Tag Archives: SMITE

SMITE Season 5: Can They Get This One Right?

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Well, its a new year and with that comes another season of SMITE: Battleground of the Gods. Big changes are coming this year, including a starter items overhaul and a complete redesign of the Conquest Map. The last season the SMITE devs and designers had a reputation of making some very questionable choices about the game and its balance. Hopefully this doesn’t go the same way.

You can read the Update Notes here: SMITE 5.1 Update Notes

Watch my Analysis video here: SMITE 5.1 Analysis

So is SMITE 5.1 a good start to the season or a bad omen for the future?

THE MAP

This is the most obvious change with this new patch. First off, the map is bigger, 20% wider according to the designers. This change expanded the jungle and made it a bit more precarious for anyone wandering through it. They’ve added more landmarks that can lead to great ambush set ups and it makes it quite dangerous to be caught in the jungle alone. Jungle camps have also been changed, each one getting a design overhaul to better reflect the Greek lore. Centaurs, Manticores, Satyrs, and Chimeras now make the jungle their home. Camps have also been relocated to make things a little more efficient. There is also more room for fighting around the phoenixes and Titan room, it makes defending easier since its a good distance from the Titan. A slew of other changes like respawn timer decreases on camps and an enhanced Fire Giant lend themselves to quickening the pace of Conquest matches, which were previously quite long.

BLESSINGS

A new feature, these now replace the old starter items. You can only buy 1 blessing per match, and once you sell it its gone and you cannot buy a new one. This coupled with labeling each Blessing based on character class, make it clearer what blessing you should be getting. As such there is an Assassin’s, Guardian’s, Mage’s, Hunter’s, and Warrior’s blessing. There is also an additional 3 blessings available in other game modes. The 5 Conquest blessings listed above are only usable in Conquest. Each blessing has specific goals for getting stacks on the item and a unique passive once fully stacked. One thing to note, Mage’s blessing does bonus damage when you hit an ability. Unfortunately, its entirely broken since certain abilities will deal the bonus damage more than once. Thoth was actually removed from the public test server to fix the issue of his abilities dealing bonus damage on each tick of damage, up to 6. Apart from this, blessings seem like a good change and you can mix up which one you buy based on how you want to play.

THEY BROKE MAGES

Yes, its exactly what is sounds like. It seems that Hi-Rez did not like the spot mages were in against most other gods, so they got one of the largest buffs across a class I’ve ever seen. They added a slew of new magical items with massive stats. Existing items also got power buffs. It would be easier if I just showed you.

Typhon’s Fang:

  • 2800g
  • +100 Magical Power
  • +200 Mana
  • +15% Magical Lifesteal
  • PASSIVE – Your Magical Lifesteal From items is increased by 50%. Your Magical Power is increased by the 100% Amount of Magical Lifesteal you have.

Soul Gem

  • 2300g
  • +65 Magical Power
  • +150 Health
  • +12% Magical Lifesteal
  • +10% CDR
  • PASSIVE – Every time you hit an enemy with an ability or basic attack you gain 1 stack. At 5 Stacks your next ability will deal bonus damage equal to 25% of your Magical power, and will heal yourself and allies within 30 units of you for 25% of your Magical Power

Rod of Tahuti

  • Decreased Cost from 3300 to 3000
  • Increased Magical Power from 125 to 150
  • NEW PASSIVE – Gain 25% additional Magical Power against targets below 50% Health.

Telkhines Ring (Because Freya wasn’t broken enough)

  • Increased Cost from 2400 to 2800
  • Added +20% Attack Speed
  • NEW PASSIVE – Your basic attacks deal bonus damage of 10 + 5% of your magical power. This effect does not hit structures.

Do I really need to say anything else? So now mages do significantly more damage than they used to and they’re harder to kill. Oh, and a bunch of them got magical protection scaling of 0.9 per level too. Also some of the pen and items that deal bonus health percentage damage got buffed to do more against tanky targets as the game goes on. So tanks aren’t the problem anymore…

Oh, and some physical items got changed, but who cares? Mages are broken.

BALANCE

And quickly, some god balance changes.

Ah Muzen Cab had his movement and attack speed increase from his hives reduced.

Fafnir’s stun on his first ability in dwarf and dragon form was nerfed from 1.5s to 1.0s.

Ao Kuang’s ultimate only heals him once he takes his target up in the air and not on initial contact.

Cu Chulainn’s base HP5 was reduced from 9 to 7 and his ultimate got a 10s cooldown increase.

Loki’s Decoy got a cooldown reduction from 14s to 12s and a damage increase.

Nike’s Rend now makes her knockback immune and the damage was decreased.

