Tag Archives: Rival

SMITE World Championship Day 5 -FINAL MATCH

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SMITE World Championship – Team Rival VS. eUnited

In an incredible turn of events, Rival would upset the great NRG and eUnited would come out of nowhere to run the table in North America. Both of these surprise teams would end up being in our epic final match today. I’ll keep the formalities brief, lets get into the action.

Game 1

Rival Picks: Raijin (Wlfy), Odin (iceicebaby), Sylvanus (KaLaS), Anhur (Vote), Amaterasu (Deathwalker) – Bans: Ravana, The Morrigan, Janus, Artio

eUnited Picks: Ullr (PandaCat), Cu Chulainn (Benji), Bastet (Screammmmm), Discordia (Venenu), Ganesha (PolarBearMike) – Bans: Fafnir, Athena, Osiris, Erlang Shen

Trying to take advantage of early middle lane pressure, iceicebaby uses his Odin to invade eUnited’s back harpies, but a good collapse by eUnited results in him being picked off by Screammmmm for a First Blood at 2:15. Action is slow with eUnited more interested and getting map pressure than big objectives, but do commit to a Gold Fury at 13:30 thanks to zoning from Benji with his Cu Chulainn. eUnited brings the hurt at 18:00 with Screammmmm’s Bastet doing unexpected damage, finding a double kill in mid which allows his team to secure a portal demon and Gold Fury. Rival would find a tower and portal demon at 23:00 after finally taking down Benji, but eUnited’s gold lead would still climb to 9k thanks to map pressure and objective prioritization. eUnited tries to force the Fire Giant at 27:00, but after a scare from Odin eUnited is able to secure it and then turns their sights on Rival and their phoenixes. A strong final siege by eUnited would give them a Game 1 victory. Screammmmm and Benji combined their great pressure and aggression to lead their team to a win, with Screammmmm netting a 5/0/7 KDA.

Game 2

Rival Picks: Raijin (Wlfy), Osiris (Deathwalker), Ullr (Vote), Susano (iceicebaby), Geb (KaLaS) – Bans: Ravana, Bastet, Ah Muzen Cab, Artio

eUnited Picks: Cu Chulainn (Benji), The Morrigan (Venenu), Fenrir (Screammmmm), Hou Yi (PandaCat), Terra (PolarBearMike) – Bans: Fafnir, Athena, Ares, Da Ji

This game would start with Rival applying great solo lane pressure, which eUnited would counter by attempting to gank Vote at 3:45. Rival would counter engage, saving Vote and getting a double first blood on Screammmmm and PandaCat. Wlfy would be a key player for Rival in this early game, getting a double kill at 8:00, who’s damage would net a 3/0/3 KDA by 12:00. In stark contrast to Game 1, Rival would have great map control and pressure in all lanes and a 7k gold lead at 19:00. This was mainly due to the adjustment by Rival of getting more solo lane pressure to stop Benji’s Cu Chulainn from getting ahead. That control would allow Rival to freely take a Fire Giant at 21:30 and a couple of eUnited towers. 3 eUnited players would fall at 23:45 thanks to a great blink engage by KaLaS on his Geb and damage from Wlfy, leaving an opening for Rival to take 2 phoenixes. Rival would secure a second Fire Giant at 26:30 and would begin what looks to be a final siege on eUnited’s base. Rival would storm the base and like a well oiled machine, take Game 2. Rival’s solo pressure in this game would open up the map, this would let Wlfy shine and be aggressive while applying his massive Raijin damage.

