Following the qualifiers from two weeks ago, the first round of Nexus Games EU got underway this weekend. After much thrashing about and the fairly dominant presence of diabolic angels (Tyrael and Auriel appeared 14 and 13 times, respectively, over the weekend, with one of them appearing in every, single match), the winners' semifinals were set and two teams were eliminated.
In the opening series, Team Dignitas ran riot over Vodka Paradise on Braxis Holdout in just 11 minutes, finishing the map with a kill count of 16-0, with both angels taking down VP's daring Alarak and Li Li picks. Dignitas confirmed that Rexxar is now ban-worthy on Braxis, since Misha's ability to take the beacons makes him actually useful and the Marine skin may make him invulnerable (but that's just a rumor... that I'm starting now.)
Conditions improved only slightly for VP in game 2, where Atheroangel's deadly Tracer (6 kills, 12 assists, 0 deaths) insured the win on Cursed Hollow in less than 14 minutes. Dignitas wrapped up the series on Sky Temple, with Atheroangel (appropriately) front lining with Tyrael and, again, refusing to die. (Begs the question: Should the trait be changed to something more useful?)
3-0 Team Dignitas over Vodka Paradise
In contrast, Two Bees Determined engaged in a more even struggle with the Jabronis, taking an Infernal Shrines game to over 25 minutes before finally emerging with the win. The Jabronis wisely banned Medivh to keep him from TBD's adrd, but also saw fit to ban The Butcher. The second game on Sky Temple saw the Jabronis go with a more classic lineup including Abathur, Uther, and Zeratul, but they couldn't hold against Auriel, Tyrael, and Sgt. Hammer from TBD who took the win. The third game took us back to Braxis, where the Jabronis' map-appropriate draft including Tyrael, Sylvanus, and Jaina still couldn't compete with the awesome waveclearing power of TBD's Leoric, Sgt. Hammer, and Nasty's Li Ming (6 kills, 8 assists, 0 deaths.)
3-0 Two Bees Determined over The Jabronis
The other side of the bracket saw Team Liquid taking on Misfits. In a strange turn, TL's draft of Auriel and Tyrael on Braxis Holdout actually lost to Misfits' wielding of Zeratul, Morales, and the everpresent Li Ming. Misfits also saw fit (heh) to ban Rexxar. (Marine skin. Invulnerable. Seriously.) Misfits took game 2 on Tomb of the Spider Queen by combining the power of Stitches and Auriel (and banned Rexxar again.) They completed the sweep in game 3 on Cursed Hollow, using the DPS of Raynor, Thrall, and Zeratul to fuel the hope of Auriel and keep Liquid's Abathur from ever getting an XP edge. The game ended in less than 12 minutes with Misfits at only level 16.
3-0 Misfits over Team Liquid
Fnatic faced off with ePunks on Cursed Hollow in their first game, with scHwimpi's Azmodan taking top siege damage, top hero damage, and top XP in a game that ePunks struggled to stay in (6-0 kills to Fnatic.) It was a much more even game 2 on Infernal Shrines, with Fnatic's dual Warrior pair of Tyrael and Leoric and the banning of Tychus giving them the durability edge which paid off in a lengthy game of even exchanges. ePunks' Sgt. Hammer, Lunara, and Kerrigan couldn't do quite enough damage. Game 3 saw Fnatic also combining the power of Auriel and Stitches in another lengthy match on Tomb of the Spider Queen and finally emerging with the sweep, with scHwimpi's Xul racking up almost 200K in siege damage.
3-0 Fnatic over ePunks
Dropping down to the loser's bracket, we found The Jabronis matched up with Vodka Paradise and winning game 1 over VP's interesting draft of Chromie to go with the massive waveclear of Arthas and Johanna. The Jabronis decided to swipe Arthas for game 2 on Sky Temple, using him to good effect in a second win over VP's exotic (for Europe) choices of Dehaka and Rexxar, alongside the damage of Li Ming and Valla. The victors wrapped up the 5th sweep of the day in game 3 with a very standard comp (Sylvanus, Muradin, Rehgar, Li Ming, Thrall) defeating only the second appearance of Sonya on the day by VP.
3-0 The Jabronis over Vodka Paradise
(VP was eliminated from the tourney.)
In the other half of the loser's bracket, we found Team Liquid and ePunks fighting for their tournament lives. ePunks won for the second time over both Tyrael and Auriel, as Liquid's comp simply couldn't keep up with the repeated Immortals (ePunks won all of them) granted by the damage of Tychus, Thrall, Sylvanus, and Kharazim. ePunks won game 2 on Cursed Hollow with the double Warrior comp of Arthas and Tyrael. What seemed like a throw on their boss by ePunks actually turned into a team wipe by Liquid, ending the game and seemingly setting up for yet another sweep. However, Liquid staved off elimination by winning game 3 on Dragon Shire with some smart Valla play by SportBilly, leading to a late Dragon Knight that carried Liquid to victory. But it all came to an end on Towers of Doom, when Liquid's ban of Lunara allowed ePunks to take first pick Lost Vikings. While they never gained the stark XP edge that Vikings often provide on that and other maps, the long game revealed the late-game combat power of the Vikings, as ePunks won the late teamfights that allowed them to take all 6 bell towers for a brief moment and eventually seal the win and the series with the Headless Horseman.
3-1 ePunks over Team Liquid
(TL was eliminated from the tourney.)
Draft notes
Dual Warrior has faded some from the European scene, as the comp appeared in only 12 of 38 drafts, winning 6 games.
Grubby, who was casting the tournament with Kaeyoh, mentioned that the style of play in Europe is still fairly cautious, which led to several pretty lengthy games. It remains to be seen whether safe play can counteract the mechanical skill of teams like MVP Black at the upcoming Fall championships at BlizzCon.
Falstad's latest round of tweaks have apparently removed him from the top tier of heroes, as he made only one appearance for the entire weekend; a win by Dignitas against Vodka Paradise. Similarly, Sonya has never regained the favor she once had from a year ago, despite no significant changes to her kit. Plus, Rexxar picks and bans because, you know... invulnerable.
It's all about the skin.
In one gameplay note, Grubby did point out a tactic used by ePunks to make laning more difficult for their opponents by leaving one enemy archer alive. They miss out on the XP from him, but that archer stops their own wave in the middle of the lane, forcing the opponents to come out and clear it without the assistance of the towers.
Nexus Games EU continues next weekend.
