Through a dominant 3-0 performance, EG is the first American team to qualify for the finals of The Summit, taking place in Los Angeles this June. The defeated Sneaky Nyx Assassins will now face North American Rejects for the remaining LAN spot.
The ongoing tournament The Summit was announced back in March, and is one of several international competitions taking place in 2014. It features both an online and LAN phase, with the participants fighting over a $50,000 prize pool (with a crowd funding boost from the DotaTV ticket). The tournament includes three regional qualifiers for Europe, Asia and America, with the Asian and American qualifiers including two stages - the pre-qualifiers and the main qualifiers (for Europe it is just one stage).
The American qualifiers of the Summit are about to conclude, with the Winner Bracket final being played tonight to determine the owner of the first of two American slots in the Los Angeles finals. The two teams to enter the arena were Evil Geniuses and Sneaky Nyx Assassins, competing in a best-of-five series. In the end, EG proved to be one step-ahead of their opposition, with a quick and convincing 3-0 victory. Still playing without their original carry player Clinton 'Fear' Loomis, EG used Treant Protector in every game, aiming for early game aggression with their strategies.
SNA are not out of the competition yet - they have the chance to avenge themselves in the Losers Bracket finals against North American Rejects, with the latter defeating Team Liquid 2-0 earlier today. The victor of the best-of-five match will join Evil Geniuses in the main event of The Summit in June. The game is scheduled to take place on May 10th, 1:00 PST (22:00 CEST).
For more information about The Summit, check our coverage hub here, or the tournament's official website.
Evil Geniuses vs Sneaky Nyx Assassins
Game One
For the first game of the series, EG selected one of their classic strategies with Arteezy on Naga Siren and Mason on Mirana. SNA answered with Brewmaster and a unique Phantom Lancer pick. The offensive trilane of EG applied massive pressure to the fragile item-dependent carry of SNA, forcing him to change his lane quite early in the game. However, the situation did not improve for FLUFF's squad, as the continuous aggression against their cores crushed every comeback attempt by SNA. The early 'GG' was called with a 15-1 score, after a completely one-sided first game.
Game Two
Leaving the first game travesty behind, SNA chose a solid teamfight oriented lineup, with Axe and Dark Seer having the role of the playmakers in their strategy. EG's early assaults gave themselves the upper hand for several minutes, but a destructive teamfight near the middle tier-one tower of the fight completely turn the tides of the game. Ush's Axe used the Ion Shell buff to terrorize the fragile heroes of EG, but SNA could not abuse their advantage to seal the deal early. As the game progressed, the Outworld Devourer selection was far from ideal against the Black King Bars deployed by EG. In the end, Zai's Death Ward was the icing on top of the cake for EG, giving them the weapon they needed to grab their second victory in the series.
Game Three
The third game was played under the uncomfortable veil of all-chat disputing between the two squads. Nonetheless, the battle was not disrupted, and the two opponents crossed their swords for the third and final time tonight. SNA deployed a very tanky offensive trilane with Centaur, Dark Seer and Abaddon, aiming to prevent Mason from farming on Mirana. The Assassins were able to secure a solid gold and experience advantage out of the trilane, but they could not earn the desired amount of farm on the three heroes. Thus, when Universe's Timbersaw and Arteezy's Tiny joined the party, the flow of the game was completely reversed. SNA managed to grab several kills using their high AOE damage burst, but they had no real way to stop the demolishment of their towers by the Io - Tiny couple. They were soon imprisoned inside their own base, forced to defend without equal terms against EG's farmed cores. Impressively, their valiant defense prolonged the game for quite some time, and SNA even forced EG to rely on split-pushing and backdooring to destroy several sets of barracks. However, the damage was already done. A few suicide assaults against the final, few precious buildings and EG unleashed Mega Creeps, and with them the demise of SNA in the best-of-five series.
Headline image by SLTV.
