Aeon - Team Article

A huge CONGRATULATIONS to Aeon 3 seed Darkseid for using his points to purchase a brand new THL Article on the week 3 episode of Friday Night Fight

Aeon are a team that have always been “attractive”. Now when I say that, I mean they have always attracted the attention of others. 

The Hairy Generals Icon

History:
Richard Staub asked me back in the end of season Kappa if I wanted to be a team captain, at the time I had to decline him because even though I was flattered at being considered captain material. I felt I would learn more about both the game and the community by sticking with The Hairy Generals for a little while longer. So that is what I did, It was definitely the correct decision as I had a lot to learn and learning from the founder of Team Hearth League was the best way to learn.

In the Season 2-3 offseason, one of the teams fell through and they needed to get a new team captain within about 2 weeks of the season starting, Richard came to me and told me about the situation and asked if I was still interested in being a captain someday and if so now was the time. This time I was ready so I agreed.

Within a week I had a team made and I was confident in the fact that getting a #1 legend player into the team I would be doing really well this season. Well Season 3 came around and it was a complete disaster. I came to hate SPL as a huge distraction and the lack of THL experience was evident in results. We finished the season bottom 3 in the entire league, along with Boom Squad and Entropy.

---

​Fast forward to modern times

During Season 5 pre-season I knew a team re-structuring was in dire need. I spoke with mainge and he gave me some advice going into the season. I decided to focus more on consistent time zones and communication rather than Hearthstone achievement. For the first time, Aeon was ranked low on powerrankings, With the Team Hearth League community not convinced that the team was going to get any better with its new roster.

Season 5 was a huge culture shift for the team and absolutely crazy season. Aeon were constantly at war with the board. We had a situation where Kungmar couldnt play for the first 2 weeks and our sub Inposition had been signed by Avatar, TownDrunk was being unreliable as was perceived by those who had him in their team before. To make matters worse, I was moving from Canada to Scotland and was unavailable for about 3 weeks. It was absolutely chaos. But through the chaos the Aeon we know currently was formed and are definitely a much more formidable team than the generation who came before

I felt that there was no other better feeling than proving these people wrong. And I did.  ​- Donnie Rench

Season 6 has been a very interesting start for Aeon, they have won once and that win came as a result of a DQ. So in reality terms, they have tied twice and lost twice. Despite not putting in a winning performance up until this point, the weekly points earned have all been quite high ranging from 10-15. This sits them at mid table in RED DIVISION with the opportunity to go either up or down depending on the results of the future. What is scary though is the fact that these draws and losses have come against 3 other red division teams. This means they will have less influence in the double point category as the season's schedule comes to a close. Although they do still have league favourites Team Rank 5 to play aswell as titan killers Dirty Mike & The Boys. Can Aeon turn it around and end the season strong? I talked to some Aeon members to find out their story and how their time on Aeon has been so far.

---

One of the members who has been key to the Aeon cultural shift is The Town Drunk aka Donnie Rench,

When we think of drinking in THL, I would not be surprised if your first thought goes to the Thursday Night hit talk show Tavern Talk. But credit to Donnie, he has always been a drinking kind of guy and even works in a tavern himself!
Donnie ended up finishing season 5 with probably his best record yet in THL and has made Aeon a team where he belongs. I talked to him in an interview about his thoughts and his story:

---

TheTownDrunk Interview

Lets start off with something simple
How has your experience with Aeon been so far?

Aeon is amazing. Everyone on the team is amazing. I think we have great chemistry, and we always have fun together. I love this team, and I think I'll always be involved in some capacity. I have no interest in playing in another team.

You previously played for a number of different teams in the past. How does Aeon compare(good or bad) and what traits from the other teams have you kept with you?

Honestly, after SuperHeroes and TR5, Aeon is home. There isn't another team I'd rather be on. As far as what traits I have brought with me, I bring none from SuperHeroes (as we never practiced or hung out), and TR5 taught me the kind of decks I should be playing in the 5 seed.

over the past seasons you acquired a reputation of being one of the most unreliable players in the league. Which you had brought forward into Aeon at first. Can you talk a bit about that and what has changed?

