Alienware Arena Elite Division Champions
Digital Youth Awards 2010 Champions
#2 FnaticMSI [MSI]
FnaticMSI came in relatively late to the scene when compared to old school teams such as We Heart Pigs and fiVe, but quickly established themselves as big contenders for titles. After many stages of evolution the only survivor of Fnatic's 1st generation is star player Trixi, who continues to dominate with his solid performances. The team has gotten a lot better since the merger with iLx trio Fly, N0tail and NoVa_ and they are currently in top form, beating close rivals EG 3-0 in their last 3 meetings. They come in 2nd place due to how recent their success is having played second fiddle to Evil Geniuses for quite some time now. A recent loss against a North American scrap team shows that they have room to improve before becoming the undisputed number 1 team in the world.
Roster Biggest accomplishments
Freshpro (Captain)
Trixi
N0tail
Fly
NoVa_ GameReplays TS1 Invitational 2nd runner-up
Honcast Invitational 1st runner-up
DreamHack Summer 2010 1st runner-up
ESL April, June, July, August, September, October
DreamHack Winter 2010 Champions
#3 SK Gaming [SK]
fiVe was easily one of the top 2 teams during beta, with a lineup boasting the likes of Testie and se`busca, who is now playing for Evil Geniuses. The team is currently one of the most underrated teams, mostly due to a slump mid year after star player Testie's decision to go inactive following the departure of core players se`busca and china. However, as they have shown in the World Cup, SK Gaming is back in business, winning all their games 2-0 (besides against EG and DWi) and securing at least a 3rd place finish in the HoN World Cup. Latest additions CarDinaL and Tralfamadore proved to be a good decision as both played pivotal roles in the crunch match against Deal With it. It would be reasonable to expect the team to get better especially with Testie trying to recover to his beta self.
Roster Biggest accomplishments
Bdiz (Captain)
Testie
CarDinaL
tabako
Tralfamadore
Draskyl
Blavo
Fogged GameReplays TS1 Invitational Champions
x6 SideWinder tournament 1st runner-up
Alienware Arena 1st runner-up
Honcast Invitational 4th place
#4 Duskbin eSports [DskB]
Although their 1st appearance together as Never Back Down was relatively late, a majority of this team were rocking the scene early on as People of Luzon [POL]. The addition of capt`mike formed an incredibly great team as NvD made a huge splash in the scene, defeating FnaticMSI on their 2nd streamed game. A magnificent run in the HoN World Cup followed after they were picked up by DuskBin eSports only for them to be knocked down by Evil Geniuses and eventually eliminated against dilated's dream team following some unfortunate circumstances. Even with not many tournament titles they deserve 4th considering they are one of the closest to giving top teams Evil Geniuses and FnaticMSI a close fight. Now that S2 has given top SEA teams access to International HoN expect to see more from this team in the future.
Roster Biggest accomplishments
capt`mike (Captain)
Dragon_punch
zekaykay
lutan
polwiders
OctoberKiss
ismification Garena HoN LAN 2010 Champions
SEA World Cup Qualifiers Champions
#5 Deal With it [DWi]
Often unnoticed in the background during beta, DWi basked in the spotlight during the Honcast Invitational, upsetting KD-Gaming which consisted of the like of DotA legends Kebap, H4nn1 and LevenT en route to a 3rd place finish. This streak was followed by a period where DWi was seen as the closest team to Loaded (now Evil Geniuses) before unfortunately going inactive due to the loss of star player EternalEnvy and AMXZaku. They recently made their comeback to the scene for the HoN World Cup and have certainly come a long way, with sniperdad420 filling EternalEnvy's shoes nicely as the primary carry player. The team seems to be playing well at the moment but it remains to be seen if they will be around to stay after the World Cup, having only featured in the 1st out of GameReplays's 3 Qualifier events.
Roster Biggest accomplishments
Tarano (Captain)
sLicKz
sniperdad420
KiWiKiD
braxton911
DirgeSnoopy
WaFFOMGZ
Killsky GameReplays TS2 Invitational 2nd runner-up
Newegg Wanfest Champion
Honcast Invitational 3rd place
USA World Cup Qualifiers 1st runner-up
#6 iMpUniTy [iMp]
While not having many titles to their name, the Singaporean team has time and time again proven itself to be worthy opponents of the world's top teams. In the HoN World Cup they remain the only team to have taken a game against FnaticMSI, who seems to be in unstoppable form. They were also the only team to take a game against Evil Geniuses during their dominating display at the Digital Youth Awards. Consistency is what's hurting them at the moment, and if they can get that sorted out they will definitely be serious contenders for tournaments.
Roster Biggest accomplishments
Ricardo (Captain)
ken
Air
Act
beanbeanbean
CapellzorFnatic PLAY tournament 4th place
Digital Youth Awards 2nd runner-up
#7 Infused TT eSports [Infs]
With a lineup boasting well-known names from old teams Lanes Are Obvious, uniQue eSports, Take it to the House and unZ, this team deserves a top 10 slot simply due to a combination of the inactivity of more established teams, the instant impact they had on the scene plus their ability to compete with the best of the best. Many jaws were dropped as they beat SK and EG en route to their 1st Gamereplays finals, even leading MSI at one point in that game. Within a month's formation the team was also invited to participate in ESL's December Invitational. and are about to go up against Online Kingdom in the semifinals. It is reasonable to expect a lot more out of these boys in the upcoming year.