Game 3

Rival Picks: Osirs (Deathwalker), Ullr (Vote), Geb (KaLaS), Ra (Wlfy), Serqet (iceicebaby) – Bans: Bastet, Ravana, Artio, Sylvanus

eUnited Picks: Raijin (Venenu), Cu Chulainn (Benji), Ah Muzen Cab (PandaCat), Amaterasu (PolarBearMike), Nemesis (Screammmmm) – Bans: Fafnir, Athena, Odin, Isis

Early on iceicebaby gets caught behind his speed buff by a rotation from Venenu and after a wild goose by Screammmmm, the Rival jungler falls for a First Blood at 2:30. eUnited would start this game off by being highly aggressive to put the pressure back on in Game 3. With a nice double kill  at 10:00 by Venenu’s Raijin with set up from PBM, eUnited is able to take the first Gold Fury. After a lull in the action, good zoning an positioning from eUnited keeps Rival away long enough for eUnited to secure another Gold Fury at 17:30. eUnited would abuse their lead to keep Rival on the back foot, resulting in a Fire Giant secure at 22:40 and a 10k gold lead. A good team fight engage by Benji would allow Venenu to pump out the damage and 4 Rival members would fall, plus a mid tower and left phoenix. Rival would be able to steal away a Fire Giant at 28:30 from eUnited, but 2 minutes later eUnited would be able to counter with a good fight at the Gold Fury and take 2 of Rival’s phoenixes. eUnited would continue to pile the pressure on, taking all of Rival’s phoenixes by 35:00 thanks to Beji’s zoning and Venenu’s damage. Venenu would be a big factor in eUnited being able to be aggressive and take this Game 3, netting himself a 8/2/9 KDA and 27k player damage.

Game 4

Rival Picks: Athena (KaLaS), Poseidon (Wlfy), Erlang Shen (iceicebaby), Hachiman (Vote), Bellona (Deathwalker) – Bans: Ravana, Ah Muzen Cab, Discordia, The Morrigan

eUnited Picks: Osiris (Benji), Ullr (PandaCat), Bastet (Screammmmm), Sylvanus (PolarBearMike), Zeus (Venenu) – Bans: Fafnir, Raijin, Nemesis, Susano

The game opens with eUnited being aggressive once again, Deathwalker is able to respond in kind with his Bellona and finds a first blood on Benji under eUnited’s solo tower at 3:00. In a bold move after recognizing their superior positioning, Rival is able to sneak and early Gold Fury at 7:30. A small bloodbath would breakout soon after with both teams trading 4 player kills over the next 3 minutes. eUnited would start to turn the tide against Rival’s early pressure by abusing the duo lane, finding 2 kills due to a great rotation by Venenu’s Zeus and a Gold Fury at 15:30. After pushing away eUnited, Rival would go for a risky Fire Giant at 19:00, but eUnited would make a clutch steal of the key objective. Using the new momentum eUnited would find 3 key kills on Wlfy, iceicebaby, and Deathwalker, plus 3 towers and a right side phoenix. As the Fire Giant respawned PBM would force a fight a fight with an amazing blink ultimate engagement, allowing Venenu to pump out his massive Zeus damage and storm the Rival base for an epic Game 4 victory. Venenu’s damage and performance in the middle lane this set would be a major key for eUnited taking this set against the leading Europe team. No one played more consistent over this set, Venenu is your MVP.

And so, after 3 long years the SMITE World Champion title returns to North America. After bouncing from team to team, PolarBearMike would finally come into his own and assemble an incredible roster. His leadership was crucial to the success of eUnited over the season, and he finally broke his worlds curse. Congratulations to eUnited and its players PolarBearMike, Venenu, PandaCat, Benji, and Screammmmm.

SMITE World Championship Day 3 – Quarterfinal Round Part 1

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Well, we’re back here once again for some more SMITE World Championship 2018 action. Its Quarterfinals today, and this decides who goes to Semifinals. Great action here as Nocturns Gaming and Rival begin their set. And then its The Rematch, the epic showdown of Luminosity Gaming and NRG eSports begins once again. Who shall be the ultimate champion?

