MPL Qualifier Week 2 Recap

Assassins… assassins everywhere

This article was written by Chise Alcantara.

DIGITAL DEVILS PRO VS WIL IMBA

WIL IB.Killer showed us what Helcurt does best and that is farming like crazy while helping your team get kills. At one point,  WIL had a 12k gold over DDP, which translated into a slaughter-fest in late game team fights. The second game was a lot closer thanks to WIL IB Ge’s very skillful plays on Harley but she couldn’t carry hard enough against the DD Heww’s Lancelot when he’s backed up by DD 匕モ匕ち’s Angela. Using the momentum they got from their win in the previous game, DD really showed off their teamwork by following up on almost every engage DD 乇丂Ծ刀’s Saber did. This pocket pick from DD proved fatal to WIL IB’s team composition, which cost them the best of three.

ADVICI ESPORTS vs GODZ AWESOME

ADVC pulled in an early lead with ADVC JM’s fed Guison whose AOE damage decimated the entire GZ team. But GZ came back strong with the next game by utilizing the incredible mobility of GZ Hera 恐い’s Fanny and the follow-up support of GZ Weng 恐い’s Angela, which completely shutdown the ADVC JM’s Guison.

Game 3 had very surprising picks and bans with GZ banning Fanny, which helped them a lot in Game 2 and ADVC deciding to put their fate in ADVC JM’s Guison, once again after his shaky second game. Whose gamble paid off? ADVC’s trust in their teammate proved to be a good decision on their part as he got pick after pick, which snowballed the game. ADVC Hao’s Helcurt also became quite annoying for the GZ to handle with unrelenting splitpushing and ganks.

WHITE RASCALS VS NIMBUS GAMING

Who knew tank fights could be so intense? The high damage composition of White Rascals hit a brick wall of tanks composed of G Kj41n_Up’s Johnson, G Mie’s Chou, and a very fed semi-tanky Jawhead piloted by G Alchemist and they barely made a dent in their defense resulting in a victory for Nimbus Gaming. They then used that momentum to steamroll their opponents in the next game leading to a clean sweep for Nimbus Gaming.

INVICTUS GODZ vs DIGITAL DEVILS PRO (Semi-finals)

DD 乇丂Ծ刀’s Saber pocket pick didn’t pan out as well as they had hoped in the first semi-finals game proving that it was more a situational pick that could work well in an engage composition. DD could do nothing against IG Kirito who went Godlike on his Guison, leading his team to their first semi-finals win. DD bringing out surprise picks left and right with an oldie, Hilda used by DD Dee. Their off-meta pick paid off for DD, because of how many ultimates Hilda tanked in that game, which allowed DD’s Heww to use the assassin Lancelot to get free damage off the opponent bringing this series to a deadlock.

A very hyped third match featuring DD Heww’s Lancelot vs IG Kirito’s Guison ensued. Tower dives and objective steals came from both assassins, which made the match closer than it should have been considering the overwhelming kill lead DD had over IG. But as the game went on, the gold lead translated into a victory for Digital Devils Pro with an impressive 26K gold for DD Heww’s Lancelot.

ADVICI ESPORTS vs NIMBUS GAMING (Semi-finals)

G Alchemist brought in the Jawhead that has worked so well for him this series. The playmaking potential of the heroes chosen by Nimbus Gaming in the first game allowed for them to take the clean victory. In the second game though, G Alchemist brought out a surprising marksman pick, Carrie. She melted turrets and champions late game but got overwhelmed by the tanks and assassins of ADVC in the last teamfight, which caused them the game. Despite ADVC’s Grock playing really well and making plays during teamfights, Nimbus Gaming’s rotations were too much for them to handle and with that, Nimbus Gaming earns their spot in the regular season.

ADVICI ESPORTS vs INVICTUS GODZ (Bronze Match)

The Gusion rampage continues as IG Kirito used the mage-assassin to flawlessly dominate the enemy team with his 10-0-6 score. Another mage, ADVC Muska’s Cyclops stole the scene in the second game with another flawless 9-0-5 score by making picks with his third skill’s rooting mechanics coupled with his burst damage.  IG got the early lead in the deciding game because of the rotations by IG Vhen’s Fanny map pressure and jungle steals by IG Helena put ADVC so behind that they couldn’t recover for the entire game. Invictus Godz secure their spot in the regular season.