This is all true. Unreliable as fuck. And there's no excuse for that. In the beginning on Aeon, I was unreliable. It took almost getting booted from the team and hearing on stream that I was one of the worst 5 seeds in the league to change. Like, fuck that. I can do better. I can be better. And that's what I did.

Season 5 is arguably your best season yet and was the first time Aeon had reached the playoffs, Are you looking to put in another great season?

Season 5 was crazy. In the beginning, it started with me being lazy. And like I said, after almost getting the boot, I kicked it into gear. Sure, I lost a few games that I should have won. But I also beat people I had no business beating, and I think I held my own the rest of the season. I am absolutely looking forward to putting together a better season, and Aeon is ready to make the playoffs again.

During the offseason Aeon replaced Kungmar with Markshire. FollowDurden also stepped in out of the shadows. How have they fit into the team so far?

I can't even explain how happy I am about these 2.

• FollowDurden is always there to help motivate others, and talk strategy. He's really easy going, but he's not afraid to tell me to get my shit together when I need to. He's a great player, and his mind for the game is phenomenal. 
• Markshire is another much needed addition. I think of Markshire as my personal coach. He's always hitting me up about practices, and he is  an integral part of the reason I am improving at Hearthstone. He's a god at Hearthstone, and I think the entire team benefits from his presence. 

I know there are a number of members of the community that you are out to prove them wrong and Mainge is one of them. Can you tell us a bit about that?

Since the beginning of last season, there's been a lot of people (mostly Mainge), saying how I was one of the worst 5 seeds, and that I was just bringing down Aeon. I felt that there was no other better feeling than proving these people wrong. And I did.  Even now, my performance is put into question. People still say that the 5 seed is a question mark, and that Aeon needs the player from last season. Well, no. It is my goal to be a whole lot better than last season. I firmly believe that recently, I've been putting more work in than a majority of 5 seeds in this league, and I'm here to prove that I can be, and will be, one of the best 5 seeds. With the excellent team that our captain has put together, I have all the tools needed to achieve success.

​Also, you didn't mention it, but shout out to our spreadsheet guy, Jaspyr. This man is AMAZING.

---

On that particular note, I would like to say to those that are new to the league, Jaspyr is brand new and joined us to help out with prep and he has been extremely impressive, I really hope he can find space in a team for Season 7, either with us or in another team... His work ethic is second to none and has the right attitude

---

I asked FollowDurden to talk about the direction of Aeon as a team

New members of teams are always important  and always add new dynamics to a team. But one of the players that has been with Aeon for over a year now, playing during Season 3 and in the background helping out is FollowDurden. Nicknamed Dad, he is also my assistant captain and is playing an important role in the team.
Between Season 3 and now he has been legend twice, he finished runner up of the offseason THL Un'goro Challengestone and has made top 3 in Wicked Wednesday.

I wanted to ask FollowDurden some questions more towards the differences between the Aeon of last year and the growth leading up to this year.

---

Being a part of Aeon is no joke, as you’re expected to basically become part of a family - FollowDurden

First off, You were in Aeon back when it was founded, what are some of the major differences now compared to back then?
Of course there’s always roster turnover when you’re talking about almost 4 seasons now of competition. There’s also been a considerable amount of growth with team culture, especially the last two seasons – in a very positive way. Our group now sees multiple THL veterans at its core, along with some new additions to the squad that have seen an even greater increase in our ability to coach one another and prepare for the week’s matches. If anything, I think our greatest detriment this season so far has been an almost cerebral overload and tendency to overprepare for our matches. I know, it sounds weird. 

