EG would start the best-of-five series with a one game advantage, since they came from the Winner's Bracket. A favorite to win the whole tournament, they tore through four teams to get to the finals. SK, on the other hand, had a long path to the finals that spanned seven series. (See the full match preview here.)
Sunday night, the two American rivals met to decide the winner of the HoNor Tournament Invitational. Both teams agreed to auto-ban Tremble and Nomad for the series.
| Game 1 [36646599] | |||
 Evil Geniuses | SK Gaming | ||
| Bans (Hellbourne first) | |||
    |     | ||
| Picks | |||
  /   /  |  /   /   | ||
| Lanes | |||
| [EG] Riser_ (Top) [EG] se`busca (Mid) [EG] FujiApples (Bot) [EG] Dodo (Bot) [EG] YoDa (Bot) | [SK] Tralfamadore (Top) [SK] AngryTestie (Mid) [SK] Fogged (Bot) [SK] Korok (Bot) [SK] CarDinaL (Bot) | ||
In Game 1, both teams drafted lineups heavy with nukes and disables. There were plenty of methods for initiation on both sides. Bubbles, Andromeda, Hammerstorm, and even Torturer with a Portal Key could initiate for EG, but the ultimates of SK's Thunderbringer and Valkyrie provided decent counter-initiation. [EG] YoDa busted out the Moon Queen pick that he is well-known for. EG had more carry potential, but it looked to be a fast-paced game filled with lots of early ganking.
Instead, very few kills were had in the early-game. Both teams set up to tri-lane their short lanes, but SK reacted quickly by pushing the top tower and breaking down their lane. [SK] Tralfamadore on Valkyrie picked up an Alchemist's Bones at 8 minutes, which went a long way in helping him keep up with Moon Queen's farm. There were a few ganks here and there, but only five kills total by the 13-minute mark.
“
I knew that Moon Queen probably wouldn't go Alchemist Bones and I could probably outfarm her.” - [SK] Tralfamadore[SK] Korok on Pyromancer was the first to grab his Portal Key at 16 minutes, with which he used to get some good pick-off kills. Moon Queen continued to farm, while slowly building up an army of dominated Minotaurs. SK kept up their aggressive pushing, but there were still only nine kills total at 20 minutes into the game.
Behemoth, Hammerstorm, and Bubbles (and Torturer, eventually) all picked up Portal Keys, which sparked some more teamfights. Moon Queen's entire army of creeps was killed after a 2-for-1 trade in SK's favor. The teams continued to trade kills very evenly, but a key moment was at 40 minutes when Moon Queen was caught in the river after killing the Hellbourne ancients. SK took the opportunity to kill Kongor, and after some verbal exchanges between the teams, [SK] CarDinaL made a sly prod at Kongor's placement, replying, "You're gonna get your chance next game."
Moon Queen caught in the river by four SK players.
Valkyrie continued to pull SK ahead the entire game, not dying a single time and maxing out at over 550 gold per minute. SK pushed and raxed mid, and EG conceded at 54 minutes.
| Game 2 [36650783] | |||
| SK Gaming | Evil Geniuses | ||
| Bans (Legion first) | |||
| | | ||
| Picks | |||
/ /  | /  /  | ||
| Lanes | |||
| [SK] Tralfamadore (Top) [SK] AngryTestie (Mid) [SK] Korok (Bot) [SK] CarDinaL (Roaming/Bot) [SK] Fogged (Roaming) | [EG] Dodo (Top) [EG] YoDa (Mid) [EG] se`busca (Bot) [EG] FujiApples (Bot) [EG] Riser_ (Bot) | ||
Andromeda, Bubbles, and Behemoth were then banned in Game 2, leaving Aluna, Doctor Repulsor, and Pharaoh to be picked up. Once again, SK first-picked Thunderbringer, followed by two semi-carries and two support heroes to complete their all-Intelligence team. EG ran a more normal lineup, with [EG] YoDa playing Wretched Hag. On a big tournament stage, many had to wonder if he could live up to chu's Hag.
“
We knew before the game started that we wanted to pick a gank-heavy lineup...” - [SK] CarDinaLBoth teams started by tri-laning their long lanes, but Voodoo Jester and Glacius immediately went middle to set up the bloodlust kill on Wretched Hag. The two support heroes played very actively, moving between middle and bottom, with Voodoo Jester leveling Cursed Ground as his primary skill.
