Now we are in Round 7 in EU and there is still time for teams to put a string of victories together and make a late push to secure a qualifying spot for their respective Cups/Championship. Let's take a look at some of the best upcoming matchups we have this round.
Division 1
RIP Hots Blizzcon 2k19 vs Hooye Polucky
One of the enjoyable parts of writing this blog is seeing some of the beautifully designed team logos that have been created, unfortunately neither of these teams have a logo, boo!
Moving swiftly on to the match itself, we have two teams who are currently undefeated (Hooye Polucky have only played 4 matches as they were inactive for round 5 and are yet to play their round 6 game).
RIP Hots Blizzcon 2k19 are the current big boss of the Division currently on a 5 match winning streak while only dropping a single map in the process during their Round 1 fixture. Kael'thas is their most picked hero with 5 wins from 6 and is not a hero we see too often in the top tier of EU Heroes Lounge but Alvarus' proficiency with him makes the meta irrelevant in this case.
Standing in their way this round Hooye Polucky have only actually won 3 matches so far as they received a free win in round 4. That said they certainly impressed in their opening 3 victories which included a closely fought victory over ZENON. They seem to have quite an even spread of hero picks so far but the only standout is Rexxar who is undefeated in 3 games for them, proving a formidable foe in the offlane.
Division 2
Don Our Fedoras vs Smorc Extraordinaire
First up in Division 2 we have a team who are certainly part of the furniture in Lounge, Don Our Fedoras. They first graced Lounge with their presence way back in Season 1, in this time they have yet to win one of the Heroes Lounge playoffs but came awfully close last season when they lost 0-3 in the Legendary Cup final to Team snOr. This season they have been dominant with 6 straight wins while only losing a single map, one more win would be enough to all but guarantee them a place in this seasons Legendary Cup. A quick note that DoF's most picked hero is Uther with a staggering 10 picks, a good chunk of which has seen him picked as a solo healer.
Their opponents this round are new team Smorc Extaordinaire who feature a selection of familiar faces from Lounge including MaxPassion, a Division S player from the team The Vikings. They have had both a free win and a BYE! to go along with the two victories they have achieved so far, but they have definitely looked strong and are a team to keep an eye out for in the closing stages of the season. Tyrande has been the most picked hero for them so far but not by a large margin as she sits at 3 picks with only 1 win.
Division 3
BioParco vs Not Even Klaus
Here in Division 3 we take a look at two teams in their debut season who have had respectable starts, both of which are certainly contenders to qualify for the Legendary Cup.
BioParco didn't have the best of starts to the season as they lost their first two matches but were able to salvage a map in each. After receiving a BYE! in Round 3 they have then pushed on to secure 3 consecutive 2-0 victories including a win over experienced team EnCore, pushing them up the standings where at the time of writing they sit joint 3rd.
Facing them is Not Even Klaus whose form this season has been inconsistent with a pattern of Win-Lose-(free)Win-Lose-Win-Lose. That said they are still in a good position in the Division and have shown themselves to be a competitive opponent. Johanna has been their favoured hero up to this point with 7 picks and a 42.86% winrate, showing that they favour a solid frontline. But it is Chromie who has brought them great success so far as they have won all 3 games that they have drafted her, unfortunately with such success comes target bans as she has been shut out of draft on 6 occasions.
Division 4
Massive Anger Disorder vs XL 5
Now we take a look at Division 4 and we have two sides who are sitting comfortably around the middle of the standings, and will both be looking to push on towards an Epic Cup place with a victory here.
On the left hand side we have long time Loungers Massive Anger Disorder (the first team I played for in Lounge!) who have also been known as IX Kohorta. After losing their first matchup against the Owl Exterminators they have bounced back with 3 wins in a row before a defeat in the 5th round. They haven't competed in the end of season playoffs since they reached the losers bracket semi final in the Cup in Season 6. Two of the most contested picks so far for MAD have been Anduin and Junkrat who they have picked up 4 times each but have both been banned against them on 3 occasions.
