The group stage of the SK Gaming HoN Tournament #1 powered by Steelseries and Bigfoot Networks has been finalised and now it's time for the two top teams from each group to battle it out in the main event - the playoffs!


Group Stage standings

Group A
1. Evil Geniuses
2. Infused Gaming
3. highrate
4. Imperial eSports

Group B
1. Jokes on you
2. Reason Gaming
3. Fnatic
4. Twisted

Group C
1. DuskBin
2./3. Online Kingdom
2./3. Team Empire
4. Unrivaled 5

Group D
1. Dirty Minds
2. SK Gaming
3. Hi Cutie
4. Frenetic Array

Evil Geniuses and Infused, the two favorites to proceed from Group A managed to do so. However, while the former was dominant, the latter took literally the last train to the playoffs as they won the do or die match against the group leaders. Imperial had a solid appeareance, turning a few heads by defeating them a bit earlier, while highRate was nowhere to be found or seen.

Obviously, the big story of Group B is fnatic who took 3rd place in their group and thus we will not see them in the remainder of the tournament. Consequently, Reason Gaming, who defeated them 2-0 will get to enjoy their time in the limelight. Jokes on you managed to do the same feat and tops the group due to a better kill/minute ration than the Swedes. Twisted shown some signs of potential, but not enough to leave a bigger mark in the tournament.

Group C was labeled the "Group of death" from the get-go by the community. And eventhough DuskBin dominated and tops the group, it is still unresolved whether Online Kingdom or Empire Gaming will continue their run in the tournament. With all stats being tied, we decided they should duke it out on the playfield to see which one deserves it more and they will play a BO1 sometime this week. Unrivaled 5, while an extremely mannered team, weren't able to compete with the superstars.

Last but not least, Dirty Minds tops Group D but who knows if they would have been able to do so if SK Gaming didn't forfeit their matches against them. Hi Cutie have been on the scene for as long as one can remember, but they'll have to wait a little bit longer for their great breakthrough. The sole Aussie representative, Frenetic Array, certainly enjoyed the experience they could gather from their matches.

VODs by Honcast.com:
Online Kingdom vs Empire Gaming - Game 1 / Game 2
SK Gaming vs Hi Cutie - Game 1 / Game 2
SK Gaming vs Frenetic Array - Game 1 / Game 2
fnatic vs Twisted - Game 1 Ventcast / Game 2 Ventcast
Evil Geniuses vs Infused eSports - Game 1 / Game 2

VODs by Gamereplays.org:
Fnatic vs Reason Gaming
Online Kingdom vs DuskBin


Playoff fixtures & details

The playoff will be played in a BO3 single elimination format, while the finals are BO5. One round will be played on three consecutive Sundays until we have our champion. The first round of the playoff is due to happen on March 27th, 2011. at 21:00 CET, although due to overlapping with the Honcast Honor tournament two of the matches will probably be played either a few hours earlier or later than that.

Evil Geniuses vs Reason Gaming
Dirty Minds vs Online Kingdom / Team Empire
DuskBin vs SK Gaming
Jokes on you vs Infused Gaming

You can view the action live via Honcast.com or Gamereplays.org or follow the results and news live through the SK Gaming coverage page!