Raijin’s Percussive Storm had its damage reduced, Raiju had damage to subsequent targets reduced, and his ultimate, Taiko Drums, got a cooldown increase from 90s to 100s.

Ratatoskr’s Dart got a cooldown increase from 12s to 14s and Acorn Blast had its mana costs increased as you level it.

Ravana’s base health was reduced from 470 to 450 and Mystic Rush has its damage mitigation reduced by half.

Thoth’s Hieroglyphic Assault had its damage increased.

Tyr’s heal on Power Cleave now has 20% physical power scaling.

And a bunch of assorted Guardians and Mages got movement speed increases.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The moral of this story is mages are broken and I hope they nerf some of these items before this thing goes live, otherwise we have a serious problem. Have they learned yet? No, sadly. This design team still tends to do too much to fix problems that aren’t really big issues and ignores fairly obvious ones. There were some good targeted god changes to balance things after SWC but beyond that, there were alot of crazy things in here. Of course it always takes time to adjust things in a new season, but this could be a bad sign…

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 2

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Quarterfinal #3 eUnited VS. Black Dragons

eunitedvblackdragons

Game 1

eUnited Picks: Ravana (Screammmmm), Cu Chulainn (Benji), Raijin (Venenu), Ganesha (PolarBearMike), Hou Yi (PandaCat) – Bans: Sylvanus, Serqet, Rama, Ra

BD Picks: Osiris (Kliz), Fafnir (PIBE), Ratatoskr (oShip), Hachiman (MarcelZ) , Janus (Nann) – Bans: Ullr, Ah Muzen Cab, Athena, Xing Tian

After the usual slap fighting in solo, Benji on Cu Chulainn gets caught alone at 4:00, but turns the 2vs1 around by expertly using his cooldown timers and finds first blood. Things start looking rough for BD, but thanks to a turn around from oShip and Naan they find 3 return kills against eUnited at 8:20. A good engagement from Benji and eUnited at 11:00 though finds 3 kills and allows PandaCat’s Hou Yi to secure a Gold Fury, giving eUnited a 7k gold lead. eUnited would be in complete control of the map and game, earning an almost 10k gold lead by 17:00. A Fire Giant secure by eUnited at 18:20 leads to them taking 3 BD towers and 2 phoenixes over the next 3 minutes. eUnited initiates a final siege at 24:30 and kills all but MarcelZ for a Game 1 victory. eUnited controlled the pace and map in this entire game, quickly tearing apart BD by late game. Benji’s Cu Chulainn was great this game, fighting multiple players, engaging fights and being an all around nuisance for a 8/1/7 KDA.

Game 2

eUnited Picks: Hachiman (PandaCat), Fafnir (PolarBearMike), The Morrigan (Venenu), Bellona (Benji), Fenrir (Screammmmm) – Bans: Ah Muzen Cab, Ravana, Rama, Ra

BD Picks: Osiris (Kliz), Odin (oShip), Sylvanus (PIBE), Hou Yi (MarcelZ), Anubis (Naan) – Bans: Raijin, Ullr, Cu Chulainn, Serqet

The Anubis pick from Naan turns out to be effective early, the mummify and damage allows MarcelZ to take first blood on PolarBearMike’s Fafnir. Despite the slower pace, eUnited still maintains a gold and experience lead early due to superior map control. eUnited is able to take a Gold Fury at 11:30. With few kills by either team, eUnited continues to increase its lead with a Gold Fury at 17:00, pushing the gold lead to nearly 10k. Things heat up at 18:00 minutes, with eUnited finding 4 kills and both duo lane towers thanks mainly to Screammmmm and his Fenrir. eUnited would not let up, taking a Fire Giant at 20:00, getting 2 kills, 2 BD towers, and 2 phoenixes. eUnited begins a final siege at 23:00, finishing off 4 BD members and taking a huge Game 2 victory. Benji’s pressure and ability to farm was great again, PandaCat also made significant plays in this game. eUnited expertly out farmed BD, once eUnited’s characters came online there was nothing BD could do. Benji was the set MVP. eUnited advances to Semifinals.

