Both of the BO3 matches for the third place prize went into the third game – no one was willing to give up another shot at Worlds. [WC COMMENTARY]
NA Third Place Match: Team Eager vs. EnvyUS
2-1, favor of Eager
After losing their seat to Enemy in the NA Semi Finals, EnvyUS started this match strong. They took first blood and a very early lead, with a 1k advantage at less than 2 minutes in. The gap only widened as the game went on, and Envy took the first Fire Giant with no resistance. Once they had the buffs, they went straight for the Gold Fury. This put them at a 13k gold lead, and a 3-0 team fight left Eager vulnerable. Game 1 went quickly to EnvyUS.
Eager got off to a much stronger start in Game 2. Both teams took a safer, more strategic approach in what could have been the deciding game for the match. It felt more like watching an EU match than an NA match. EnvyUS took the early lead once again. But a full team fight fell 4-1 in favor of Eager, and they made quick work of the last EnvyUS member. That evened out their gold/EXP/kill lead. Eager kept pushing hard, racking up more than double the kills on EnvyUS before taking their titan and tying up the match.
In Game 3, Eager kept riding the momentum from the previous game. They took the early lead and dominated the field well into mid-game. By 25 minutes into the game, Eager had a 20k gold lead and a 14-2 kill count in their favor. EnvyUS couldn’t recover from their deficit, and Eager emerged victorious in the third game and the match.
With EnvyUS knocked out, Eager went on to face Fnatic in the Wild Card round.
EU Third Place Match: London Conspiracy vs. Fnatic
2-1, favor of Fnatic
Fnatic dominated Game 1, taking a first blood and snowballing a huge lead from there. London Conspiracy made a few attempts to mitigate the difference, but it wasn’t enough. The game went predictably in Fnatic’s favor.
Game 2 got off to a slow start, as both teams took lots of time to farm the map before trying to engage each other. First blood eventually went to London Conspiracy, who scored a beautiful double kill. Unwilling to give up the match so easily, London Conspiracy held tight to the lead throughout the game. Fnatic tried to turn the tides at the Fire Giant later in the game, but London Conspiracy wiped them out and took the titan while it was left defenseless.
Before Game 3 even began, it was clear from the picks that Fnatic was going to have to be extremely aggressive to come out on top. And that’s exactly what they did. They pushed relentlessly from start to finish, consistently coming out on the winning end of team fights. They took the first major objective, furthering their gold/EXP lead. After a 4-1 encounter that fell in their favor, Fnatic was unstoppable. They rolled over London Conspiracy’s defense to grab the win for Game 3 and the match.
Fnatic moved on to face Eager in the first international match of the tournament.
Wild Card Round: Fnatic vs. Team Eager
A seat at Worlds was at stake in this match. The first game was a landslide win for Fnatic. They stole huge lead from Eager that they held throughout the game. Just shy of the 30 minute mark, Fnatic had a 13-3 kill advantage and a 9k gold advantage over Eager. By the time they moved in on the titan, that became a 13k lead.
The slowest start of any match this tournament came in Game 2. The clock was nearing 15 minutes before Eager managed to take first blood in a 4 kill streak. They also grabbed the first Gold Fury. But things got complicated after Fnatic got an eye for an eye in a 4-0 wipe on Eager. With the gold/EXP lead evened out, they started taking objectives.
The next Gold Fury became a crucial objective. Eager needed it to catch up to Fnatic, and Fnatic could easily rocket ahead if they took it. Both teams skirted the Fury for a while, reluctant to commit and engage with each other. When a scuffle finally broke out, 2 kills for Fnatic forced Eager to retreat, and Fnatic secured the second Gold Fury kill. Small scuffles broke out more than once at the Fire Giant. One fell in favor of Eager, but they were still too skittish to commit to a full brawl with Fnatic. Ultimately, Fnatic came out on top and moved in on the Fire Giant. After several smaller pushes into base, Fnatic got 4 kills on Eager, which gave them the window to take the titan and the match.
Although Eager still gets to revel in the third place prize, we’ll be seeing Fnatic on the Worlds stage in January.
What’s Next
Tomorrow, November 22, is the last day of the Super Regionals. We’ll watch the top 2 NA and EU teams face off in the Grand Finals round for the $70,000 first place prize.
Epsilon vs. Paradigm (11:30 AM EST) Enemy vs. Cloud9 (4:00 PM EST)
To keep up with the action, tune into the official SMITE Twitch channel, or follow@SmitePro on Twitter. And stay tuned to GameSkinny for all your SMITE Super Regionals coverage as we finish up this event and look forward to the World Championship.
