East meets West in the GosuCup finals: MSI vs. DskB

After weeks of qualifiers, group play, and playoff rounds, we have finally reached the grand finals of the $3,000 GosuCup HoN #1.

FnaticMSI and DuskBin E-sports will meet and decide the winner of the first-ever Heroes of Newerth GosuCup in a best-of-five series on Tuesday at 19:00 CET!

The Teams

FnaticMSI GosuGamers Ranking: #1 Honcast Ranking (5/31): #2 Roster: Fly FreshPro N0tail NoVa_ Trixi Achievements: 1st Gamers Assembly 2011 3rd Honcast HoNor Tournament 2nd UNGL HoN Destiny Cup 2nd Honlive Tournament 1st SteelSeries HoN World Cup 1st DreamHack Winter 2010 1st Fnatic PLAY Tournament #1

DuskBin E-sports GosuGamers Ranking: #6 Honcast Ranking (5/31): #6 Roster: justawluts iskaputski jojoflow ninjaboogie Mr.Swish Achievements: 2nd Fnatic PLAY Tournament #2 1st UNGL HoN Destiny Cup 1st Garena HoN 2010

Each of these teams can be considered the best in their respective regions of Europe and Southeast Asia. There's no doubt that both of them deserve to be in the GosuCup finals. But according to recent rankings, DuskBin is outside of the Top 5 for international teams. A win for them here would prove otherwise. A win for FnaticMSI could go as far as naming them the unanimous #1 team in the world.

When comparing their tournament results side-by-side, FnaticMSI has a much more impressive list. Winning last year's DreamHack Winter AND the GosuGamers & SteelSeries HoN World Cup were two amazing feats for them, but feats that happened several months ago. DuskBin's grand final appearances in the Fnatic PLAY Tournament and UNGL HoN Destiny Cup happened a lot more recently.

Recent History

The teams have met twice in the last few months, yet it's always a rare occurrence and a privilege to see them play each other.

Match-up History
QQ Gaming Qualifier WB Quarterfinals (April '11)
FnaticMSI	2
DuskBin E-sports	1
UNGL HoN Destiny Cup Finals (March '11)
DuskBin E-sports	2
FnaticMSI	0

FnaticMSI came back to defeat DuskBin 2-1 in the QQ Gaming Qualifier after losing Game 1. There's even a chance that they could meet again in the finals of the qualifier. Two more series wins for DuskBin, and we could see another rematch.

It was a different story less than three months ago in the finals of the UNGL HoN Destiny Cup, where DuskBin bested FnaticMSI 2-0.

With their match-up in the GosuCup finals, these two teams will be meeting for the third time in recent tournament history. They are starting to become familiar with each other on the competitive stage, but neither team has shown complete dominance over the other.

Paths to the Finals

MSI's Path to the Finals Opponent Result vs. Infs T 1-1 vs. KD W FF vs. iOV W 2-0 vs. PhB W 2-0 vs. OK W 2-1 vs. DskB

DskB's Path to the Finals Opponent Result vs. EG W 2-0 vs. TSoG W 2-0 vs. PhB W 2-0 vs. EHH/DWi W 2-1 vs. Infs W 2-0 vs. MSI

Before the tournament had even begun, these teams were already set on two very different paths. FnaticMSI was invited as the #1 seed in the group stage, while DuskBin had to fight for their spot in one of the US Qualifiers.

Comparing their paths through the course of the event, the quality of DuskBin's victories are higher. FnaticMSI had a forfeit win over KD-Gaming e.V. and were matched up against the relatively unknown Icons of Vanity in Group A of the group stage. DuskBin managed to go undefeated in the very difficult Group B against EG, PhB, and TSoG. But they may have dodged a bullet by not having to face Online-Kingdom in this tournament, a top team that MSI sent to the 3rd place match.

Keys of the Match

› Mr.Swish vs. N0tail / Trixi

FnaticMSI's middle lane will most likely depend on their heroes, as they've tended to alternate between N0tail and Trixi. Middle lane dominance is crucial to any game; can [DskB] Mr.Swish be shut down?

› Server Latency

DuskBin is accustomed to playing competitively at 200-300ms. If fact, they might be the team that is least fazed by server disadvantages. If high latency is ever a factor in this match, the "home field advantage" could be one-way.

› Stamina

These two teams are evenly matched and tend to play long games against each other, as we've seen in their previous 60+ minute games. In a series that could very likely go to a deciding Game 5, will fatigue become a factor?

The Battle is Set

Tune in this Tuesday at 19:00 CET; you won't want to miss it! The 3rd place match between European teams Online-Kingdom and Infused Tt Esports will also be held on Tuesday at 22:00 CET. Honcast will be live-casting the event, and you can check our main page for updates.