Quarterfinal #4 Obey Alliance VS. Elevate

obeyvelevate

Game 1

Obey Picks: Sobek (Xaliea), Osiris (CaptainTwig), Discordia (PrettyPriMe), Amaterasu (EmilZy), Ullr (Ataraxia) – Bans: Cabrakan, Athena, Ares, Ymir

Elevate Picks: Xing Tian (N0Numbers), Geb (Cherryo), Hou Yi (DeathPanter), Sylvanus (Dardez), Ah Muzen Cab (Jermain) – Bans: Raijin, Hel, Odin, Ratatoskr

The pace of this game was a bit slow, very few kills throughout the early and mid game. Obey was able to establish early objective control and maintain a gold lead. Action picks up at 29:30, with Obey finding two kills thanks to Xaliea and Ataraxia and secure a Fire Giant. Despite the Fire Giant and a 10k gold lead, Elevate are able to defend with great damage application from DeathPanter’s Hou Yi. Obey would turn up the pressure again at 35:30 by finding 2 more picks and a second Fire Giant. Elevate would once again end Obey’s siege with great ultimates from N0Numbers’ Xing Tian and Cherryo’s Geb, at the cost of a right lane phoenix. A third Fire Giant at 42:20 would lead to another base siege and Obey would not be denied, Game 1 goes to Obey. CaptianTwig and Xaliea both with 100% kill participation with a 0/2/17 and 6/0/11 KDA respectively. Xaliea’s fight initiation, zoning, and Sobek pulls were particularly impressive in this Game and led to several objective secures for Obey.

Game 2

Obey Picks: Osiris (CaptainTwig), Raijin (PrettyPriMe), Fafnir (EmilZy), Jing Wei (Ataraxia), Cu Chulainn (Xaliea) – Bans: Ullr, Sylvanus, Hou Yi, Hachiman

Elevate Picks: Ah Muzen Cab (DeathPanter), Athena (Cherryo), Amaterasu (N0Numbers), Nox (Dardez), Rama (Jermain) – Bans: Hel, Discordia, Cabrakan, Xing Tian

This game would see a bit of a strange team composition for Elevate, with the Nox support and Athena jungle picks. They would also combine for a first blood on CaptainTwig’s Osiris at 3:30 contrasting the slow pace of Game 1. Recognizing their positional and vision advantage at 13:00, Obey is able to sneak the first Gold Fury of the game with no response from Elevate. Great zoning from Xaliea on Cu Chulainn leads to a Portal Demon for Obey at 16:00. Things heat up at 19:00 with Obey finding 4 kills and a Gold Fury thanks to a great blink engage from Xaliea. Obey gets the advantage again by splitting up Elevate and getting 3 pick offs plus a left tower. Very little action as the game transitions to the late stage. A teamfight engage at 32:00 and 2 kills leads to a Fire Giant secure for Obey at 33:30 and the siege begins with a big ultimate engage from Xaliea. This gives Obey 2 towers, 2 phoenixes, and a Gold Fury. Obey begins another siege at 38:50, starting with a second Fire Giant secure and would not be denied. Obey wins Game 2 against Elevate. EmilZy going almost perfect with a 0/0/17 KDA and Xaliea showed a strong performance, repeating his great zoning and teamfight initiation. Xaliea’s overall impact was incredible this set, definitely the MVP for this set. Obey moves on to Semifinals.

That’s it for today’s Quarterfinal coverage folks. We saw some great plays from new and old players and incredible, high level action. Get pumped for Semis tomorrow, we’re in for some incredible action.

 

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.

SMITE World Championship Day 2: Knockout Round

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Its that time of year once again, old man winter creeps on our doors and brings with him the SMITE World Championship at HRX. We have a great field of teams this year, including the dominant NRG and EUNITED, who could end up in the epic finale to this series of games. Before we get into that though, I’ll give you all some coverage on today’s knockout matches. International teams Entity Gaming and Black Dragons, and Scylla Esports and NocturnsGaming faced off today in two great best of three matches to determine which two teams will receive the remaining Quarterfinal spots.

Knockout Match #1: Entity Gaming VS. Black Dragons

EntityvBlackdragons

Game 1 – Entity Picks: Picks: Raijin (SirEclipse), Ravana (iApex), Hachiman (Kamiru), Ganesha (MashuPoi), Cabrakan (Parad1ddle) – Bans: Erlang Shen, Sylvanus, Ah Muzen Cab, Cu Chulainn

Black Dragons Picks: Fafnir (PIBE), Serqet (oShip), Rama (MarcelZ), Artio (Kliz), Ra (Nann) – Bans: Ullr, Osiris, Geb, Xing Tian

Our first game saw some great early action with Cabrakan and Ravana combining with great crowd control on Artio for a first blood by Entity. Early pressure from Cabrakan and Ravana would continue. Black Dragons were able to start a comeback beginning with sneaking the first Gold Fury. Later, thanks to great play from MarcelZ on his Rama, Black dragons finds a kill on Kamiru followed by a quick Gold Fury Secure. MarcelZ would continue his top notch play and bring Black Dragons back from its early deficit. Thanks to oShip and his incredible Serqet play, the team was able to steal a Fire Giant that Entity attempted to snatch from under Black Dragons. After some picks and posturing, Black Dragons would secure another Fire Giant and begin a final siege with MarcelZ at the helm with his massive hunter damage. Black Dragons was able to come back from Entity’s dominant early game and win Game 1. Huge props to oShip with his Serqet rotations and teamfight presence, which gave him 95% kill participation at 18 Kills+Assists.