Roster Biggest accomplishments
PiIIows (Captain)
AstonL
Amingo
Asway
iSkiLL
CaptainBoner UNGL Zowie HoN Cup 1st runner-up
GameReplays TS3 Qualifier 2 1st runner-up
GameReplays TS3 Qualifier 3 2nd runner-up
#8 Online Kingdom [OK]
Ever since the Digital Youth Awards the European powerhouse has been a complete shadow of it's former KD self. With recent inactivity along with the lack of a complete 5 man roster, the only reason they made it in the top 10 was the success of it's former lineups, winning DreamHack Summer in tremendous fashion. Now, with only Mag1X, Overpow and Akke left on the official roster, one can only hope that they will be able to pick up 2 great players to get back on track. Based on the people who have played for them in the past possible candidates are Abborre and Karate_KenT, while captain of the former TCM-Gaming HenryD has already been sporting the OK tag.
Roster Biggest accomplishments
Mag1X (Captain)
Akke
Overpow
HenryD DreamHack Summer Champion
Fnatic PLAY tournament 3rd place
ESL May and March Champion
East Europe World Cup Qualifier Champion
#9 Dirty Minds [DM]
Dirty Minds first made an impact on the scene back in beta, as Dreamrage's Ophelia created the first ever tournament final that was not WHP vs 5, knocking out tournament favourites WHP. They then progressed on to use a push strat against 5, with the likes of Warbeast and Wildsoul in their lineup, cementing themselves as a crowd favourite to watch. 2010 has been somewhat of a roller coaster ride for the team organisation wise, having gone inactive during the sign up and qualifying stages of the World Cup, only to come back due to the mass drop out of teams and going strong into the top 4 of the winner's bracket. They then finally pick up a sponsor in the form of KD-Gaming, before learning that they can't go to DreamHack Winter. The team has been seen rocking a [BALL] tag and their clan name has been changed to TCM Gaming. While nothing is official as of now, looks like the team will be getting a new home. With old member JerAx returning to the team and the departures of kay`, SemiJew and wooti, perhaps this will be the stable roster that will give them success in 2011.
Roster Biggest accomplishments
SMaK_ (Captain)
LoLQoP
WehSing
Fluxje
Era
JerAx GameReplays TS2 Invitational 2nd runner-up
#10 Binary Evasion [b3V]
Originally named WeLackBrains, Binary Evasion is one of the emerging talents from Europe. The team is placing solidly in all tournaments it's participated in so far, including a 3rd place finish at DreamHack Winter, which is also due to an unfortunate early meeting with Fnatic in the semifinals. Unfortunately with the team not participating in the HoN World Cup it seems as though they aren't competing as often, but they are a force to reckon with and it should be interesting to see how far they will succeed in 2011.
Roster Biggest accomplishments
Loiz (Captain)
likmasken
Reyz
Buch
Dreamwalker
SJOLOL DreamHack Winter 2nd runner-up
--- Teams to watch out for in 2011 ---
Inner Circle Elite [IcE] - The original Team Epic [ICE] didn't make it into the top 10 as they have disbanded. But from the ashes rises a reformed ICE created by brized and jah`. From the looks of it ikZu formerly of TCM-Gaming has joined their ranks. With his tactical prowess proven on countless occassions with Neva (MILK) and during the DYA, this teams shows a lot of promise.
Team Wahlin [Wahl] - The last slot in the top 10 was a tough decision between these guys and b3V. These guys performed solidly especially in the HoN World Cup, reaching stages much later than anybody would have expected. With former DrDz captain Revyy joining their ranks, these guys have the potential to challenge the big boys in the scene.
Dotally rad dot com [DRD] - For a team that's baller enough to pick a hero lineup based on facial hair for a competitive game, DRD's performaces have actually been very good. Moonmeander` has proven to be a solid addition to their roster and on a good day with their game face on they can dish it out surprisingly hard.
TS-Gaming [TSoG] - The recent addition of Black was a shocking move indeed, having previously been always an all Swedish team despite some roster changes. The team definitely has talent with 3 players having already proven their worth during their DotA times at Online Kingdom. They should really work on getting more consistent. On a good day they could beat even MSI, but on some days they can lose to random 2nd tier teams.
Roam and KiLL [RAK] - It's quite unfortunate that these guys are in South East Asia, but despite that they are surpisingly active. This team tends to succeed in strategies involving a hard carry, and probably need to add more variety into the mix to get to the next level.
Empire Multigaming [Empr] - The team started out so strongly, when PhB convincingly beat Loaded. However, the team sort of remained stagnant while other teams were improving and newer teams emerging, causing them to fall off the radar. With star player Phe`V seeming to have left, one can only ponder what's in store for the Russian team. Although manager Rean says that they will be back for more in 2011, things don't look good for the Russian side. I don't see them breaking into the top 10 unless major changes happen.
Discuss: So how did the teams perform in 2010 according to you? Share your thoughts in the comments section.
