It is the sixth week of Heroes Lounge Season 6, and that means that we are roughly halfway through, and it is now time for a quick write-up on what everything is looking like in the Cup divisions. All stats mentioned were snapshot a few minutes after the matches for round 6 were announced, and they may not match real-time standings.
Division 5, it has to be said, is often a strange place. With how Lounge calculates team strength, it’s not uncommon to see big differences between members of a team, and this is most prevalent here. There are multiple low masters scattered amongst the golds and silvers, waiting for their moment to strike. The question is: will it be enough?
Befitting the number of the division, there are five teams in the lead with a perfect score. The Gay Horses
lead the table due to having already played their fifth match, but Low FAT Gamers, Killer Koalas, LE GAG, and The Sops
all have not lost a match yet either. The middle trio also have not lost a single map just yet, though that will irrevocably change soon: there are multiple matches between the quintet in rounds 5 and 6.
Four of these teams are returning teams in the Lounge. The Sops managed to take a shared second place in this division, though they could not participate in the Cup, and perhaps we’ll see them rise to the heights again, while Gay Horses and Killer Koalas ended somewhere around the middle of the table. Low FAT Gamers had a sabbatical last season, but are back to seemingly want to reclaim their spot in division 4. Only LE GAG are new, showing that inexperience isn’t necessarily an insurmountable problem.
There are several teams in pursuit, including newcomers Southgate Boiz, who fight for Queen, country, and the hatred of ten thousand years if Sunday’s stream was anything to go by; Mad Hollows, who are one-tricking Rehgar up the ladder with five wins and four bans against them; and Death by Monkeys, which is an appropriate name in this animal-filled division. They have not played Brightwing, however, instead preferring to stick with Malfurion for their supporting needs.
Speaking of animals, this division does house a fair number of Free Agent Teams, which have been given animal designations as of this season. They have not been able to be too influential just yet, with Ox and Sloth scoring 50 %, and Snake sadly only winning one series in their four matches. However, it should be said that they have all had the bad luck of going up against one of the earlier mentioned leading teams, and often in early rounds as well. Count them out at your own peril.
Division 4 is perhaps the most staff-heavy division, if not by number, then surely by seniority and importance. It is also a division that can punch upwards in general: both the season 4 and season 5 Cups ended with a team from this division ending in the arguably most lamentable position of all: 4th. Perhaps the plays here aren’t as flashy as those in division 1, but make no mistake: there are some very skilled teams and players hanging around here.
It is also a division that has a lot of competition at the top. Team Upside, Uther trait abuse, and Potatoes 007 are in the lead with a perfect match score. Team Upside has only lost a single map, and they’ve brought out a respectable 24 different heroes in their matches. Uther trait abuse, while doing perfectly fine results-wise, are not particularly living up to their name. They have only played Uther once so far, and it’s possible that Johanna trait abuse would be a better name, given they have played her six times with six wins. They also prefer Tracer, though she has lost a map. Rounding out the leaders of the pack, Lounge relics Potatoes have already played their fifth series of the season, losing just two maps in the process and leaning fairly heavily on ETC, Stukov, Gul’dan, and Sonya. This next round will be important for the standings, as Team Upside and Potatoes have been rigged against each other for round 6.
The chase is most definitely on, however, as Budgeville Bush Bashers, Team SALT, and Team Washing Machine are all in hot pursuit, amongst others. Only the former have played any unbeaten team previously, and they, along with the rest of the pack on just one loss, are sure to have words about the perceived dominance of the top three. As with division 3, there are many interesting matchups to come in the future. A point against Team Washing Machine should be that they have not played any Chen, and the only time they played Sonya, they lost. We expect better of our memes here in the Lounge.
Speaking of memes, err… staff teams… Undoubtedly they may feel that the less said the better, but that is not how this works. N.E.W.T., featuring two moderators and your friendly neighbourhood Latino caster, are currently in the chasing pack of having lost one series so far. They will meet Uther trait abuse next, and that match will determine if this team can stay with the upper parts of the division or if they’ll slide into the faceless peloton. Meanwhile, Treehouse Gaming, home to Lounge Founder cosmic (aka Petman) and Competition Manager Robb (aka Tobb, Plobb), haven’t quite had the best start of the season and are on 50 % in both maps and series. In these two’s defence, though: there was a meet-up recently, and this may have affected the team as a whole.
The middle child of the Lounge, division 3 was a close-knit affair last season, with five teams winning seven of their nine games. This season is not looking all that different, with nearly a dozen teams who have lost one match at most.
Unbeaten so far, we have just one team who fits the bill. Overshadow are dominating the division so far, not having lost a single map just yet. With a high priority on Malfurion, Blaze, and Greymane, this team has a solid core that seems comfortable in both shorter games and longer fiestas. The last one matching them was their round 5 opponent Kartoffelmos, but they lost on Sunday, making Overshadow the early contender for the title in this division.
Naturally, other teams want to take that spot for themselves, and the newcomer triad of Prime Legion MO-Stars, Feed & Greed, and Team Feuerzeug are looking to do just that. None of them have played Overshadow yet, meaning that there are many interesting matchups yet to come in this division. The next few rounds might shed more light on how exactly the division will shake out, but it might well come down to a situation in which the top spot is decided by whoever wins the most maps in the obstacle course to come.
Also on the chase, only having lost to Feed & Greed and the next opponent of Overshadow, are promoted team NDMT. Not content to finish high in division 4 last season, they have now set their sights on going into the Cup from division 3. Led by captain Aine, they have left last season’s Brightwing by the side, instead going into Stukov as their support of choice and so far winning four of their five matches. The veterans of Elite A.I. are also in this division, hanging out in the large chasing pack that is currently on three wins and one loss.
With many teams delaying their round 5 match until week 6, it is hard to divine just yet who will end up top dogs and who will go home with their tail between their legs. There is only one certainty in all of this: it will not be easy to reach that position for any one team.
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