By Ruglord
Under Newb Management took it 2-0 over Points Donation Squad in a game that was technically last week’s game.
Game 1 started on Towers and at first, PDS had a lot of control. An early game pick plus Lane prio meant that PDS were able to invade UNM’s camp very early on with their Malthael. Later, a 5 man gank on that same Malthael allowed PDS to easily trade bottom tower for a single kill. As soon as UNM hit 10, however, they completely flipped the script, with an insane gust pushing PDS into towers and killing them. Almost instantly, UNM regained their bottom tower, and from that point on, the game was out of PDS’ hands. On paper, it kind of makes sense. Their comp of Anub + Malthael + Tychus is absolutely lethal on anyone they can catch out but it’s difficult to actually secure a kill when UNM had so many panic buttons in the form or Iron Skin, Gust, Dehaka Burrow, and Whitemane (just the whole character). Hell, even if PDS’ Rehgar went for the anti-heal to deny Whitemane, a simple blind from Johanna puts Tychus in a very awkward spot. As a result, it was UNM that would conquer fight after fight after their initial slow start.
Game 2 was on Dragon Shire and I’m ngl, I feel like this one was a bit of an offlane diff. I would not consider Sonya an ungankable offlaner, however chromage’s willingness to use Leap to get out against the constant pressure of a Dehaka + Falstad 1v2 meant he got a lot of value top, while PDS was frequently stuck fighting down a person bottom. Sonya somehow got a lot more done top than PDS’ globals did. I think Falstad could’ve pushed top way harder everytime he was up there, but instead Sonya got top fort before even losing her whole wall. Top lane on DShire is interesting because it’s almost never the lane you end on, but disabling the enemy fort can make it very difficult for the opponent to reclaim top with just their offlane, and the trickle EXP is a big factor still. Honestly, UNM just looked like a stronger team this game, on a map that I think best exemplifies team coordination and rotations. I actually like PDS’ draft a tad more, but it was UNM that executed.
Under Newb Management also took it 2-0 over Fancy Flightless Fowl.
Game 1: This was a very interesting matchup on paper. On FFF’s side we have a Medivh comp, which is sure to completely change the way drafts and games are played. Meanwhile UNM had hammer, who also does the same thing. With Anub, Valla, Rehgar backing up the Medivh, I was worried that FFF would have a hard time keeping up on macro, as Rehgar is the only one that can really clear waves outside their offlaner. With Hammer, UNM is more than capable of splitting FFF up to prevent the dreaded 5v5s, which I think FFF should be favored in. On the other hand, it is Shrines, a map that does force team fights eventually and with Valla and Leoric, I figured FFF would prove to be a little too strong in the late game. In reality, however, it was UNM that was winning the teamfights. Almost every fight was a counterengage with Anub + Leoric not quite getting the fight they wanted thanks to Anduin on UNM and then the Joh slows + Hammer damage would just prove to be too much. Or it would be a clump thanks to Joh/Sonya Leap and Medivh would be stuck in the hard spot of deciding who to save. Medivh is always very exciting to watch, both when a team executes it well, as well as when it ultimately falls short, as the character just has so many high highs and low lows. I hope FFF keeps practicing it, as it can prove to be a lethal weapon.
Game 2 was maybe even spicier with FFF busting out the double support Smash Varian + Murky offlane, while UNM sported a Nova. I’ll just say it, I loved FFF’s draft. They were still a little light on wave clear but with Jaina that is somewhat compensated for and Murky is genuinely very annoying to lane against. I’d be hardpressed to say he is a Dehaka counter, but he does have a global technically and by off rotating, he can clear waves quick and generate bribe stacks. Hell, in-game, Dehaka frequently had to use Z just to keep up with rotations. In the end though it was UNM that won and pretty comfortably honestly. I felt like FFF took too many fights uncomfortably close to UNM’s walls which UNM exploited the shit out of with Garrosh. I actually wonder if Garrosh is particularly good into this comp because of his abilities of isolation: usually with level 4, Varian can go to town but against Garrosh, he needed level 10 to even begin a engaging safely with Protected. By that point, UNM was way ahead on macro, on Sky Temple no less, a map that can spiral out of control early. In fact, I love UNM’s positioning the 4 man top early; if you’re gonna be laning against a Murky, may as well punish it and push as hard as you can to get top wall and eventually top fort.
The High Inquisitors took it 2-0 over Crit Kickers.
Game 1 was very exciting. I mean obviously I’m biased, as a fan of Misha and the half orc she happens to bring along, but also I just think Crit Kickers played very well into a comp that honestly I thought was MUCH better. Crit Kickers had Rexxar, Anub, Liming, Rehgar, and Tychus, which is a very scary blow up comp with Rexxar and Tychus as great follow up to Anub’s stun combo. Mean while, High Inquisitors had Muradin, Genji, Anduin, Sylvanas, and Leoric, which seemed to be a bit more divey. Genji + Lightbomb here is the big thing, as there is very little counter play to it on Crit Kicker’s side. Usually your offlaner can offset the impact a bit by being tanky and hard to kill, but not only is Misha very easy to kill, Rexxar is also a 4th, vulnerable backline target for Genji to feast on. Genji pretty much HAS to be cocooned, but since he can engage from a lightyear away and intangible the cocoon during X-Strike, it’s pretty much on him to mess it up. And sure enough, that’s how many fights went. However, Crit Kickers turned on Odin and watched it melt through buildings. For most of the game, they were actually up structures. I think they did a much better job converting advantages into buildings; it was just that when push came to shove, Inquisitors just had a much better team fight comp. Even late game, down a keep I think Crit Kickers were still in it to win it, but sadly the game ended with a soulcrushing DC from Crit Kickers. A sad ending to an otherwise explosive match from both teams.
