With Summer just around the corner it’s once more time for the top teams in Newerth to invade Jönköping, Sweden for their chance at cash, fame, and a championship. This Dreamhack Summer will be the seventh consecutive event that Heroes of Newerth has made an appearance at. The Dreamhack tournaments have long been held as the most prestigious in the HoN competitive scene and the teams are working hard to prepare for the $30,000 event in mid-June.
Eight teams from around the world will collide in Sweden in a World Cup style tournament. Half of those teams are already decided with Yamaha s2y coming from Thailand, Impunity representing the SEA region, iTS will travel from the RUS/CIS region, while the ex-Trademark team will return to defend their title. That leaves the invited team from China, and three teams from the NA/EU region to fill out the slots at the event. Two of those teams will be decided this weekend as powerhouses like compLexity Gaming, stayGreen, LIONS eSportsKlubb and more duke it out in the 128 team Dreamhack NA/EU Qualifiers.
For the compLexity Gaming squad the weeks since the HoN Tour Grand Finals in Las Vegas have been a mixed bag. After bringing home the bronze at the event the team lost carry player Haxxeren to rivals ex-Trademark, but rebounded by picking up the team’s former captain, Tralf. In their first showing with the new five coL.HoN was eliminated in the first round of the Runic Shift Invitational to #5 ranked Q sQuad 357, who went on to the finals to fight against stayGreen. Since that tournament in the first week of May the compLexity Gaming roster has looked stronger, scrimming more and playing notably better in preperation for the Dreamhack NA/EU qualifiers.
The 128 team qualifiers started last weekend with a single elimination event until the round of 16. As the #3 ranked team in the world compLexity recieved by rounds until the round of 64, where they began eliminating teams with no remorse. Relatively unknown teams like Bk Blueberries and Here We Are were the first victims, while up-and-coming teams like Mindgames and Yee provided slightly more competition. In the end compLexity finds themselves 8-0 so far in the qualifier, dispatching each opponent with a 2-0 victory. The only true competition for coL.HoN thus far has been Team Yee, a frequent scrim partner and top eight ranked team, who was absolutely dominated by the throwback carry strategies that Tralf personifies.
The next opponent for coL.HoN is a new all-star team, Internet Gangsters. Led by former Trademark player iNsania and featuring some of the most recognizable names in Newerth the iG team poses the biggest threat yet for coL.HoN. The match, scheduled for Thursday, will be a true test that if passed puts the coL.HoN team just one series away from qualifying for the Dreamhack event. Even if coL.HoN prevails against iG, their next opponent will likely be stayGreen, the undisputed #1 team in HoN. sG is currently on a 40 game winning streak, refusing to drop a game in over 2 months, and the heavy favorites to take one of the two qualifying spots from this event. If coL.HoN is to qualify for Dreamhack their road will take them through stayGreen to the first spot at the far end of the WB Finals, or they will have to make their way through the longer route of the LB to claim the second qualifying position.
The action starts Thursday, May 16 at 1530 EST / 2130 CEST with coverage to be provided by Honcast. Tune in as compLexity Gaming faces off against iNsania’s Internet Gangsters in the Dreamhack NA/EU Qualifiers Winner’s semi-finals.