Coming back from a 0 - 2 deficit in a best-of-five match up, Titan takes three games in a row against Mineski to be crowned the champion of Steelseries SEA Cup 4 and walk away with $1,500 alongside some gaming gears. The Pinoy runner-up walks away with $500.
Winning three games in a row is an accomplishment in any best-of-five match up, especially in the Grand Finals of a tournament. For Titan, this comes amidst their rivalry with Mineski, as they lost to them in the GMPGL Finals recently. The biggest rivals in South East Asia at the moment, both teams have been back and forth in scrims and their possible encounter in Asian Cyber Games will settle once and for all, the superior team to close out the year.
Match recap
Game 1 saw Titan opting for a 3 strength Alchemist - Bristleback - Timbersaw line up, hoping to gain a very strong mid game presence from not only the tanking potential of their heroes. In addition, this on paper would produce a huge damage output in terms of the Timbersaw and Bristleback, with their nature of skills allowing them to disrupt and separate heroes in team fights. However, Mineski did not allow them the upper hand in the drafting phase, opting for a Bane and Obsidian Destroyer countergank combo, with the Astral Imprisonment and Nightmare shutting down key heroes. Mirana's Ultimate acted as a global gank/counter initiation tactic, allowing Mineski to kite Titan's three melee heroes and disable them from afar with the element of surprise.
Game 2 took a slightly different note, as both Mineski and Titan opted for a heavy level dependent line up. With a Shadow Demon - Leshrac - Invoker combo, the Shadow Demon was able to set up many kills with his disruption, allowing for the timing of Split Earths, better team positioning and counter initiation potential. With Meracle on the carry Templar Assassin, it must be noted that both teams for this game essentially lacked a hard carry with the TA being a more viable option for the mid lane role, rathe than the carry role. Leshrac was able to overall counter the Templar Asssassin really well, with the Edict doing tonnes of damage, whilst burning Meracle's Refraction charges.
Game 3 was different right from the drafting phase, with an Anti-Mage being selected for Meracle, one of his signature heroes. A more convetional 'safe' line up for Titan with teamfight potential, stuns, and disables along with a strong mid-game presence was evident. Although Mineski overall had a better draft, they had made the mistake of being predictable, with the Mirana and Shadow Demon being selected thrice and twice respectively, which had a lack of the element of surprise.
Game 4 marked the start of change for Titan as they picked up a Mirana and Puck, hoping to initiate and set the pace of the game. With excellent teamfight potential of Moonlight Shadow - Dream Coil - Epicenter and Eclipse, clearly Titan had the upper hand when it came to initiation. Mineski opted for a more conventional line up with a Dragon Knight and Alchemist, picking only a Elder Titan for their teamfight, which was their crucial mistake. As Titan overpowered Mineski, the game came to a 2 - 2 draw, with Game 5 being the deciding match.
Game 5 saw Mineski once again draft the Invoker - Shadow Demon - Mirana combo, which proved to be their fatal mistake. This was due to predictability with Mirana being drafted for the fourth time, and the lack of reliable stuns which could only come from the Earthshaker. With Titan once again opting for a more teamfight ganking oriented hero line up, this allowed Meracle very decent farm on his Luna as they created space for farm. Although Mineski had no lack of heroes to snipe off Meracle, with a Slark and Invoker, they were unable to do so with a lack of reliable stuns. In the end, it was the Luna who proved too much for Mineski to bear, as they called the GG. The final score was 3 - 2 in favour of Titan.
Image credit: Tiffani 'oling' Lim
