Weekly NA tournament recap.

I am trying something new this week guys, based off of some suggestions from a comment I received. I tried going more into detail and adding the picks and bans when I could, also adding a couple advantages to those picks. let me know your thoughts on the changes.


Cognitive Gaming vs. Reason Gaming

Cognitive Gaming [COG] - Thor (Shing), Ra (MLCstealth), Vamana (Omega), Bacchus (Allied), Neith (Kaeyoh)
Bans - Hun Batz, Athena

Cognitive Gaming chose a comp that offers them a good amount of survivability, as well as a large amount of map presence between Neith, Thor and even a bit more from the length of Ra's ultimate. Vamana has proven lately that he is a viable solo lane God and Bacchus CC capabilities are very powerful.

Reason Gaming [RG] - Apollo (Misterkaka), Fenrir (PecCyz), Sobek (Jerbie), Poseidon (Tocketty), Ymir (Eonic)
Bans - Isis, Freya

I think Reason Gaming had crowd control in mind when picking and counter picking in this phase. Though not as tanky, Apollo offers some good counters, mainly to Thor and his powerful berserker barrage, being able to cancel it out completely with his mesmerize. Apollo also offers full map coverage with his ultimate and adds to his push potential. Sobek and Ymir are always very good pick ups, the amount of CC that the both offer makes for a powerful team. Tocketty was preparing to play as Poseidon, a God we have seen him perform well with many times before. The main question of the match was if PecCyz could keep up with Shing's Thor.

Early on we saw a little too much aggression from RG, with Fenrir and Sobek both dying under the enemy tower, but not before Jerbie secured a kill on the enemy Vamana. COG really shined when it came to assisting their teammates and rotating, always getting to where they needed to be--when they needed to be there. RG let a few kills slip through their fingers, mainly due to those rotations that were working so well for COG. Throughout the mid game, we saw bad engagements from RG and them letting the enemy get away. If RG could secure those kills, it would help them close the deficit they were in. Soon after, a few good engagements from RG started to close the gap, sitting at 12-8 and about 3500 gold behind. However, once the late game rolled around, COG dominated team fights and after securing the FG, they pushed to the Minotaur for the win. MLCstealth had a fantastic game and proved Ra has a place in competitive play. Cognitive Gaming moves on to the next round to face Denial NA.

MyoElectric vs Team Dignitas

The picks and bans were not streamed for this match, but the compositions were as follows.

MyoElectric - Odin (Narrian), Freya (DaretoCare), Athena (Krett), Ra (Miraz), Neith (Ecliptium)

I have been seeing a lot of the Athena and Neith duo lanes recently, some with success and some without. With Athena's tankyness and Neith's ability to heal herself, they should have a nice amount of sustain, along with their Map presence it is a powerful combination. Freya jungle has been seen to work extremely well, with her ability to burst down enemies incredibly quickly. As we saw last match, Ra offers sustainability and a lot of damage to go along with it.

Team Dignitas - Poseidon (TheBest), Loki (Lassiz), Apollo (Zapman, Bacchus (Shadowq), Guan Yu (Anatoliy)

I see a lot of burst damage when I look at this composition. With the destructive damage of Loki and the aoe burst of Poseidon, they are a huge threat. Guan Yu solo lane is very strong, he has sustain and can clear lanes quickly between Tao Assault and his dash. Apollo has the best pushing potential in the game, we all know this because of the very person playing him, along with his map presence and survivability, he is dangerous in the right hands.

Not even ten minutes into the match and the Loki and Poseidon combination is standing out, 3 successful ganks on Ra in mid lane throughout a very short period of time shows the burst potential mentioned earlier. Down 9-1 and 6500 Gold at the ten minute mark, MyoElectric needed to adjust their strategy and try to make their way back. The communication and rotations from Team Dignitas are second to none and it showed, if an engagement was taking place--it wasn't long before the rest of the Team Dignitas team members were there to give their assistance. TheBest highlighted this the most, he made some amazing plays while rotating to assist his team. At around 15 minutes, Team Dignitas was already securing a FG kill, but a surrender vote had already been started and would go through. Moving Team Dignitas on to face off against the winner of Denial NA and Cognitive Gaming.

Cognitive Gaming vs. Denial NA

Cognitive Gaming - Vamana (Omega), Poseidon (MLCstealth), Fenrir (Shing), Xbalanque (Kaeyoh), Bacchus (Allied)

The damage potential of this composition is pretty scary. Vamana, while building the usual bruiser build, is can do a viable damage while still being extremely hard to kill. Once again, Bacchus CC is some of the best in the game and the other Gods can better utilize their own abilities in unison with his. The new change to Xbalanque dash will definitely come in handy when going against a comp like Denial NA has.

