[eSports Review] Masters of the Sword -Knockout Stage- Serenity vs International

[St.Guardian 514]

 

Introduction To The Match

Last Sunday, the 20th of May, our community's team Serenity faced off against International. These two teams were the last two who were not out in the First League (besides Lucky Star of course who made it to the Grand Final). They clashed head on in the final of the Loser's Bracket and the winner of the match would move on to play Lucky Star in the Grand Final. Before we dive into the battle's details, it should be mentioned that these two clans have played each other before: Serenity beat International 2:0 in the 1st group stage and International beat Serenity 2:1 in the 2nd group stage.

 

 

Additionally, Serenity had a lot of anxiety fueling this match because this was not only their debut tournament, but they were also the only EN clan still alive in the entire competition. International on the other hand are slightly older and more experienced. For either clan though, a loss meant no chance of Gladiator or 'Premium' and less crystals/gold box supplies. Let's see how the battle played out with these factors!

 

First Round

The first round was quite unbalanced for a good percentage of it. An early wave of drops rained throughout the map not long after the timer hit 10:00. Perhaps each clan had timed the drops to fall accordingly and wished for an early start. International would get the best of this situation, as they took around 7/10 of the drops. This dilemma occurred when I_Live_WiThouT_LaWs and My_Fate_is_War attacked the left side of Serenity's red base and took out most of their players. This allowed Daxar to exit the Red base, and pass the flag to his clan-mate Team_Soul for the capture.

 

Serenity's players quickly learned their lesson and managed to control the second wave of drops, but unfortunately they did not do so on the third wave: International ended up with 2 of each type of supply and the center Health Kit. A well organized offensive by attacking duo Team_Soul and Daxar widened the score gap to 2:0, and later, an almost identical play made the score 3:0 to International. In the last 2 minutes, attackers Lankbouv and Criminal_Lyf attempted to fight back in successive moves on the Blue flag, but their efforts were diminished because they did not attack together. The round ended 4:0.

 

 

Second Round

The second round proved to be less stressful overall, but in the beginning, Serenity's players still did not maintain control of key areas in Red Alert such as the left side of their base or the center 'island' of the map. This made it quite easy for International's players to bash their key defenders such as Jingle and St.Railgun with Double Powers. The first time this happened, I_Live_WiThouT_LaWs casually drove out of the Blue base for a simple capture. Serenity's attackers such as Lankbouv did try to counter this, but failed, proving to be a distraction for Serenity. Attacker Team_Soul utilized this diversion and plucked the Blue flag off its podium and, after a quick run through the map, he brought the score to 2:0.

 

A few minutes later, drops fell and Serenity got their control in check. Their offensive player Latvian_sniper managed to break their opponents' defense and hand-off the Red flag to St.Railgun who was eagerly waiting at the center. This lead to a capture and a slightly more appealing score of 2:1. Serenity did try for a second capture but their attempt at a chain-link attack meant their base was empty, and once International's flag was returned, the pair of I_Live_WiThouT_Laws and Team_Soul pulled off a counteroffensive which enabled them to capture. This ended the round 3:1.

 

 

Third Round

For the beginning of the Third round, it was apparent that both International and Serenity were playing cautiously. The first wave of drops at 9:20 were controlled equally by both teams, but the second wave of drops - mainly Double Armours and Speed Boosts - were taken mostly by International's players like Teen.Wolf or My_Fate_is_War. This contributed to the first capture of the match, in which Team_Soul performed a solo run through the map, tipping the score to his team's favor.

 

It became evident that Serenity was not going down without a fight. First, after stealing a Double Armour from the Blue base, Criminal_Lyf mirrored the previous attack by International and re-balanced the score to 1:1 in a solo run. Not too long after, a fully dropped Lankbouv took the Blue flag and brought it to his base for a successive capture by Hell_Under_You. This spark of hope didn't last long though. With one minute to go, International quickly took control of the right side of Serenity's base, and as such, their attackers exited it unchallenged and made the score 2:2. This action ended the round 2:2 to International.

 

 

Conclusion On The Match

Hats go off to Serenity for having traversed so far in such a prime tournament. They did put up an increasingly good fight against Russian clan International and their players gave it their all; they earned their 2,000,000 crystals. International defeated them in a show of skill and co-ordination, and will now motion towards a well-deserved 'Grande Finale' against Lucky Stars. That, however, is for future evaluation. Until then, thanks for reading!

 

 

[Al-Za7eF 33]

Greater topic bro. Nice work keep it up