Startale took a surprise win over fOu (formerly known as FXOpen) to be crowned champion of Nexon Sponsorship League S1. They will be bringing home approximately $93,000 in cash prizes and a qualification spot for EMS One Fall.
Quick recap
Game 1
The first game depicts an electrifying start where both Startale and FoU engaged in numerous early skirmishes. Both teams opted for unconventional picks and laning decisions with FoU picking up Undying and sending Bounty Hunter to the middle lane while Startale ran an aggressive trilane with BristleBack, Crystal Maiden and Venomancer. The early game strength of FoU becomes apparent immediately on the top lane where Startale's trilane was annihalted by FoU's trilane consisting of Mirana, Undying and Shadow Demon with a timely arrival from Batrider from the bot lane.
The mid game proceeded smoothly for FoU although both teams were picked off from time to time. Things start looking better for Startale and FoU participated in an absolute massacare in both teams on the 26 minute mark at the Roshan Pit. Both teams suffered huge losses, with Weaver buying back and FoU losing four of their members. However, Startale comes up on top as they are able to take Roshan even though the socre of 20-29 favors FoU. The tankiness from BristleBack and the mobility from Weaver was becoming more and more difficult for FoU to handle and Startale was able to clinch their first rax on the 39 minute mark in the middle lane.
The game then resembles a rollarcoaster ride for both teams where Febby was caught on the 46 minute mark with 120 seconds on the sideline. However, Startale is unable to finish the game and four of the members fall near the Dire's Ancient. On the other hand, on the 49 minute mark, MP was picked off as well with 120 seconds on the sideline. FoU is again unable to finish a game but was able to get the melee rax on the mid lane and secure the next Roshan. The final nail on the coffin for Startale was on the 53 minute mark where Weaver was picked off early near the Dire's Ancient without a buyback and game one is won by FoU.
Game 2
The second game again had an exciting start where Startale picked up two very strong roaming supports, Venomancer and Crystal Maiden, while fOu ran a rather greedy lineup by sending ShadowFiend to the mid lane and sending Outworld Destroyer to the top lane with little to no protection. The greediness did not pay off as ShadowFiend was quickly first blooded by Venomancer and Crystal Maiden on the mid lane. Febby is again picked off one minute later and was forced to rotate towards the bottom lane with the two supports supporting him. Outworld Destoyer, on the other hand, was also shut down by the dual roaming supports from Startale and was unable to procure any decent farm.
The mid game was less action-packed than the first game as fOu was focused on avoiding fights to farm up both ShadowFiend and Outworld Destroyer. However, fOu continue to lose heroes left and right as the gold gap grows further and further. Surprisingly, Sagun decides to intiate with a song of the siren and fOu managed to swiftly pick off Lifestealer and Crystal Maiden although they fOu ended up getting teamwiped by Invoker, Bounty Hunter and Venomancer on the 24th minute mark thus growing the 7000 gold advantage that Startale had. The questionable Mask of Madness pickup by Febby left him vulnerable to the overwhemling damge from Startale and the game ended at the 35th minute mark with a Beyond Godlike Streak by MP on Invoker.
Game 3
The third game featured fOu attempting a level one Roshan which Startale had no clue about. Roshan was taken down quickly and the Aegis was given to March, who promptly went to the middle lane against MP's ShadowFiend. Again ShadowFiend had a hard time in the mid lane where he was immediately killed by the dual roaming supports of Shadow Demon and Visage by fOu, thus briniging the score to 0:3 favoring fOu on the 2nd minute mark. However, bad positioning by fOu allowed Startale to quickly catch up in kills and brought the score to 8:6 favoring Startale on the 10th minute mark.
A huge fight erupted over the second Roshan where Startale tried to contest fOu's Aegis on the 11th minute mark. Startale managed to come up on top due to the overwhelming farm and damage from MP, and Startale themselves tried to take down the weakened Roshan. However, Febby lets off an amazing eclipse which killed four of Startale but ShadowFiend managed to teamwipe fOu and claim the Aegis for himself. The game then proceeded smoothly for Startale and with none of the heroes from fOu able to stand against MP, Startale managed to force a 27 minute GG by forcing down the bottom lane with Aegis and Cheese.
Game 4
The fourth game started with the pressure mounting on fOu as Startale was only one game away from winning the $93,000 USD while fOu would only recieve $7,000 USD in second place. Startale picked up an ultra-aggressive lineup featuring Undying and Nighstalker along with Korean's favored carry Weaver against fOu's more farm oriented lineup featuring Lone Druid and Lifestealer. The early game is slightly stale compared to the other games but Startale managed to get an early lead by killing two heroes of fOu's trilane. In addition, Queen of Pain was picked off numerous times by Nightstalker, thus severely limiting his farm and usefulness later in the game.
In contrast to the other games, there were less action between the two teams, although Startale managed to increase their gold lead to 7,500 gold and the kill score being 5:11 in favor of Startale. Soon after, Startale was able to take their first rax in the mid lane due to Batrider's excellent pickoff abilities on the 26th minute mark and the bottom rax is soon taken afterwards on the 30 minute mark. However, Startale grown too confident during their push down the top lane and gave up many kills towards fOu, thus narrowing the score to 28:30. QO's Lone Druid play is the star of fOu, allowing the team to defend their final rax. A crucial mistake was made by fOu on the 40th minute mark, where the team arrived to the Roshan pit immediately after Startale picked up the Aegis and Cheese. Startale proceed to decimate fOu's rank and managed to take the throne one the 43rd minute mark despite fOu best efforts to stop them.
Startale, being the clear superior team in this best-of-five, clinches the majority of the prize pool and wins the first season of the Nexon Sponsorship League.
Prize Pool
1st place: Startale - $93,000 USD
2nd place: fOu - $7,400 USD
3rd place: MVP Hot6 - $2,800 USD
4th place: Underrated - $2,800 USD
The VOD's and Gosubets for this match can be found here.
