Oh my goodness, the final day of the Playoffs was just…crazy. There were so many upsets and crazy games!
Singaporean Civil War
EVOS Esports SG 2, Flash Tyrants 0
We started out with a civil war in Singapore, between the two remaining SG teams, EVOS Esports SG and Flash Tyrants.
Game 1 saw EVOS utterly steamrolling FT, gaining the advantage early on by stealing FT’s jungle and refusing to take their foot off the pedal. They just kept the momentum and snowballed nonstop to win.
In game 2, the field was more even, and both teams had very good drafts, with no major advantage over each other. It came down to a test of gameplay skills, which EVOS aced, after a long game involving loads of intense gameplay and outplays, with solid teamwork on both sides.
Meanwhile, in Malaysia…
Saiyan Reborn 2, AirAsia Saiyan 0
…we had another rivalry, between the two Saiyan teams.
On day 2, Saiyan Reborn had already defeated Bigetron SG, securing the matchup between them and AirAsia Saiyan on day 3. After taking down the former Season 1 champion, they set their sights on the strongest Malaysian team.
Reborn did well in game 1 and outpaced their sister team, picking them off
one by one and taking objectives with awesome teamwork. Even soloz on Aldous couldn’t do much (it’s usually one of his strongest picks).
Game 2 started in ASYN’s favour, and they were leading up until 11 minutes with a 10k gold lead, but Lacid (Helcurt) pulled off a crazy steal on the 2nd Lord spawn. That steal was basically what sealed the match.
ASYN has ended the playoffs in 4th place, which is the same position they were in during Season 1.
A Major Upset
Saiyan Reborn 2, Flash Tyrants 0
Saiyan Reborn wasn’t content to just defeat their sister team though, they also took down the 2nd place winners of last season, Flash Tyrants, overwhelming them to drop FT to 3rd place this time round.
Game 1 was a shutout by Reborn, with a 12k gold lead by 15 minutes. FT tried their best, stalling as long as they could, but it just wasn’t enough, and Reborn carried the momentum forward to game 2, easily winning again to end FT’s hopes of claiming the championship.
Grand Finals
EVOS Esports SG 2, Saiyan Reborn 3
Well, this was a crazy matchup.
Reborn took the lead in Games 1 and 2, completely decimating EVOS despite all the adaptation (swapping out JPL for Kolia, playing aggressively, banning Lunox, etc).
In Game 3, though, they messed up on the verge of victory. After being ahead for almost the entire game, they blindly walked into an ambush without checking, and got wiped out, giving EVOS Game 3 and the momentum to win Game 4 as well.
The final game saw neither team being willing to give up control, fighting hard and pulling out every trick in the book to win. Slowly but surely though, Reborn regained their momentum and eventually managed to win a pivotal teamfight which gave them Lord (though it didn’t take down any towers).
At that point, both teams were probably tired out, and made various mistakes, the most fatal of which was a failed towerdive plus teamfight by EVOS after Reborn claimed the second Lord, allowing Reborn to push and end.
Loong was the MVP of this match, and the overall playoffs, saving Reborn from SO MANY sticky situations with his Lunox, and contributing loads of damage.
Congratulations, Saiyan Reborn. From last place in the regular season, to champions. Wow.
