SMITE World Championship Day 2: Knockout Round

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.

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.

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.

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