Hey all,
First little blog here and I'm going to weigh in here on my thoughts on the DreamHoN: Destination Dreamhack tournament that is currently underway and in the group stages.
A couple of days ago I was watching the group stage selection show with both Breaky and Tralf drawing names out of the HoN Tour Trophy (a long running joke) and commenting primarily on Group A and its strength compared to Group B; Tralf even called it this tournament Group of Death. I have to say I really disagree with there really being a Group of Death during this tournament series. I think there has been too much shuffling going on amongst a lot of the mid tier teams for there to really be more than 3-4 teams worthy of competing at Dreamhack; and let's face it, of those 3-4 teams only one or two have any real hope to be crowned DreamHoN Champions this winter.
Let's go over the two groups and get to know the teams that are competing in DH:DD
Group A
Pienet Pelit
Q Squad - sQy, NoX, Slate, Jonassomfan, Malle, Insomnia, Style
Tt eSports - Slickz, wyt`, Moiravus, Riser_, LeonBlack
Gary Johnson 2012 - swindlemelonzz, zfreek, skyzoe, khezu, sender
Fack You Kurdi - Pewe
Team Kierk - Lalond
The Returners - Emperor, Ensoe, Fittske, AngryTestie, Kookiez, Jeppins
Call It Karma
Group B
Lions Esports (THUGSAUCE) - Playride, Superkge, Aellgi, philmchunt, Hoggi`
Druidz - Pew, ArchiTiger, FearTheZap, fuzi, Jagged_
Bunkerdown - bassets, zetpro, rythme, dmfromrus, fedexftw, flensmeister
Pikachu - Nir, Probusk, Buch, TPSpriceless, widecoast, BigOwnedMe
Zhit
WILL SMITH - JABBAWABBA
Denmark Owns Sweden
Black Sheep
If you're wondering why I didn't write all the names out for all the teams, it's because they aren't very well known players and have little to no chance of advancing into the next round, let alone win anything at Dreamhack Winter 2012. I'm rude, get over it.
Looking at the differences between groups A and B, I will agree with Tralf (and anyone else with a brain) that Group A does have the stronger teams in it. However, for a group to be considered the "Group of Death" that means there is typically at least one team who will get shafted that would potentially be able to move forward into the next group, and honestly I don't see that being the case.
I don't think The Returners have any shot of making it through the group stages, and they've already lost to two of the three teams who will most likely move on to the next round. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me to see all three teams from Group A move on to Dreamhack Winter 2012. GJ2012, QsQ and TteS are three of the best four teams in the entire tournament, the fourth (not necessarily #4 mind you) is Pikachu who is over in Group B.
Top 3 Teams from Group A:
1. Tt eSPORTS
2. Gary Johnson 2012
3. Q sQuad
Group B consists of an equal amount of known players/teams as Group A, they just aren't on par with them. Pikachu being the only real exception, we could possibly see a strong turnout from Lions (THUGSAUCE). I would love to see Bunker Down do some work and make it into Dreamhack, but frankly I doubt it. The team that is most likely to surprise and move into the next stage in Group B is probably WILLSMITHBESTRAPPER2012SWAG and that isn't necessarily due to them being the best team out there, but the fact that EU teams are forced to play against them on US West servers which is kind of like having home field advantage every game for the Australian team. They might be able to sneak a win by a couple teams; although having already lost games to Lions (THUGSAUCE) and Bunker Down, it's not very likely that they will move on since Pikachu is the most prepared of all teams in Group B to play on US West (as they are the best/most seasoned team in the group.)
Top 3 Teams from Group A:
1. Pikachu
2. Bunker Down
3. Lions eSports (THUGSAUCE)
So for the finals stage I think we'll be looking at the following match ups:
Tt eSPORTS vs Lions (THUGSAUCE) - Tt eSPORTS crushes Lions most any day of the week anyway, add in US West server advantage while having 3 US West players and well, should be an easy win. My Prediction: TteS > Lion - 3:0
Gary Johnson 2012 vs Bunker Down - This could end up being close, but I think GJ2012 has an advantage of more experience, better drafting and the fact that swindle and co. REALLY want this. I am also assuming at least 2 of the games will be on US East giving them that much more of an advantage. My Prediction: GJ2012 > Bunker Down - 3:1
Q sQuad vs Pikachu - This could be the best series in the entire tournament. Both teams are playing extremely well right now and a lot of people (myself included) feel like QsQ is a Top 5 team right now. This series will honestly come down to drafting and Jonassomfan keeping his cool and not feeding. Buch, Nir and the rest are excellent players and will not give this up easily, and gordob is doing an excellent job drafting recently, adapting to other teams very well. My Prediction: Pikachu > Q sQuad - 3:2 but it could easily go the other way.
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