Denial NA - Ne Zha (PonPon), Neith (Paindeviande), Ra (Macetodaface), Odin (Metyankee), Sobek (JeffHindla)

Healing and HP5 OH MY!! Other than Ne Zha (who can of course build lifesteal), all of them have some form of self healing. On top of all of that healing, they have a ton of control, between roots, stuns, slows and pulls.

This match was littered with technical difficulties, not only for HiRezBart and Li0nheart, but also for PonPon. The early game looked to be even, both teams having a few successful ganks and engagements. Around the ten minute mark, the technical difficulties began. The casters had problems that kept them in stasis mode and unable to continue their coverage until things were straightened out. When we left the match, it was 3-3 and Cognitive Gaming was down about 2700 Gold, but when we returned with PonPon, the score was 8-6 and a 5k gold deficit for Cognitive. Every member of Denial NA had wards in their inventory and their ward placement was fantastic. Denial was able to take 3 towers in a single push, while also going 1 for 1 in a short engagement with COG. After that, they continued to push, securing 2 more towers and making very smart plays in their next few engagements.

COG was unable to contest their towers due to having teammates respawning. We got to see firsthand how crafty PonPon can be, Armillory Sash, which is normally supposed to stun the target and transport Ne Zha to the enemy. In Ponpons case, it was stunned, but not transporting, so he started to use it in a manner that would still benefit the team. After a scuffle at the Fire Giant and securing it for themselves, Denial was able to continue pushing on to the Phoenix, at which point Cognitive Gaming surrendered. Placing Denial NA into the finals to face Team Dignitas.


Denial NA vs. Team Dignitas

Denial NA - Ne Zha (PonPon), Ra (Macetodaface), Neith (Paindeviande), Sobek (JeffHindla), Odin (MetYankee)

Same comp as last match

Team Dignitas - Loki (Lassiz), Athena (Shadowq), Guan Yu (Anatoliy), Poseidon (TheBest), Apollo (Zapman)

An early invade allowed Denial NA to take Guan Yu out, setting a tone for the rest of the match. Something we are used to seeing from these top teams, the early to mid game was very even. With each team securing the same number of kills as the other. Things didn't start to change until a little after 15 minutes into the match, where the stats were 8-8 and Denial was 1k Gold behind. Both teams performed will in the next few team fights, with one going in each teams favor. Denial wasn't so lucky in the next one however, Dignitas was able to secure themselves a few kills, as well as get a tower and Fire Giant uncontested. After clearing out the rest of the towers, they pushed the left phoenix, while the rest of the team kept Denial busy, Zapman continued to focus the Phoenix--enough to take it down. Dignitas then moved on to the middle Phoenix it was much of the same. The damage output from Dignitas was too much, Apollo alone was sitting at 401 Attack Damage. After Dignitas took the final Phoenix down, they moved on to the Minotaur, Denial put up a fierce defense, but it wasn't enough. Team Dignitas took the first match.

Match 2

Denial NA - Ne Zha (PonPon), Anhur (PainDeviande), Ra (Macetodaface), Sobek (metyankee), Bacchus (JeffHindla)

Generally the same composition as the last match, but with the addition of Anhur. Who offers good damage, survivability with his leap, a slow, and a pushback/stun.

Team Dignitas - Neith (Zapman), Agni (TheBest), Guan Yu (Anatoliy), Loki (Lassiz), Athena (Shadowq)

The addition of Neith and Athena give this composition a lot of map presence, as well as control with the slow, root, and taunt.

Denial NA tried to do what they did last match, only this time it completely backfired, allowing Team Dignitas to secure 3 kills of their own. Early game was dominated by Dignitas, Denial was able to pick up a few kills, but the rotations from TheBest and Lassiz played a huge part in disrupting their strategy. Slowly, the lead that Dignitas had kept growing. Things looked like they may change for Denial when Dignitas decided to go for a very early Fire Giant kill, it ended up leaving them vulnerable to attack. That is just what Denial did, they attacked and managed to kill 4 of them, with Agni being the only left alive. However, Agni was the biggest of everyone in the match, with everyone else being around 13-14 and him being at 18. Dignitas wasn't phased by the bad decision to go for FG, they took control of the match right back and scored a deicide in the next team fight, causing a surrender vote to come and go through.

So for the second week in a row, congratulations to Team Dignitas and thank you to all teams who participated.