Quarterfinal #1 Nocturns Gaming Vs. Team Rival

Nocturns vs Rival

Game 1

Nocturns Picks: Osiris (Beltway), Ah Muzen Cab (Zaionsix), Sobek (Noitulover), Da Ji (Sm1tero), Discordia (Nozq) – Bans: Odin, Ullr, Hachiman, Ratatoskr

Rival Picks: Raijin (Wlfy), Fafnir (KaLaS), Erlang Shen (Deathwalker), Ravana (iceicebaby), Medusa (Vote) – Bans: Artio, Sylvanus, Serqet, Isis

Action is slow for the first 5 minutes, however, after a busted gank by Nocturns on Deathwalker, Rival turns on Nocturns’ Sm1tero for first blood, another 3 kills, and a tower in a solo lane teamfight at 5:45. Rival would turn up the pressure and continue the slow bleed with objective takes and pick off kills. Rival would take all of Nocturns’ tier 1 towers by 13:10. Rival would then secure an early Fire Giant at 15:50 because their massive lead prevented Nocturns from stopping their pressure. Wlfy’s enormous damage would lead to a triple kill and a 8/0/6 KDA for his Raijin, this would secure a dominant victory for Team Rival in Game 1. Nocturns simply could not handle the constant pressure applied by Rival and sadly fell.

Game 2

Nocturns Picks: Erlang Shen (Beltway), Ravana (Sm1tero), Raijin (Nozq), Terra (Noitulover), Hou Yi (Zaionsix) – Bans: Odin, Ah Muzen Cab, Poseidon

Rival Picks: Osiris (Deathwalker), Artio (iceicebaby), Hachiman (Wlfy), Fafnir (KaLaS), Thoth (Vote) – Bans: Ullr, Sylvanus, Ganesha, Ares

Slow action for most of the game, most fights were even trades. Positioning was a key factor in this slow paced game. Clutch plays from Vote and Wlfy gave Rival great objective control. Rival consistently got more off of their kills than Nocturns. Superior control from Rival leads to an important Fire Giant at 47:15. Good defense led by Beltway keeps Nocturns in it for a bit longer. Rival takes second Fire Giant at 52:20. Rival’s incredible damage leads to a victory and they take Game 2, Vote was a crucial part of this win for Rival. Once again Wlfy’s damage and positioning was incredible, giving his Hachiman a Game 2 KDA of 8/6/4. Set MVP goes to Wlfy. Vote was almost perfect this game, but Wlfy’s overall impact was greater. Rival advances to Semifinals.

Quarterfinal #2  Luminosity Gaming VS. NRG eSports – The Rematch

LGvsNRG

Game 1

LG Picks: Cu Chulainn (Aquarius), Ne Zha (Mask), Hachiman (BaRRaCCuDDa), Ganesha (JeffHindla), Janus (Baskin) – Bans: Serqet, Ullr, Cabrakan, Hou Yi

NRG Picks: Sylvanus (iRaffer), Ravana (Adapting), Raijin (Yammyn), Artio (maniaKK), Rama (emilitoo) – Bans: Fafnir, Ah Muzen Cab, The Morrigan, Geb

It was the usual farming and counter invading for the early game, but Adapting of NRG found a crucial first blood on Aquarius, giving maniaKK’s Artio a lead. This wouldn’t slow down LG when Baskin of shows his skills as a hyper carry early with a huge triple kill at 11:00. NRG shows off their veteran skills at 14:30 by getting 2 picks on LG, plus a Gold Fury and Portal Demon. The slug fest would continue with LG and NRG trading blows and players, with both teams finding 6 kills from 16:30-18:30. An early Fire Giant is taken by NRG thanks to Adapting’s positioning and triple kill. NRG would maintain their objective control by taking all of LG’s towers, establishing a 10k gold lead. A great engage by NRG leads to 3 kills, a phoenix, and a Fire Giant at 25:00. A carefully planned siege afterward would secure a Game 1 victory for NRG eSports. Adapting showed his genius as usual and led his team for the win with a 7/2/9 KDA.

