The fourth stage of the Digital Crusade tournament is over, so let’s see what happened this time. Before we get to the matches, I noticed that the team of casters changed a bit. Alex, the host of Spacebar, has joined HolyDiver. Even though it turned out that Alex wasn’t a LoL connoisseur, he knew what questions to ask, which helped Holy keep the casting at a good level. Yet Alex knew the game well enough to make some more than accurate observations and it was a nice change, but the matches were even more worthwhile.
Nexus KTRL vs. Racquestai. The first match of the night. And what a match! The winning team would go 3-1 and move into first place. The match had started with an advantage for the Ukrainian team because Septico underestimated how much damage a level six Gwen could do and gave up the first kill. Even though only a few minutes later the Romanian team got its revenge, an experience and gold deficit had formed between the two. However, Nexus KTRL moved pretty well in the first minutes, and they managed to not give more opportunities to their opponents, but also to get the first two dragons. Unfortunately, the more time passed, the worse it got for them. The battles were not going to go their way under any circumstances, and Racquestai was starting to get the upper hand. Although Septico looked to be continuing his good form, he was completely overshadowed by the performance of his top rival Maynter, who at one point managed an incredible one versus three, surviving most likely with 1 HP and managing to single-handedly kill three enemies. From there, the balance was tilted in favor of the Ukrainians. The match went on for a good few minutes, with Nexus KTRL trying and trying to get back into the game, but they never really managed to. At one point, they gave up their sixth dragon to win the baron, but they were in no position to contest the objective and although they won it, they lost three players, and that was about it. A good game from the very solid Racquestai, who had a not-so-easy comp against Nexus KTRL, who are neither weak nor bad or anything. They were just better that night.
Lenovo Legion Hoven vs. Urban Esports. Another two teams that had positive scores. Urban was coming off a win where 2Axes had a pentakill and decided to follow the same strategy, protect the hyper carry, and win it. Aphelios and Kayle were tasked with staying alive and collecting as much gold as possible. LLH looked at their opponent’s strategy and decided they would take the challenge. Pantheon, Xin Zhao, Aatrox were helped by Soraka and Ziggs. The match started rather slowly; Urban, aware of their winning conditions, tried to stall as long as possible and even took the first two dragons. But the Hungarians’ power to start a fight made its presence felt. Pantheon flew over the map, Aatrox somehow survived in a 1 vs. 4 fight with the help of a Soraka ultimate, an absolutely mind-blowing fight, but one that proved Urban simply didn’t have any damage yet. They needed gold, they needed experience, and most of all they needed time to gather the first two, but Lenovo Legion Hoven did a great job. They had all the tools at hand to close the match, and they did so. They battled every time they had the ultimates ready to go, and each time they won something. Even if sometimes it was just priority on a lane or just a kill, they always came out on top and managed to finish the match in about 30 minutes. Unfortunately, Urban couldn’t repeat their performance in the last match, where I think they also set the record for the fastest match of the tournament, but at the moment they stand at 2-2 with a pretty good chance for qualification. LLH, on the other hand, joined Racquestai in the first place, with a 3-1 record. A good game from the Hungarians, who have managed to put together three wins in a row. One was hard-fought, one was lucky, and this one was deserved.
Random 5 vs. Cyber MD. The last stage I made a bet that Cyber MD would win the first game. They had a Tom Cruise-worthy task ahead of them against one of the better teams, but not undefeatable. R5, in fact, Spooky, surprised us with Jungle Zed. What could be better than that? The rest of the team was pretty standard, and Cyber MD with Viego and Wukong at the top secured a pretty good engage, not to mention Amumu support. Their carries were both APs, Ziggs and Syndra. The match started quite slowly, which could only be to the advantage of the MD team; in fact, they even got a couple of kills and a gold advantage, but from there the disaster followed and I was feeling worse and worse. What I saw as potential in Cyber turned out to be just random moments in their game, because they are typically chaotic, don’t recognize win conditions, and have bad timing. For example, as soon as they lost the baron, and they lost it because they kept losing fight after fight, they forced the dragon fight, when R5 only had two dragons, and they only had one. The result? They lost all five and the gap was even wider, and even then, they didn’t say no to all the nonsense of engaging in a hopeless fight. I admit I’m disappointed, especially in myself that I was only able to see their good sides, and not how they really are. Never again. As for Random 5, well, the Bulgarians have once again proved that they are a good team, made up of really talented players. They got back into the game through good timing, wise decisions, outplays, and unity. And they are 3-1 tied for first place, and Cyber MD, rest in peace in the last place.
OneTap vs. Infinite. Both teams were 1-2 and this encounter was pretty much their last chance to stay in the fight for the tournament in Cluj. Both had experienced defeat the previous stage and neither had looked very good, but Infinite had just changed their ADC. Were we going to see a better side of them? The match started out fairly quiet, with some trades, but nothing dangerous, and OneTap had a 500 gold lead from the farm alone. The first kill came around the 10th minute, and it was from Infinite, who had already taken the first dragon. It was the most settled and slow game of the day, but that’s because Infinite set the tempo, and nothing on the map moved without their will. They controlled every detail of the entire match and it showed in their easy victory. OneTap, as Holy also noted, should look at this match and absolutely make some changes. There are things they can fix in their game, from drafting to strategy, and not least, individual performance. Infinite, on the other hand, are showing that they are getting more and more solid as a team, but they still have things to prove and tough games ahead.
Those were pretty much the matches and I personally enjoyed it. I’m getting emotionally invested and it seems I can be disappointed, but mostly I’m excited about the matches, especially seeing all sorts of things. Today there were some really impressive out-plays, I saw macro, but also a lot of blood. There are only 3 stages to go, and every match really matters. Cyber MD is basically out of the competition, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be a pain in the backside, that they can’t have a quiver of pride. On the other hand, the teams from the top are showing signs of weakness, and that they can be beaten. The games are getting better and better, and the production as well (don’t think I haven’t noticed the studio), so we can only wait for the next stage and see what it brings.This fourth stage can be watched here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpWFrtkaWFQ
Written by LolRN
