The HoN Tour Diamond Division is back with 10 cycles, the first one ended today with a familiar final and an even more familiar team on top. Just like last season, Stay Green is just some steps ahead of the competition and takes home the first Diamond Division cycle of the new season. It's a different season, it's a different roster, but the success is constant for the HoN brand Stay Green, who could successfully claim yet another HoN Tour Diamond Division title to kick off the new season. The squad around drafter swindlemelonzz cruised through the first days of competition without dropping a single map in the process - reaching the Winner Bracket Final and the Grand Final without any casualties or breaking sweat. In the Grand Finals yet another familiar face, but a different name was meeting them to slug it out for the first Season 2 Diamond crown. The match was Stay Green against Team USA, just like the last official cycle of Season 1 ended, that way the first official cycle of HoN Tour Season 2 began. Not only the pairing was identical though, but also the result. In the end Stay Green did drop a map, but they did not lose the war. After jumping to a head start with a 2-0 after the first map and the default point up due to the Upper Bracket seeding, the reigning HoN Tour Champions got caught off guard by an AoE heavy lineup of Team USA with the main attraction of Prisoner 945. The underutilized hero got a little bit of playing time alongside Tempest and Soulstealer as the main sources of AoE synergy in the lineup. Ultimately the game plan of Team USA came to fruition as they could get their combo off in clutch moments fairly often to pull ahead and win the second game to narrow the gap in the series again. In the end that victory was just cosmetics on the end result though, as Stay Green capitalized on some minor mistakes of Team USA on Map 3. On several occasions the former compLexity Gaming team was in a good position, but then gave it away with slight mistakes or just superior awareness of Stay Green in critical moments. The game ended anti-climactic with Team USA conceding without a massive clash to end it, but the deficit was huge at that point already and chances of a comeback were slim. So Stay Green not only takes home the $5,000 USD for the first place, but also jumps to an early lead in the HoN Tour rankings by gaining the first 3,500 point on their way to the International HoN Tour Finals in Thailand. Team USA can enjoy $3,000 USD and 2,700 points, while third place finisher and surprise of the cycle Team Excellent wins $1,000 USD and 2,300 points for the rankings. The next cycle starts on Saturday when Stay Green once again tries to defend the crown against every single foe that wants to overtake the reining kings. HoN Tour Diamond Division Cycle 1: Top 6PlaceTeamRanking PointsEarnings1. Stay Green3,500$ 5,000 USD2. Team USA2,700$ 3,000 USD3. Team Excellent2,300$ 1,000 USD4. Too Much Sugar2,000$ 500 USD5.-6. Lions eSports1,750$ 250 USD5.-6. Justice League 1,750$ 250 USD