Game 2

LG Picks: Cabrakan (Aquarius), Cu Chulainn (Mask), Hachiman (BaRRaCCuDDa), Xing Tian (JeffHindla), Discordia (Baskin) – Bans: Ullr, Ah Muzen Cab, Hou Yi, Geb

NRG Picks: Ravana (Adapting), Erlang Shen (maniaKK), Raijin (Yammyn), Athena (iRaffer), Rama (emilitoo)  – Bans: Fafnir, Sylvanus, The Morrigan, Ganesha

Blood is spilled early in Game 2 at 1:00, emilitoo and BaRRa trade shots and Yammyn gets the finish for the first blood. Mask of LG quickly follows with Cu Chulainn’s transformation by killing maniaKK in solo. The game would have a slow pace after the early action, with NRG slowly controlling the game by way of consistent kills (1 kill per 2 minutes) and buff steals. Better positioning and awareness from NRG leads to a Fire Giant secure at 15:50, and a 12k gold lead. LG, however, was able to mount a base defense with a huge ultimate from JeffHindla’s Xing Tian at 20:00 despite the gold deficit. NRG prepares for another siege with a Fire Giant secure at 21:45, which leads to a Deicide and a resounding victory in Game 2 for NRG eSports. The Athena pick caught LG off guard and this allowed Yammyn to dominate the second game. The set MVP is of course Adapting, his high level play and team presence with Ravana was the most critical part of NRG’s strategy. NRG advances to Semifinals.

Those were some epic games so far. Stay tuned, two more quarterfinal matches are still to come, I’ll see you all again for EUnited vs. Black Dragons and Elevate vs. Obey.

Any thoughts or opinions expressed are mine alone. I am not affiliated with any SMITE organizations mentioned or Hi-Rez Studios. Images credited to SMITE eSports and Hi-Rez Studios.

eSports Talk: SMITE Dreamhack Valencia & ESL Cologne

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SK GAMING 3-0’s CLOUD 9

The ESL CS:GO Cologne Finals took place this past week in Cologne, Germany. After a long and arduous group stage 8 teams advanced to the playoff. This included the old standbys of Cloud 9, Faze, and Optic Gaming as well as up and coming teams Team Liquid and Natus Vincere. After a stunning playoff round with many teams losing 2-0, the grand final of SK Gaming and Cloud 9 was set. In an incredible turn of events, SK defeated Cloud 9 in only 3 rounds. I would not have believed the ESL finals would end with the loser taking not a single game. But, nevertheless, that’s exactly what happened. Congratulations to SK and the players Taco, Fer, Fallen, Felps, and Coldzera!

sk

SMITE DREAMHACK FINAL MATCH SET

In other news, the SMITE Dreamhack Valencia Finals began yesterday and already some big names in the SMITE pro scene have fallen. Tournament favorite Dignitas has already defeated Brazil’s representative Black Dragons and will move on to the semis. Fan favorites NRG also will move on after taking the set against Trifecta 2-1. Many argue that the jungler and mid for NRG, Adapting and Yammyn, are the best players in the field. We’ll see how far that will take them. After their sets, Rival and Obey also moved on to semis, which began early this morning.

In a stunning turn of events, relatively new team Rival was able to defeat Obey 3-1 in a BO5. Many would have expected the experience of veterans Ataraxia and Prettyprime, along with the great strategies of EmiLZy to take the day, but rising stars Deathwalker and wlfy would not be denied, making some great plays to help Rival pull off an upset.

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In yet another amazing semi-final match, Dignitas shut out NRG 3-0 in their BO5 set. Dignitas had the best record in the SPL coming in, and their hot streak looks like it will continue. Try as they might, the once dominate NRG eSports could not overcome the Zyrhoes led Dignitas. SPL star and the individual often regarded as the best pro SMITE player Adapting could only do so much to keep his team alive. Picking up former Paradigm support and jungle players Trixtank and QvoFred has been a great move for Dignitas and the two played a huge part in their run to Dreamhack Finals.

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The finals begin tomorrow and my money is on Dignitas to beat Rival 3-1. The current synergy and momentum that Dignitas in my opinion is simply too much for any team to overcome right now. $60k is up for grabs in this final match, this will definitely be a final to remember. Speaking of SMITE, I may have a bit next week about the state of the game. Some of the new changes coming do not bode well and I’ll tell you all why. Stay tuned.

Photos attributed to the ESL Pro League and SMITE eSports/SmitePro.