Game 2 – Entity Picks: Erlang Shen(Parad1ddle), Anhur (Kamiru), Nox (SirEclipse), Xing Tian (MashuPoi), Awilix (iApex) – Bans: Ullr, Serqet, Ra, Artio  

Black Dragons Picks: Sylvanus (PIBE), Odin (oShip), Hachiman (MarcelZ), Amaterasu (Kliz), Vulcan (Nann) – Bans: Osiris, Ah Muzen Cab, Fafnir, Ravana 

Game 2 would have a similar starting pace, Entity would find a big first blood once players hit level 5 and focused their ultimates on Naan’s Vulcan at Black Dragon’s speed buff. Entity would get a few more kills and an early Gold Fury, getting great early pressure once again. Black Dragons once again starts to find cracks in the armor and finds two return kills and a Mid Tower after the Gold Fury. MarcelZ would once again keep the team afloat with a massive 3 level lead and full devourer’s gloves ahead of Kamiru. Black Dragons continued to show better objective control with oShip zoning with his Odin. That and the Odin, Vulcan combo allowed Black Dragons to get a Portal Demon and Gold Fury. This leads to a huge teamfight at the Fire Giant, which Black Dragons wins and secures the FG. At this point MarcelZ and Naan’s damage was simply too much and Black Dragons storms the gates for a Game 2 victory. oShip and MarcelZ both had 100% kill participation. oShip was incredible in this set, his great plays on both his Serqet and Odin along with his rotations and teamfight presence led the charge to Black Dragons moving to Quarterfinals.

Knockout Match #2: NocturnsGaming VS. Scylla Esports

NocturnsvScylla

Game 1 – Nocturns Picks: Osiris (Beltway), Sylvanus (Noitulover), Hachiman (Zaionsix), Erlang Shen (Sm1tero), Isis (Nozq) – Bans: Odin, Raijin, Fafnir, Geb

Scylla Picks: Xing Tian (Kayo), Ravana (Envisionise), Medusa (MingyuSeo), Vulcan (xShred), Sobek (Torreyskiez) – Bans: Ullr, AMC, Serqet, Cabrakan

This game would open up with epic action at the Fire Giant pit before minion spawns with Scylla finding a first blood on Noitulover. After a bit of lane phase, Scylla attempts to take their blue buff, but instead loses 3 team members because of a great engage by Osiris and rotation by Isis. Beltway would continue to control the pace of this game with his massive solo lane lead. Scylla responds later by sneaking a risky fire giant despite Nocturns’ lead and map control. Nocturns is able to prevent Scylla from utilizing its FG and thanks to Beltway’s presence and zoning, secures the FG on respawn. By this point Sm1tero and Zaionsix are massive and have high damage and pen, tearing through Scylla’s phoenixes and the Titan. This game was the Beltway show, his rotations and pressure along with the same from Sm1tero make it an easy win for Nocturns once they reached mid game.

Game 2 – Nocturns Picks: Fafnir (Noitulover), Erlang Shen (Beltway), Hachiman (Zaionsix), Thoth (Nozq), Serqet (Sm1tero) – Bans: Osiris, Ah Muzen Cab, Geb, Hou Yi

Scylla Picks: Raijin (xShred), Ravana (Envisionise), Artio (Kayo), Cernunnos (MingyuSeo), Odin (Torreyskiez) – Bans: Sylvanus, Ullr, Ra, Isis

The early game was slower in Game 2, eventually Scylla attempts a blue buff steal and is met with Beltway and Sm1tero and the latter finds first blood and another kill on Artio and Ravana. Much like Game 1, Beltway and Sm1tero continue their pressure and domination across the map. A great gank onto MingyuSeo and Torreyskiez leads to an easy Gold Fury for Nocturns. Nocturns continues to show great play and team chemistry, particularly between Beltway and Sm1tero, who’s Serqet ultimates proved critical to most fights. After a free Fire Giant, Nocturn’s superb synergy leads to a dominate Game 2 victory. This set was really a collective MVP between Beltway and Sm1tero who both played like seasoned veterans and controlled the set at all stages.

And with that I will see you all tomorrow for Quarterfinals. Get ready for epic action and incredible plays.

Any thoughts or opinions expressed are mine and mine alone. I am not affiliated with any SMITE organization mentioned or Hi-Rez Studios. Photos 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!

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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.