Game 2 felt a bit less close. With Joh, Gul’dan, Tracer, Dehaka, Rehgar, I think Crit Kickers drafted themselves into a bit of a hole, as they had very little way of killing the Inquisitors’ Diablo + Leoric frontline. I almost don’t even think Leo needs silence entomb here since 4/5 enemies have 0 way of escaping Entomb, at least not without significant downsides (Gul’dan having to portal out, potentially far from team, and Joh having to take Falling Sword over the more reliable engage of Blessed Shield). The Inquisitors also had Hanzo, who allowed Diablo to land some nasty Apocs while Genji swooped in to clean up the scraps. Definitely a very solid draft from the Inquisitors.
Next up we have Magnitude: Epicenter taking it 2-0 over Can’t Pause Wont Pause.
Game 1: For the 2nd time this week, I must talk about a team who lost their game but busted out a really cool comp. CPWP rocked the double specialist comp, with Hammer, Vikings, Anub’arak, Greymane, and Deckard. The goal here is obvious: hit buildings and continue to hit buildings while Vikings macro. Epicenter had a more well-rounded draft, with Varian, Hanzo, Chromie, Sonya, and Auriel. with macro, poke, burst, sustained and panic healing, Epicenter was much stronger in fights, and it showed. I think CPWP really needed to exploit the larger map, and the fact that objectives don’t super matter until your opponent gets 3 of them, to make the most out of their comp, as Vikings are a bit weak prior to 16 without the stun. Maybe you can cheese a kill with Vikings’ spin to win, but generally, I’d prefer having a Leap Sonya as my offlane. When CPWP were able to stall objectives and get push value elsewhere, their comp was great. When they couldn’t they fell apart. A dramatic Dragon Arrow busting through the hammer’s defenses would seal the deal.
Game 2: If I had a nickel for every Medivh game this week, I’d have 2, which is awesome because I love to see teams innovate with funny bird man. And on BOE it kind of makes sense: sure Medivh has no race potential, but he is very strong in teamfights and BOE macro is not quite as important. However, I must say, I think CPWP absolutely overcooked with this one by putting Lunara as their DPS alongside Medivh. I guess maybe the argument is that if you have Diablo and land a juicy Leyline + Apoc combo, it hardly matters what your DPS is? Even then, I think almost many DPS would be better, as Lunara also has poor race, even with Nature’s Culling. Epicenter even had the Chen and Auriel for better portal control already locked in when CPWP committed to the Medivh. Not that portal control actually ended up mattering because Chen is INSANE into Lunara. You pretty much complete your level 1 quest and then drink for days. You yourself couldn’t care less about Lunara’s damage and at 13, your whole team doesn’t either. Not to mention Auriel is a fantastic sustain healer paired with an INSANE sustain damage dealer in Gul’dan. There were actually some damn good engages CPWP got, including one bottom lane against what could’ve been an overextended Epicenter. But Epicenter backed up, peeled for each other, and as soon as the initial ferocity was down, CPWP just got outsustained and lost; I don’t even think having even talent tiers would’ve changed anything. I honestly think Epicenter probably could’ve just marched to core at 13, using Chen to literally be unkillable but it wouldn’t really matter, as minions would end for them anyway one objective later. I love the creativity I saw from CPWP this week, but I think maybe it was a bit too much this game.
Our final 2-0 of the week goes to gillyShark at !Bingo night over Gen.M Esports!
Game 1: I like GenM’s patient draft here, with Zagara and Tassadar as poke heroes and Joh and Blaze offering a ton of support; I’d just maybe swap out Stukov for something like a Deckard, but honestly it’s a fine pick. Unfortunately, every draft has its counters and I think with Muradin, Dehaka, Falstad, Greymane, and a freedom loving DJ who follows Mario Kart balancing over MOBA balancing, are pretty good into it. If Gillyshark had commited themselves to a more pokey comp, maybe GenM’s comp would fare better but as is I think their comp is just too “patient”, while Gillyshark could step on the gas or disengage whenever. GenM did have one very cool moment where they got a 3 man kill late game and made the very decisive decision to run down bottom, which is not always easy to make in a coordinated environment. They even went through the side wall and didn’t bother killing the towers to maximize their time. I really do think, with Zagara 20, they could’ve played to win the game here, even with only 6 seconds left on Muradin. Maybe if bunker was saved, but these kinds of calls are always hard to make.
Game 2 was on Dragon Shire. GenM brandished a double bruiser comp with Leo and Sonya, which I don’t really get but I also don’t think it’s outright bad. It does feel more like a Shrines comp than Dshire comp, even more so with the Diablo + Tassadar, but I can’t see how it’s inherently bad on DShire. For the most part, Gillyshark absolutely held the reins, with the double globals making Leo’s life hell. And since they are globals, they could flex their power bottom as well. in a similar fashion to last game, however, GenM got another 3 man kill late game and once again looked to end bottom … only to be stopped by an incredible wind tunnel. And just like last time, the awkward, long run back to base from the enemy core would set up the game for them.