XL 5 are a new roster of Finnish players with varying amounts of Lounge experience. They have had a positive start to Season 11 with 3 wins from 5 matches and have looked strong in defeat. Myrmidon a veteran participant in Lounge and offlaner for the team competed in the Epic Cup in Season 9 with Jammed Comms and will be hoping he can help this team achieve the same and hopefully go even further. Lucio has been the teams support of choice so far with 4 picks and 75% winrate, this has struck fear into their enemies who really aren't in the mood for music and have banned him out on 5 occasions.
Division 5
PentatoniK vs gglucio
This match in Division 5 features two teams who have not had the best start to the season, but if they are able to win the majority of their remaining matches they could just squeeze into the playoffs.
First up we have Spanish team PentatoniK who are back in Lounge after a season long break, they competed in Division 6 in Seasons 8 and 9 and achieved 5 wins each time which can be a bit of a benchmark for their performance this season. One of their two wins was a free win but the other was a very strong performance against UKW Akolici Jana Khael'Thasa II. Their most played hero is Ana with 4 picks and a 25% winrate.
Their opponents are a brand new team gglucio who are all new to Lounge apart from ElDog who competed in Season 8 with Heavy Metal Fans. So far it is a BYE! and free win that keep them off the bottom of the Division, but there is no time like the present to win their first series and it will be interesting to see if they can do just that and give their season the kick start it needs. Having not won a map it is hard to see which heroes have been successful for them, they have shown some early preference for mages Li Ming and Jaina as well as utilising Blaze as an offlaner.
Division 6
Sloth Highlords vs JAI PLUS DE FORCE
At the summit of Division 6 we have the two remaining undefeated teams, a win here for either team would confirm their place in the Rare Cup and also put a target on their head as the team to beat.
For the second time this season we take a look at the Sloth Highlords who have continued their good form since last being featured with 2-0 wins over Fishmekan and Protect Ya Nexus before a well contested victory in round 7 against Phoenix Gaming. They have played 32 different heroes up to this point and they certainly make it difficult for their opponents to decide what to ban against them as they have found success so far with common ban targets Auriel, Rexxar, Cho'gall and Deathwing.
Up against them is JAI PLUS DE FORCE who you may remember from up in Division 3 during Season 9 where they finished 3rd with 8 wins from 10 matches before taking a break and rejoining Lounge this season. They haven't dropped a single map so far this campaign and they managed to inflict a first defeat on Renai Clan in Round 7 and will be looking to assert themselves as the dominant force of the Division here. Showing perhaps less flexibility than their opponents they have only picked 17 different heroes this season, but with the record they have had so far it has not hindered them. Their most picked heroes are Kael'thas, Rehgar and offlane Blaze who have all appeared 5 times.
Division 7
INAEqualis vs FAT Mobile
Experienced team INAEqualis who represent one of the biggest gaming groups in the Czech Republic and Slovakia have been floating around Lounge since Season 6. After a couple of seasons in Division 2 they went inactive after 2 games last season and have dropped down to the bottom tier for this campaign. They are notorious for playing Cho'gall and often find success with it, making it certainly worth of a ban. Their most played heroes so far are Auriel and Li Ming who they have drafted 6 times apiece with an 83.33% winrate.
Free agent team FAT Mobile got off to a flying start this season with 2 wins in their opening matches followed by a free win that put them among the top teams in the Division. Since then they have suffered a couple of defeats, but did manage to secure a single map win against the undefeated Ainsley's Lamb Special. They have shown a penchant for a certain sort of medivac cheese, known to some as Juice Pirates and have achieved a victory on 2 of the 3 occasions they have attempted it which has prompted 4 Lt. Morales bans against them.
This match will be casted on the 31st of January at 22:00 CET by BlackMilk https://www.twitch.tv/blackmilkonline
Thank you for reading, make sure to keep an eye our in the #stream channel of our Discord for any upcoming casts. Scheduled times mentioned are subject to change
Written by Poppin
Heroes Lounge Content Manager, Moderator and captain of EU Division 4 team AFK For Cocoa.
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