The European Championships were in full swing this weekend, at ESL Studios in Cologne, Germany. Six teams came out and competed for the $50,000 prize pool, but the real battle was in the semi finals, not the finals. Two teams would come out of this gauntlet: the two finalist teams would be the teams that earn their way to Atlanta, Georgia this January, to fight for over 1.4 million dollars at The Smite World Championships.
The first matchup on Saturday was Aquila (the team that came from the Challenger Cup via the Wildcards) vs Cloud9 HyperX. Cloud9 is definitely a crowd favorite, and game 1 looked like they deserved that favorite title. This was Aquila’s first LAN, and the jitters were showing: uncharacteristic missed abilities and ultimates were frequent, and Cloud 9 took the first game relatively easily.
Game 2, Cloud9 was looking very strong as well, but Aquila had seemed to come into themselves. PrettyPrime, Aquila’s mid laner, was on his signature vulcan, and was doing well. Cloud9 had taken charge though, barrelled down the battlefield, and killed all three phoenixes. Cloud9 headed into the base and aggressed onto the titan.
They couldn’t kill it though--in one of the most impressive defensive displays Smite eSports has ever seen, PrettyPrime and KanyeLife pushed back 3 waves of fire minions and defended a titan that was below 10% health. From there, you could see the surge of confidence the team had. Aquila went on to quietly sneak a fire giant while Cloud 9 was out of position, Repikas the jungler earned a quadra kill, and in one of the largest turnarounds this writer has ever seen, Aquila stole the victory for game 2.
Game 3 was all momentum: Aquila was riding high on their incredible come back and Cloud9 was feeling quite the opposite, and the third match went uneventfully as Aquila took the win and moved on to semi finals where they would face #1 seed Fnatic.
Aquila’s match up against Fnatic was played on Sunday, and as it was the determining factor of who goes to World’s, was a best out of 5. Aquila is a team built around the synergy between their mid laner PrettyPrime and solo laner Confrey. When these players get mages, they can combine to become a single character and run the game, and that’s what they did. With PrettyPrime on Ra and Confrey on NuWa, plenty of set up for Ra ults and beams were made, and the enemy was blown up. Aquila takes game 1 in a display of full teamwork.
Fnatic are a team that usually beat people based on their individual talent, and this was a game that definitely showcased that. Xaliea’s Bakasura against Confrey’s surprise pick Hel was a slaughter early on, and once Funballer’s Freya came online, the carry job was tossed to him. Shadownightmare’s Ra finished clean with a 6/0/12 slash line, and Fnatic earned a dominant victory.
Game 3 was won in the picks and bans phase. Fnatic got their ideal line up, and was incredible. Frostiak: Ymir, Shadownightmare: Isis, Xaliea: Merc, Funballer: Anhur, Halfdevil: Athena. Aquila could not handle this team on their best picks, and lost the game with over a 10,000 gold deficit.
Knowing that this one was a must win for them, Aquila pulled out all the stops. They took a gamble on Confrey’s Hel, a pick that was unknown before this LAN and the first time he played it, didn’t do too well. With the addition of PrettyPrime’s Isis, the mage rage was in full effect, and they were able to turn the series around. This game wound up being won by Aquila as strongly as Fnatic won the previous match, the end result being over 10,000 gold the way of Aquila.
Game 5. This game determined which team would be headed to compete for an incredible prize pool, a trip to America, and the chance to play the game in front of thousands of people. Both teams were in this to win it, and you could tell from the looks on the player’s faces.This game was closer than the rest for the majority of the match. Each kill was answered with a kill either in the same skirmish or in a different lane--both teams understanding how important it was to keep this game together. The game turned on a Gold Fury play initiated by Fnatic. Aquila answered, fought, and went ahead and took the objective, and that was the beginning. Aquila continued looking for towers and objectives and just before the 25 minute mark took down the titan to claim their victory and secure their trip to the Smite World Championships.
On the other side of the bracket, the first round match was between SK Gaming and Team Solomid. Team Solomid was boasting a new coach in ShadowQ (previously of team dignitas, definitely a worthwhile pickup) and a change to the hunter role, with Zimpstar, their previous coach, playing that position. This was a fairly even matchup, but TSM was ever so slightly favorited.
The first match was tied for over 30 minutes. A long contestation over gold fury went the way of SK around 35 minutes The team takes that minor victory, and proceeded to extend the lead over the entirety of the game. Not surprisingly, Realzx, the hunter, rising to the occasion and with the help of his team commanded this game and earned the win.
Game 2 was eerily similar. Team Solomid, being the strong team they are, keep the game tied for 30+ minutes. Unfortunately for them though, Realzx again just plays out of his mind, earns incredible kills that allow his team to capitalize, take the win and take the series, 2 games to none.
SK Gaming vs. Mortality was another sweep for the LANimals that are SK. Game one, SK Gaming found themselves up by 10K gold, fire giant, and a phoenix by 18 minutes. With kills 13-4, there was nothing that Mortality could do, besides look forward onto game 2.
The second game was as clean as game one, for SK Gaming. Again the team double Mortality’s kills and take the victory. Mortality does put on a nice defensive set to deter SK’s first shot at winning, but SK regroup and take the titan just 5 minutes later. SK still functioning on all cylinders, this team was incredibly hungry for a trip to Worlds. All towers and Phoenixes were destroyed by SK before the 20 minute mark, and with Fire Giant the guys from SK took game 3 and in turn, the ticket to Atlanta.
With the teams already qualified for the Smite World Championships, the Finals had a bit of a relaxed feel to them, especially after the adrenaline fueled SK domination and the Aquila turn arounds.
The finals were a best out of three, and SK Gaming looked amazing for the first game. Leading by over 10 kills and 10k gold for the majority of the game, around the 35 minute mark Aquila came and stole out a fire giant, allowing them to pressure SK’s phoenixes. After a few quick burst kills from Repikas’ Kali, the game was completely turned around, and Aquila took game one in an explosive finish.
Game 2 had a much different look, Aquila winning 15-1 by 15 minutes in, SK did not look like the team they did earlier against this Aquila line up. Kanyelife got to play his spectacular Ymir, secure kills for his team, and really take care of business in the finals against SK Gaming.
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The European Championships were an incredible set of games to watch. SK Gaming fresh off of their boot camp at their team’s HQ in Cologne came out to play, and dominated everyone they wanted to. Realz is an absolute monster on LAN, and Maniakk came out with a bigger, updated godpool, and made a very strong case for most improved player. SK earned their title as “Lanimals”.
Aquila, an amateur team not even involved in the pro league, fought their way through the Wildards and through the more difficult end of the bracket to win the entire EU Championship as well as secure their trip to Atlanta, Georgia to compete for the incredible 1.4+ million dollar prize pool. Emotions ran high and the competition ran even higher.
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