?At the end of the long G-League cycle two teams were sitting way above the rest of the division, those teams are also the combatants for the epic conclusion. Orange eSports was already qualified for the Grand Finals, today Made in Thailand.Sorry Sorry secured themselves the second spot for the showdown.
The cycle was long, hard fought and grueling, but in the end the two best teams during the regular season are also the final combatants to close out the second cycle of SEA HoN Tour's G-League. After Orange eSports set the point record and clinched the first seed during the regular season, they were automatically qualified for the big clash, today MiTH.s2y made their presence felt in defeating their longtime regional rival of Neolution eSports.MRR.
The first match of the day though was a rematch of the Cycle 1 Grand Final between the reigning champion of Turtle Master and Neo.MRR. This time TurS could not roll the opponents, like they did a month ago, but Neolution eSports.MRR proved to be too strong of a team for Turtle Master to do anything. This downfall was long in the making, seeing as Turtle Master had a massive dip in their regular season performance, dropping a total of four matches and tying another three series - when they only lost a total of one three maps in the entire first regular season of the first cycle. They scored 13 points less, they didn't look like the dominant squad anymore and despite pushing the match to three maps, it just wasn't enough for xSinez and his teammates to make a legitimate bid for the second straight title.
Neolution on the other side was on the verge of going on a miraculous run through the brackets once again. As the only team that was able to win three postseason matches thus far, they specialize in these pressure circumstances, but still couldn't score their fourth postseason victory against MiTH.s2y. It wasn't as decisive as the regular season difference of 13 points might indicate, but to say it was a very close contest would be stretching it as well.
MiTH was in total control of the first map, they had a firm grip on the second one, but missed their strong window to make something happen. With a lineup totally predicated on ending the game early, they jumped out to a tremendous lead, but couldn't spiral out of control. The early push on the bottom lane proved to be too little and Neolution eSports.MRR was able to mount a comeback and push yet another playoff series to the full duration of three maps.
On that clutch map MiTh learned from their mistakes and went for a better all-around lineup with decent strength early, but also good potential in the middle and late stages of the map. Fortunately for them, they didn't have to rely on that real late-game strength, as the contest was going their way ever since they absolutely dominated an engagement in the middle lane. From that moment on the reigning Thai HoN Tour Champion and D1 Champion just flat out rolled through the lines of Neolution eSports.MRR and forced them to concede the match.
This now sets up an intriguing match between Orange eSports and Made In Thailand.Sorry Sorry - a match every unbiased observer hoped to see in the Grand Finals. Both teams have shown exceptional results and performances throughout the regular season and therefore secured the first and second seed with a landslide. Orange eSports set a new point record with 41 points, MiTH's season ranks third on the all-time point scorer ranking for regular seasons with 39. The direct duel between both teams ended in a draw, something that won't occur this time. It will be an epic Best of Five with the winner not only only becoming the next G-League champion, but also playing for the chance to attend DreamHack Winter 2013.
Only the winner will earn the right to challenge Turtle Master in one week for the esteemed opportunity to visit Jönköping,Sweden and the biggest eSports festival in the world. Who's it going to be? Will Thailand cement their front-runner status in the SEA HoN Tour or can the Malaysian powerhouse proudly earn the title for their region and their country? Tomorrow at 8 AM CEST we will get the answer - live on Garena.Thai's Youtube channel or on twitch.tv/garenahonsea with Babael and Larc casting it.
