LOAD beats MSI to become HonCast Invitational Champions

Game 1: Match ID 8343649

Bans are Fayde, Forsaken Archer, Soul Reaper, Accursed and Magmus. Only real surprise is Magmus, but he's been a more common ban lately.



MSI are going for what's been a standard for them recently, a trilane with Andromeda and Glacius supporting Swiftblade, with Valkyrie going middle and Madman soloing bottom. LOAD sends Nighthound mid, babysat by Slither, Pharaoh goes bottom, and they are sending Arachna and Plague Rider top.

MSI gets an easy early bloodlust kill on Arachna with an Andromeda stun and a Swiftblade spin. This leads to a complete lane switch, both teams switching around to adjust. MSI starts very strong, getting kills in all their lanes, getting some great farm for their carries. Within 8 minute it's 12-0 for MSI. They are completely shutting down LOAD's carries as well.

It's a complete slaughter. MSI keeps racking up kills and LOAD just can't come back. They get one kill on Swiftblade but that's it. The game ends 28-1, and LOAD concedes the second the clocks hits 15:00.


Game 2: Match ID 8347355
Bans are Andromeda (!), Chronos, Fayde, Forsaken Archer, Madman and Magmus. The Andromeda ban is very interesting, but is most likely a reaction to last game where she was lethal - it was actually Freshpro who banned Madman, since he doesn't have firstpick this time.



Four agility carries on MSI's team. They joke that it was a mispick (and seeing Freshpro on Plague Rider, I am inclined to agree), but they're going with it. LOAD goes with only one real hardcarry with Moon Queen, with a great support hero like Slither, Soul Reaper semi-carrying and the lethal initiation from Behemoth.

As usual Swiftblade gets a bloodlust kill with a slow up in the top lane. The trilane works incredibly for him, giving Swiftblade great free farm.

This game is a lot more even, and a little slower both teams getting some kills, but Moon Queen is getting a lot better farm than anyone else - he's avoiding death and controlling mid. Swiftblade has been shut down fairly well, but is still keeping decent gold farm.

The first big team fight in the game happens at the 25-minute mark and it's strongly in LOAD's favor, they kill three heroes, and Soulstealer twice, as he chose to buy back, only to die again. They follow this up later with a beautiful full-team teleport to catch Soulstealer on his own, and then kill two more heroes after that, including Swiftblade. LOAD has the game in their favor at the moment, and they kill Kongor immediately after, strengthening their lead.

bkid playing Behemoth has been an MVP for LOAD this game, he's racked up 17 assists, and he's done some great initiations and setting up so many kills. When LOAD pushes into MSI's base, we see a Top 10 moment with him going very aggressive, walking close to the opposing teams well, he pops his Void Talisman, making sure he can use his Portal Key, teleports into the forest and then Homecoming Stones home - beautiful.

One final push takes out entire team MSI with a Quad Kill from Dodo's Soul Reaper, Behemoth again leading the charge. MSI concedes, evening it out to 1-1.

Game 3: Match ID 8352520
Bans are Chronos, Fayde, Forsaken Archer, Madman, Soul Reaper and Andromeda.



Hellbringer picked up, and Magmus on LOAD's side, who bring about some great initiation and AoE damage. MSI picks up Pharaoh for Freshpro, one of his favorite heroes. Demented Shaman makes a great combo for Pharaoh, as the Healing Wave works on his mummies.

Moon Queen is soloing mid against Arachna, having a hard time, in fact only escaping at 3 hp at one point. They try to counter it with Glacius moving down, and Arachna at this point escapes at 12 hp, but Glacius dies to the tower damage. No bloodlust kill though as Hellbourne got the kill.

Freshro's Pharaoh is Smack Downing people as usual, leading the game in gold farm and kills, but as it approaches midgame he gets caught alone twice and loses some of his advantage.

The game is very even, 9-8 at the 20-minute mark, no team having a strong advantage over the other. At the 25-minute mark all hell breaks as Swiftblade opens up on Arachna, Arachna uses the ultimate to slow him down and uses a Homecoming Stone to escape - but cancels it as he sees an Invisible Valkyrie setting up a kill on Swiftblade, but Valkyrie misses a point blank arrow, and alomst pays for it with her life - but Pharaoh ultimates in, gets the kill, and then EVERYONE arrives and kill after kill happens, MSI walking away with the battle won.

While teamfights go both way, MSI has a dangerously huge farm advantage, Arachna and Valkyrie at level 19 and 17 and with a lot of good items - Geometer's Bane among other. The rest of MSI's team is low though, Pharaoh at 12, Demented Shaman at 9, Slither at 10.

They try a Kongor kill but get ambushed, losing three heroes, losing the Kongor kill, and losing a tower - LOAD is catching up. MSI wins the next teamfight easily though, getting some much needed levels on their support heroes and taking out Swiftblade twice, wasting their token.

Both teams play passively for a long stretch from here on out, get their carries farmed up, avoiding major teamfights. This stalemate lasts all the way till minute 55, when Arachna's Token of Life is about to run out - she's hit level 25, and it's time to push. MSI moves in through the middle of LOAD's base. LOAD defends great, killing both carries and Pharaoh, only losing Glacius and Hellbringer. They do lose a barracks and a tower though.

With this being the final game of the finals, both teams are afraid to risk everything on a all-or-nothing push, so they're looking to get that one magic kill or two to start up a 5v4 or 5v3 push, so all we get are small skirmishes.

Finally we get the final push from LOAD, at the 65-minute mark. Hellbringer's ultimate starts it all off, and Moon Queen with her Symbol of Rage can take so much punishment, and Swiftblade has just gotten too much farm for anyone on the Hellbourne to compete with, not even Arachna. MSI concedes.