First Round of HonCast Invitational Finished

Empr vs LOAD

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The first game played was also one of the best ones. PokeDex plays his first game for his new clan, doing it well at that- playing a strong Defiler mid. YoDa picks an early Madman, and ends up outcarrying Valkyrie and Forsaken Archer played by uniQFazer and Scandal for Empr. At the very end of the game, Madman with an Elder Parasite beyond his already picked up Abyssal Skull just for the attack-speed, which when combined with his ultimate is blindingly fast. phe´V plays Pebbles, and ends up getting some kills, but better teamwork and a better carry ends up giving LOAD the win. An entertaining game, worth watching.

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If you only watch one game out of the entire first round, make it this one! phe´V brings out one hell of a surprise pick. He goes Keeper of the Forest - mid - with stats/armor skill build. And gets the bloodlust kill by towerdiving. Empr catches LOAD completely by surprise, and when Scandal's Soulstealer gets that farm he needs and lands some beautiful ultimates, LOAD can't fight back. Empr evens it out to 1-1.

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After the two actionpacked exciting games before it, the third one feels kind of like a letdown, but judged on its own it's still a decent game. LOAD picks Madman and Swiftblade as their carries, played by YoDa and bkid. Empr chooses their favourite Valkyrie and Forsaken Archer carries, again played by uniQFazer and Scandal. When both teams decide to play it safe, turtle up and get some farm, it all comes down to which carry does better, and Madman and Swiftblade wins that battle easily. LOAD wins the series, and moves on 2-1.

MSI vs MILK

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The king of Smackdowns, Freshpro, plays Accursed as Rexi and Trixi play Pharaoh and Slither with kay` carrying as Puppet Master. They are matched up against Milkfat's Corrupted Disciple and `TC` as a Soulstealer. The game is pretty short with Trixi absolutely dominating as a carry Slither, getting nearly as many kills as the entire enemy team combined. MSI takes the first game easily.

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kay` goes Chronos for MSI this game, and absolutely dominates, getting 680 xp/minutes and ending the game at 15-2 with his Thunderclaw, Runed Axe and Geometer's Bane, getting more kills than the entire enemy team. Cakes's Valkyrie puts up a valiant fight, and wildcard pick Dark Lady from `TC` tries to upset, but it takes less than half an hour for MSI to win 2-0.

SK vs DrDz

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Loda and Akke join their former Druidz teammates to help out as Velociraptor and Hubris are unavailable. HenryD, who impressed as a co-caster on earlier casts plays a Magmus. The most interesting hero pick is the Armadon, however, picked up by Tabako. Testie (formerly AngryTestie, who has presumably taken some anger management classes) carries for SK as Arachna. DrDz has some good moments, but superior team-play and coordination wins the game for SK.

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MejH plays Predator, a personal favorite of mine, in this game. HenryD picks boots-first Pebbles - all for a very early bloodlust kill, at 20 seconds. The early game is all roaming/ganking. Testie plays Chipper mid, and Fogged's Valkyrie and Tabako's Soulstealer dominate early game. Druidz fight hard though, and make it even once it reaches midgame, Mejh getting some great farm and Arachna getting lots of good ganks in. A beautiful teamfight at the 30 minute mark ends up with a Genocide in Druidz's favor and they officially take the lead. Once Predator gets his farm up (and a questionable Nullstone item choice) he is a dominating force in team-fights, and in the end, an exciting game ends with Druidz evening it out to 1-1.

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Loda picks Swiftblade, and he wants blood from second one. A trio including him, Pebbles and Valk almost catch Hammerstorm early on, but a beautiful hammer stops all of them in their track. Testie's Puppet Master is towerdived upon a few minutes into the game, but some brilliant play keeps him alive at 20~ HP and the tower takes out Swiftblade for the Bloodlust kill. Tabako and Draskyl play a Hammerstorm/Pyro combo, which works out just as lethal as you'd expect. Loda picks up an Elder Parasite on his Swiftblade, and uses it to great effect at first, but it loses its power as the game goes on and it leaves him vulnerable to getting taken out quickly. However, Fogged's Chronos wins the carry war, and with the powerful backup from the stuns from Pyro and Hammerstorm, the disables from Puppet Master, SK wins the last game, and wins the series.

KDe vs DWi

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KDe starts out strong in this game, with powerful lane choices, and H4nn1's Swiftblade getting some great early kills. However, DWi firstpicks Andromeda, which proves to be a fantastic choice, Tarano setting up some great ganks, and managing some incredible saves with her Void Rip ultimate. Eventually WaffOmgz's Arachna and EternalEnvy's Soulstealer gets way too good farm, at one point being 14 and 15 to Swiftblade's 10. Once DWi get that advantage they don't let go, and end up winning the first game in the series.

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In this long and very even game, Overpow plays a carry, goes Chronos and has an incredibly early game in his trilane, getting 6 kills and no deaths within 10 minutes. At the 15 minute mark absolutely all hell breaks loose, with double Quad Kills, people dying, respawning and teleporting back in - it's a thing of beauty. Levent play Madman more like a ganker than a farming carry, getting a Champion of Newerth streak - proving that the stun removal is nothing, Madman is still a great hero. This game is very very entertaining, giving Empr vs Load 2 a run for it's money for best match. AMXZaku plays an absolutely brilliany Valkyrie, and look for an Annihilation at the very end. DWi played incredibly, and takes out KDe 2-0. Very entertaining game, worth a watch.