So here we are, the end of the first week of the Season 5 Smite Pro League. There’ve been many twists and turns, some predictable results and some not-so-predictable ones – and I’m here to break them all down for your reading pleasure.
Rival vs NRG – Rival win (2-1)
What a start to the season! Amidst some less-than-ideal viewing conditions while Mixer found its feet, the season was kicked off by an absolute barnstormer.
Game 1 – NRG win
Game One was a rough one for Team Rival. Although they made a decent start, getting First Blood and staying even through 14 minutes, once the team fighting begun it was clear that Alexandru “Wlfy” Lefterică was suffering from hangups from the finals of Worlds in January. Again, his Poseidon ultimates seemed to be panicked and early, leading to several missed opportunities, NRG gaining a 15k gold lead and then ultimately ending the game with ease
Game 2/3 – Rival win
Games Two and Three, Rival really showed their intent and knowledge of the meta. Wlfy playing Janus was the complete opposite of game one and he provided so much utility and pure damage with his cooldown-oriented build, dropping the team all around the map and proving why Rival are the top team in Europe at the start of this season.
SK vs MouseSports – MouseSports win (2-1)
While the second set couldn’t quite live up to the first in terms of pure technical skill, it made up for it in janky picks and out-of-meta plays.
Game 1 – MouseSports win
Game One was dominant from MouseSports. Solo He Bo was ineffective from SK and Mouse cleaned up in 22 minutes, with BigManTingz impressing on Discordia in his first professional game as a mid laner.
Game 2 – SK win
Again, game two was the direct opposite, James “Duck3y” Heseltine securing 7 kills on Solo Camazotz, dominating the lane and doing over 26,000 player damage. The game again was shorter than some Season 5 games and left the set finely balanced heading into game 3.
Game 3 – Mousesports win
In a game notable for weird picks, Mouse brought three assassins to a very janky team composition. In a support match-up battle, Kumbhakarna was no match for Bastien “Dardez” Proust’s Fenrir support. Although the game was close, and SK even had more kills, ultimately when jungler Mohaned “Cherryo” Walied soloed SK’s midlaner at 38 minutes, the set was all over.
EUnited vs Luminosity – Luminosity win (2-0)
The most shocking game of the first week, this was a fantastic upset. Going into the set, the vast majority of players expected Kurt “Weak3n” Schray’s team to have very little chance against the reigning world champions, however, the opposite was the case!
Game 1- Luminosity win
Almost immediately, it was easy to say that everyone had underestimated Luminosity. A perfect early dive for First Blood by Weak3n set the tone as Luminosity quickly proved they understood the early S5 meta better than the world champions. In a back-and-forward first game, Luminosity established a mid-game lead only to be pegged back by EU. The game was ultimately decided twofold, by first a huge through-the-wall titan defense by new player Keegan “keegsmate” Twoeagle, followed by an incredible siege at 50 minutes, to take game 1.
Game Two – Luminosity win
Game two seemed almost completely one-sided; Luminosity looked dominant with Eunited potentially tilted from throwing game 1. Establishing a 10k gold lead by 20 minutes, courtesy of a perfect 4-0-2 score by Weak3n, the LG team were easily able to convert the game into a 2-0 clean sweep, to the shock of almost all observers.
Splyce vs CLG – CLG win (2-1)
Showing once again how close all of the teams are in the league this season, this was another very close set. CLG ultimately won out, with great performances by leader Connor “Jigz” Echols from the support role as well as the veteran mid-laner Tyler “Hurriwind” Whitney proving the difference.
Game One – Splyce win
The set started out with a confident performance by Splyce. Gaining an early lead which was fought back by CLG, Splyce were able to win pivotal team-fights twice in a row to end the match around 41 minutes.
Games Two and Three – CLG win
Making a decision to put Alec “fineokay” Fonzo on Sobek, a god he could be far more effective with in teamfights than in game one, CLG was able to edge a close match. Their double hunter composition provided too much objective damage for Splyce to win out. Game Three was very similar, a close game in which CLG ultimately was able to win a very close set overall.
