The CG HoN circuit is finally back on track and with a fresh set of teams that are guaranteed to produce some good games. Here's how it's gonna pan out, in my opinion.

Players to watch emboldened

1st - Frenetic Array: sLiCKZ - JABBAWABBA - BoBo_ - DirgeSnoopy - dabeliuteef - Wytaliba - Valkyra
No surprises here. Fray have gone from being the best Australian team last season to being arguably the best team in the world after their recent Dreamhack performance. The addition of Malaysian Dota veteran/creature/monstrosity dabeliuteef has given them a new dedication and commitment to the game that has brought terrific results both domestically and abroad. Whereas last season teams like Mindfreak, Zenith and SQL had the potential to take them out, they are currently in too fine a form to be beaten in a bo3 by any other Australian team. With the way things are looking now there is no reason (assuming no more controversy) to believe that they won't finish this season on top.


2nd - Mindfreak.RAZER: RogerDodger - chicanery - xQk - pikaCHUANG - KS4Lyf - ????
Team Oriental Pony Lovers aka Team Mad Money aka Mindfreak.Razer have been around in various incarnations since the birth of CG.HoN and the old CGNA leagues. Since the beginning they've consistently been one of the top two teams in the country, despite sparse practice schedules and erratic periods of inactivity. Mindfreak have had some moderate success internationally also, having beaten teams like Reason Gaming in the DHW MSI BeatIt Qualifiers. Relying mostly on their individual skill levels (RogerDodger) as well as the great in game captaincy of chicanery, Mindfreak will as always be a force to be reckoned with this season.


3rd - SEQUENTIAL Tt eSports: FiveS - minortotemzz - SkillShotz - Tripzz - xt_unknown - honagett - invertednz
Sequential's (Formerly Exile5) recent pickup of minortotemzz, as well as their regular and rigorous practice schedule, has cemented them as one of the best teams in Australia. Where 6 months ago basically the same team was incapable of bringing any sort of result, today Sequential is able to go toe to toe with teams like Mindfreak. As a team, they are known for their very aggressive strategies that have the capability to catch even the best teams off guard and deliver easy wins if executed properly. Sequential will be no slouch this season, and look out for them to be a possible contender for the finals.


4th - Avant Garde: WLG - hibonaki - Magmoose - Sico - Coonatic - KingMagmus - Rekerth
Avant Garde (formerly tSFg) are a strong team with decent players who should go far this season. There are too many weak links within AG for them to win any series against any of the top 3 teams, but they should be able to sit into 4th quite comfortably. Although their results are often inconsistent due to sometimes poor drafting, they are capable of taking the opponent by surprise and bringing good results. The really good matches will be between the 4th-8th teams, considering that they are yet to forge meaningful scrim records against one another. Although the order of the bottom 5 is uncertain, my bet is definitely on AG to take out 4th.


5th - iPlay: Keeb`0_om - EpicBreeze - YouJustGot - Namine` - too`ezyy
iPlay are a strong team from New Zealand that lost in the finals to hTL in the last CGo season to claim 2nd. I've put them above hTL here, though, because of their practice schedule which is showing an uncommon dedication to getting results. Since I've only scrimmed them a few times, I don't have a great deal of knowledge regarding their playstyle/pick style, but expect a solid effort from the New Zealand nationals this season.

6th - How To Lose: BigSky - BoostN - definitionz - jamiec - n_z4ne - Riotblood - Tearie
Winners of the last CGo season, How To Lose (Formerly Sequential) "left for Dota2" for about eight minutes before deciding to sign up to the new season of CG HoN. From my experience hTL aren't strategically organised enough to make a significant impact, relying mostly on public style drafts and play that shouldn't work as well in the Pro league as it did in Open. Hopefully they surprise me with some out-of-the-box lineups and impressive results, but I'm not holding my breath.


7th - Crux Crew: Adzz - Mikey - D_Nyle - Ezekiel - No_Obcak3 - Vassallo
Crux Crew is basically JoaX minus some bads and with some replacements (who I assume are better). JoaX, despite the solid skill levels of Adzz and No_Obcak3, had always been held back by the 1500 publics that populated the rest of the lineup. Hopefully, with this reinvigorated xCRU lineup, they can bring some results. I am hesitant, however, to put them any higher than 7th until they can prove themselves, as last season I placed them above tSFg and they ended up coming 7th-8th.

8th - One Day Clan: Team 1: AngelAdvcate - Arctic0wl - Carnivalis - FancyF0otWrk - Kvx - RoastedMango - Support` - phildared
One Day Clan AKA Team Kvx's brand new super heavy backpack shouldn't win a series this season unless somebody messes up royally. Kvx is a talented carry player and I've seen him put teams on his back many a time, but 1day as a team despite a long time being together still aren't very good.


CG Summer Pro League matches start this Sunday
Thanks to the CG HoN Admins for finally getting the season sorted.

GLHF

Edited 4 times, last edited 29/11/11 - 11:32am.

good write up

I don't know if i can get 5 :/

Still good writeup + preds ya big lad

Edited once, 27/11/11 - 4:50pm.

Good write up

no longer in the team so they will probably win a few

2 g

Very nice writeup that looks pretty accurate.

Although, I reckon hTL will fly under the radar and get the odd upset or two, z4ne and definitionz probably one of the most underrated duets I've seen (or at least whenever I watched them).

I hope Adz and cake can turn this season around, they played well under-par last season.

Curious to see if DD and the remainder of Zenith appear back on the scene with any of these teams.

Biggest surprise, CHCC not wanting to play?

This is the strongest CGi Lineup we've seen in a while.

in regards to ur write up about htl; a lot of us are really busy working, a few of us work night shifts including me (which will probs be the downfall of us).
sure we probs wont have a major impact on the ladder due to this, but even if we have "pub style strats" we have solid experience to back it up from dota 1.
roughly 90% of us in our team do not have dota 2 beta keys, including me , would be nice to have one.

bm much?
no need for low blows

Edited once, 28/11/11 - 6:37am.

Not bm its just a fact. Could've been a lot worse considering some of the harsh words i got from some of your team



also


no h8 2u gl for the upcoming season

Edited once, 28/11/11 - 8:59am.

Mmmm the write up on HTL did seem a little....idk harsh?

Tearie and the boys have a very good understanding/knowledge of the game and they aren't a team to underestimate. AFAIK their team (like ours) didn't bother top practice last season due to the lack of competition in our league lol.

Good write up though looking forward to this season XD

My predictions for this season is... hTL will stomp SQL so hard with their pub strat, SQL will hide in a hole and quit HoN. No harsh words, GL to you too.

this is what i like to see from my boy jubjib making it interesting. +rep

hate has been exchanged from both teams. the loss of the sponsor to me it was more of a shock thing and i apologise to u and ur team for my behaviour.

with the tearie post, i have no idea that he wrote this.

gl with this season

Edited twice, last edited 28/11/11 - 1:40pm.

care to enlighten us on some of these harsh words fives?? if i recall it was you who said "it's not our fault that your not good enough for your own sponsor" but i guess little leech is a bit to much aye? hrmm well carry on, just thought i'd put it out there, stop trying to sugarcoat your bad manners =] you don't phase me bro!