Aeon can be considered in terms of results to be unsuccessful up until Season 5 despite narrowly missing out on the playoffs in season 4. What was the biggest factor in Aeon's success last season?
Our culture, hands down. Tophat and Kungmar were heavily involved in the day to day preparation for the team in general, I was helping out with coaching, you/Detrucci was keeping everyone focused. We just had such an awesome convergence of different factors that all pushed us towards our great success. And we had tons of fun doing it. 
​
This season saw the addition of yourself and Markshire, losing Ridiculous could be considered a big loss. Markshire has started off the season with 2 losses, what are your thoughts on that?
I think this meta in general has all of Hearthstone in flux. Markshire is a very cerebral player, and I think it took him a couple of weeks to make adjustments to his THL preparation. In addition, he’s balancing out his new responsibilities as a board member with his new commitments to Aeon. Being a part of Aeon is no joke, as you’re expected to basically become part of a family and contribute to our overall effort in a very active way. Even with a couple of losses under his belt to start the season, the addition of Markshire is a net positive for our team as he’s put in hours of coaching up the other players and improving our overall efforts. 

---

The last interview of this article is by your friendly neighbourhood Darkseid

As it was Darkseid (Mark holdthedoor Porto on facebook) who redeemed his points, It would not be nice of me to publish his redeemed reward article without talking to him first.
Darkseid is still relatively new to Hearthstone in general, barely hitting above rank 10 when he first joined Aeon. He has definitely been one of the most improved players from the November until now, hitting legend 2 seasons ago with Pirate Warrior aswell as reaching the Team Hearth League finals in his first season.

How has your experience been with Aeon so far?

My experience with Aeon has been amazing. since joining we've been a top team in the league, and everyone is super active. couldn't really ask for more.

It's not often new registered players get to join a team so early on, what is your story and what advice do you have for the new THL players looking to get involved and onto a team for Season 7?

Basically what i did is i watched free agent mega thread like a hawk and told every captain there that i was willing to work my ass off for a spot on the team. You have to put yourself out there and find a team, teams aren't gonna come to you.

How was it reaching the THL Finals in your first ever season?

It was absolutely horrible, worst experience of my life. lol of course I'm kidding. It was kind of surreal, i was really new to Hearthstone overall and here I am beating pros in the playoffs and having a monster season. Losing in the finals sucked but we put in a lot of work to get there and I'll always be proud of that season. 

Your personal record has been quite successful and you even managed to hit legend rank last season, what is the secret to your success so far?

Honestly I'm surrounded by good talented dudes. since day 1 Tophat, KunGmaR and Dad (FollowDurden) have taken me under their wing and really worked with me to get my Hearthstone mechanics down, also i have the best Captain in all of THL. Without all that I would be nowhere

​I appreciate that alot. You have now hosted quite a number of THL streams and have had experiences casting, producing as well as playing in THL. What advice can you give to those that want to get more involved within content creation?

Again just put yourself out there. Get into discord, make friends, let people know your aspirations and paths to getting will become available to you. I was fortunate to have FNF fall into my lap, but outside of that Slimsch is always looking for SS help so maybe make a quick audition tape to show your skills and present it to him, the board or us at FNF and you might get a shot one day.

---

---

Hopefully that gives the THL Community a little bit more of an insight into Aeon as a team and what they are all about. Like Arthur Rhodes in the previous article, I personally took alot of the best things about The Hairy Generals and applied them to Aeon.
Although in terms of records Aeon can be considered an unsuccessful team, Its the future and the present that counts and I would like to think that someday Aeon can be considered a team that have made a large contribution to THL as a whole and I 100% believe that we have the team dynamic in place to challenge THLs best teams for many many seasons.
I think it is important for Team Hearth League to have those staple teams and house names kind of thing. From the Gosu Casuals and Entropy of the past, to the future generation of staple THL names. These articles will provide the gateway into these teams in a much more in-depth way that we have seen before. But It is up to you guys who will be featured in the next edition of the Friday Night Fight Team Article. Tune in on Friday at 8pm. Earn points by regularly viewing THL streams and spend them for exclusive THL content of your choice!

---

Author - Detrucci

This article was written and created by Detrucci - Captain of Aeon, Season 2 champion, Producer of Friday Night Fight, SHL Board member and Graphic Designer

This Article is part of the Friday Night Fight THL Team Article reward that was redeemed on the 19th May 2017 by Darkseid