Dignitas vs MouseSports – Dignitas win (2-0)
Looking to atone for their Super Regionals horror show at the end of the last season, Dignitas had a lot to prove having gone from being one of the favourites to win worlds to not even qualifying. MouseSports fresh from their earlier win picked up where they left off with weird and wonderful picks, however Dignitas were just too strong and managed a relatively easy win.
Games One and Two – Dignitas win
Janus Jungle was not quite as horrible an idea as it sounded, with Dignitas needing 40+ minutes to win, but ultimately Joakim “Zyrhoes” Verngren and Anders “QvoFred” Korsbo proved too mechanically gifted for Mouse.
Game two MouseSports decided to play Chaac in the mid lane and Morrigan support. While neither were horrible ideas in theory, neither worked in practice with QvoFred proving himself once again as one of the best junglers in the world, finishing the game with a cool 9 kills and 0 deaths.
Rival vs Obey – Rival win (2-0)
In a game many expected to be much closer, it took the new Obey squad (Craig “iRaffer” Rathbone joining last season’s squad) a little longer than some had expected to mesh together, and although the set was close overall, Rival’s teamplay was exceptional and lead to an easy victory.
Game One and Two – Rival win
Alexandru “Wlfy” Lefterică picked up where he left off in game 2 and 3 on Monday, hitting multiple two-man Ra snipes and carrying the game from the start. Finding picks before teamfights broke out was the clear strategy, with setup provided by Petar “KaLaS” Matejić proving too strong for the obey roster. Game two picked up where game one left off, with Rival maintaining a similar composition and winning in a similar way.
Dignitas vs Obey – Dig win (2-0)
Continuing a horrible start to the split for fan-favourites Obey, Dignitas joined Rival in having two victories in week one of the split.
Game One and Two – Dig win
In game One, Obey proved their lack of understanding of the early season 5 meta. Their composition with Chang’e, Arachne and Neith was dubious, and iRaffer still seemed to be on a different page to the rest of the roster. Game one lasted only 25 minutes, and was not a good look for Obey.
Game two was slightly better, Obey gaining six early kills and a small lead, however, the Arachne pick for CaptainTwig again didn’t work out and once Dignitas caught up in gold in the late midgame and killed the entire of Obey, the result seemed inevitable.
Trifecta vs CLG – CLG win (2-1)
CLG came out looking strong on Wednesday and this Friday game was no exception. Game 1 was won by CLG, Game two by Trifecta, and then game three, the pick of the set, was run by CLG’s solo laner Fineokay, leading to the overall victory.
Eunited vs Spacestation – Spacestation win (2-0)
What a fantastic set! In the first matchup between two of the top teams in a region, these heavyweights slugged it out over two games. This set had everything, and I would recommend watching it, if you missed out.
Game One and Two – Spacestation win
In a 57 minute slugfest between two teams who earlier in the week played in a spectacular “showmatch” in Vegas, this game is better watched than read about, so please check out the VoD on twitter. Spacestation ultimately came out on top, but Eunited were on top for a lot of the game and couldn’t quite get the game over the line.
Game two was entirely different. Andrew “andinster” Woodward and Kim “Baskin” Woon-young were on a completely different level. Both playing assassins, Camazotz Mid lane and Daji Jungle. They were able to completely run the game right from the first minute, ending the game in under half an hour with a combined score of 16 kills and zero deaths. Domination!
Trifecta vs Spacestation – Spacestation win (2-1)
The final set of the week was also exceptional. Spacestation again looked amazing, and the only thing which stopped this being a sweep like the previous match was Ronnie “ScaryD” Belair, who’s triple kill at the end of game two won the game for Trifecta. However Baskin’s game 1 fire giant steal combined with another spectacular combination of Thoth and Camazotz for Baskin and Andinster in game 3 closed out the set in Spacestation’s favour.
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