EG's triple-stun combo forced a lot of action in the bottom lane. [SK] Korok on Doctor Repulsor made a great save by jumping in front of an arrow that would have killed Voodoo Jester. Wretched Hag ganked bottom at Level 7 with a haste rune, setting up two EG kills, but they lost Valkyrie in the process. Meanwhile, at the top lane, Aluna had been absolutely destroying Pharaoh in creep stats.
Pharaoh attempted to gank bottom with the 12-minute double-damage rune, but got caught in the jungle alone. Heroes from both teams came to help, but SK was better grouped and had the jump on Pharaoh. Wretched Hag blinked in and missed three heroes with her ultimate, hitting only Aluna. This resulted in a 3-for-0 for SK, putting them quite a bit ahead in gold and experience.
Hag's missed Bat Blast that could have turned the fight in EG's favor.
Almost everything seemed like it was going wrong for EG in this game, which was made clear very quickly. SK's insane amount of burst damage meant that Witch Slayer was literally unable to buy anything but wards and consumables, making him an easy target for SK to feed off of. The several missed Pharaoh and Wretched Hag ultimates stood out like a sore thumb. The most painful to watch was just before 20 minutes, when both Pharaoh and Hag fired their ultimates in an attempt to kill a one-quarter health Glacius - both missed. It looked like an absolute train wreck on the side of EG.
At that point, all it took was a one-sided teamfight and Doctor Repulsor's 23-minute Sheepstick for EG to decide that they'd had enough.
| Game 3 [36653551] | |||
| Evil Geniuses | SK Gaming | ||
| Bans (Legion first) | |||
| | | ||
| Picks | |||
/  /   | / / | ||
| Lanes | |||
| [EG] Riser_ (Top) [EG] Dodo (Mid) [EG] YoDa (Bot) [EG] FujiApples (Bot) [EG] se`busca (Bot) | [SK] AngryTestie (Top) [SK] Korok (Mid) [SK] Tralfamadore (Bot) [SK] Fogged (Bot) [SK] CarDinaL (Bot) | ||
After two games of [SK] AngryTestie dominating with Thunderbringer, EG decided to ban the powerful hero for Game 3. The rest of the bans remained the same. SK once again chose Aluna and Doctor Repulsor for their lineup, while picking up the previously-banned Magmus. EG saved their last round of picks for the powerful Nymphora + Pebbles ganking force. Neither team had a true hard carry, but EG certainly wanted to end the game sooner than later when faced with the late-game presence of SK's three semi-carries.
Both teams sent their tri-lanes bottom, and EG got an easy bloodlust when Glacius left the lane to grab the bottom rune. The potent combo of EG's triple ranged stuns and nukes helped them get off to an early 7-1 lead in hero kills. The teams each had control over one solo lane, with [EG] Dodo on Soulstealer having won the middle lane and Valkyrie defeating Pharaoh in the top lane. Pebbles picked up a Portal Key at 14 minutes and quickly went to work on SK's squishy heroes.
EG's deadly tri-lane that helped them take an early 7-1 hero kill lead.
It was a fairly even, back-and-forth game, but the first big swing happened at 24 minutes when a teamfight broke out near the bottom rune. Valkyrie got a huge hat trick with the help of the double-damage rune, SK came out on top in a 4-for-1 exchange, and they made quick work of Kongor.
Soulstealer and Valkyrie continued to stay even in farm, while Pebbles remained a threat with his upgraded Codex, able to instantly kill most of SK's heroes. A brawl at around 30 minutes left only one hero alive on each team. EG kept up the pressure, but SK matched them with their defense, and neither team was able to pull ahead.
Once the game went past the 40-minute mark, EG's heroes lacked the scaling of SK's tri-carry lineup. This was evident in the next couple of teamfights that followed, including a fight that was started accidentally by SK. EG killed two heroes and was chasing down a third when [SK] AngryTestie, playing Valkyrie, swept in from behind and delivered the Annihilation.
“
We had no business fighting at that point due to how far away I was...” - [SK] AngryTestieEG attempted a couple more final pushes; SK counter-pushed middle. EG managed to defend it using two buybacks - a valiant effort, but in the end, not enough to stop SK from winning Game 3 and earning a well-deserved 1st place in the HoNor Tournament Invitational finals!
HoNor Tournament Invitational Results
1st Place:
SK Gaming, $600 + 2000 Goblin Coins2nd Place:
Evil Geniuses, $300 + 1000 Goblin Coins3rd Place:
FnaticMSI, $100 + 500 Goblin CoinsLinks
forums.heroesofnewerth.com - Prize info & brackets
honcast.com - VODs
