While all the hype on the international client region is gearing towards the epic offline finals of Hon Tour in Las Vegas, Nevada, the qualifications tournaments are already reaching further into the future. The first GSL qualifier for the NA/EU teams is all set.
It was one of the biggest annoucements of January, when Garena announced its "Asian DreamHon" to take place in Bangkok, Thailand. The anticipation and hype for the event was immediately at a very high level, because all client regions would be able to participate in the world wide spectacular.
Just a few hours after the announcement, S2 Games revealed their plans for the event, setting up two qualifiers based on the HoN Tour standings at certain times. The first cut is now here and 16 lucky teams will compete in a Single Elimination tournament for one of two coveted spots to the Garena Star League 2013.
Among those teams are favorites like the three-time and reigning HoN Tour Diamond Champion Trademark eSports, the one-time Diamond Champion Stay Green, the old fan favorites like QsQ, compLexity Gaming and Tt eSports as well as the emerging force that is Lions eSports.
On top of those six teams that have ruled and dominated the HoN Tour Diamond Division so far, interesting other candidates with huge potential and good outings are also competing for the spot. One Trick Pony has made their ambitions clear to become a top four team within the next cycle, so they are not to be trifled with - if they put the right amount of work into their progress. Another notable team is the only two-time Gold Division Champion We Are Spies, who are just coming off a terrific performance in the fourth cycle not dropping a single match. They are still inexperienced, but a huge wildcard in the complexion of the tournament.
The rest of the teams have only limited chances to claim the ticket, as the current HoN scene is spear-headed by Trademark eSports and Stay Green, with occasional upsets by the other major teams.
Teams like Team Mistral, CutForBieber, Pencils, Domain of Pain, Absolute Legends or Dendis jungledevos are all good on paper and might be able to mount an upset or push the series into a third match, but the dominance of the big teams just seems too big at this point. On top of that those teams will get a fairly unfavorable seeding position.
Questionable is the start of Fack You Kurdi as the team is currently only filled with three members and is looking like a candidate for a mid-season disbanding. If they are really disbanding QsQ 777 would most likely end up with the last spot for the tournament, as they would face Trademark eSports right out of the gates.
Participating teams in qualifier
Trademark eSports Stay Green
compLexity Gaming QsQ
Tt eSports Lions eSports
One Trick Pony We Are Spies
Absolute Legends Team Mistral
CutForBieber Pencils
Fack You Kurdi (Questionable) Call It Karma
Domain of Pain Dendis jungledevos
QsQ 777 (If FyKu disbands)
The tournament to determine the first representative of the server region in Thailand will kick off February 11th at 22 CET (16 ET). The Grand Finals will be held on February 14th at the same time. All matches will be played in the Best of Three format. The field for the second qualifier will be determined after the sixth cycle officially concludes and kicks off on February, 25th.
Additional information
Current Standings
Garena's official tournament announcement
Garena's second announcement
S2 Games qualifier announcement
S2 Games detailed qualifier announcement
GG.net tournament announcement news
GG.net NA/EU first announcement news
GG.net GSL format news
GG.net NA/EU qualifier news
