Four teams are left to fight for the Gold Series Hero League title, and with the odds stacked in their favor, it was looking likely that a Chinese team would be able to win the whole thing.
With the group stage behind us, only four teams were left to fight it out for the title. Three Chinese teams, EDward Gaming, eStar Gaming, and Zero Gaming, and one Korean team, Team No Limit(TNL). eStar was the only team of the four to make it through the group stage unscathed, with the other three each losing a set along the way, making prediction slightly more difficult than necessary.
The first of the semi-finals would be between the number one seed from group A EDward Gaming and the group B second seed Team No Limit
EDward Gaming vs Team No Limit match details and drafts
Coming in as the sole Korean representative, TNL represented their region reasonably well up until this point. They had put up strong performances in the group stage, going 2-0 against both Team YL and OMG, and despite losing their set against eStar, TNL came into this semi final matchup favored to win. EDG on the other hand had an incredibly mixed group stage showing, with their only convincing result coming against a Zero Gaming who did not look like their usual selves. Most if not all signs pointed to a TNL victory, but EDG had other plans on their mind.
Game one started as was to be expected, with the Korean team gaining slight advantages through superior macro play, prioritizing early objectives and looking to push that lead into the mid game. That worked up until the point where EDG started making some plays of their own, picking off lone squishy targets, all the while canjian on Falstad was building up an experience lead from the other side of the map.
It then became clear that the team composition that TNL had drafted was not capable of keeping up in the longer, drawn out team fights, which EDG were able to take over and over again. Both teams had ample damage on their side, but TNL did not have the durability nor sustainability to match and just got brawled out of the game.
Game two played out much like the first, with EDG brawling their way into the lead, but one late game push proved to be their downfall. Pushing alongside a punisher they were not content with just taking a keep, they looked to finish the game then and there, even with all of TNL alive and in a position to defend. Misplays and positioning mistakes caused EDG to be wiped, and TNL ran the length of the map to take the core and level the series.
Coming into game three there was the discussion about whether or not the throw from the previous game could be a sign of their downfall or just another one of those risky calls that just didn't pay off.
The early-mid game went as per usual, TNL gained a slight advantage through their macro play, but things changed when Edward Gaming decided to bring out an Earthquake/Apocalypse combo. The first time it was used was when TNL was aggressively pushing the central fort, and it worked like a charm. TNL was locked up, tracked down and wiped from the map, which set the tone for the rest of the series.
Even though TNL showed really strong macro level gameplay and shotcalling, their decision making and positioning in and around team fights led to their demise. EDG will now wait in the finals to see who their opponents will be. Tomorrow there will be two sets played, first being the second semi final between Zero Gaming and eStar Gaming after which will be the 3rd/4th place playoff.
For the vods of the EDG/TNL set, they are over at Gillyweed's Twitch channel here.
The rest of the tournament will be hosted by Zoia at this twitch channel casted alongside Babael
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