Vainglory 8 Discussion | October 28-29, 2017
Hello, and welcome to the twentieth week of Vainglory 8 posts. Just to remind you, these eSport and Vainglory 8 discussion posts will be put up every Friday, replacing the weekly discussion, and will be taken down on Monday for the next weekly discussion. These posts will be an opportunity to catch up on last week’s results before the upcoming matches over the weekend as well as hopefully discuss the Vainglory 8 as it happens, updating you with the results as quickly as the moderator team can! As of now, the posts will only cover Europe and North America.
You can find relevant media concerning these matches below!
Of course, this will contain spoilers for the last week of Vainglory 8 matches, which you can find on YouTube here.
#Relevant Media
Final rosters for the autumn season of Vainglory 8, found here, note that Immortals was not listed directly due to a typo, but that their team is still there
Renegades acquires Infamous, a long-standing guild and team in Southeast Asia, found here
#Europe
#Calamity Reborn vs. Fnatic: Fnatic Won
Calamity Reborn comes into this week with a bit of a roster switchup, having lost L30N to mousesports and picked up Apfel123 to replace him. Given that that is sure to mix up the dynamic of the team, and given their previously poor performances, it was not unreasonable to expect that Calamity Reborn would end up losing this series to Fnatic. While Calamity Reborn were able to keep up with Fnatic in game one for almost the entire match, they were more or less destroyed in game two, leading to Fnatic winning the series 2-0.
#Mousesports vs. Saltypotatoes: Mousesports Won
Saltypotatoes had demonstrated in weeks past the capacity to be a strong middling European team while also having the potential to contend with those more consistently stronger than them. In sharp contrast, mousesports has failed to find real success, but in bringing in L30N, a star player by most accounts, they were no doubt hopeful that they could shake things up favorably. However, given that roster switchups in general tend to portend short term failure for most teams, which way the matchup would go was relatively unclear or in the favor of Saltypotatoes. However, in-game, it became clear that the roster changes for mousesports were going to be positive, and it reflected in this series, with an aggressive mousesports gaining early leads and snowballing them into a 2-0 victory against Saltypotatoes.
#Dynasty vs. SK Gaming: SK Gaming Won
SK Gaming has effectively dominated in the autumn season, and while Dynasty has been able to take them to a third game before, they have yet to beat them. Given that, it is not unreasonable to have expected, coming in, that SK Gaming would likely win again. Indeed, they did, taking the series to game three once more before beating out Dynasty 2-1.
#Semifinal: Mousesports vs. G2 eSports: Mousesports Won
Mousesports looking dominating in their series against Saltypotatoes, that much is undeniable. However, G2 eSports are for sure the more consistently successful of the two, and even with the roster changes for mousesports, it seemed unlikely that they would be able to beat out the second strongest team in Europe by points. Coming into the first match, G2 eSports quickly established dominance, building a surprisingly convincing lead against the early game strength of L30N’s Koshka, but ImTheDoom’s Baron kicked into gear by the late-game and turned the tides of the second to last teamfight in mousesports’ favor, after which they were able to capture the Kraken and narrowly secure a victory against their competitors after a botched Kraken push. As both teams came into the second game with their confidence shaken, given that mousesports were smashed in the early game and G2 eSports were unable to secure a victory with their massive lead, G2 eSports were once again able to build a decent lead early on, and maintained it this time around until they were able to close out the match with over a 9k gold lead. Given the dominating performance of game two and the shaky game one, mousesports’ chances of victory looked quite slim, but they came sprinting right out of the gate in game three, bringing the fight to G2 eSports and securing a strong early lead for themselves. Extending their lead to close out the game with 11k gold up over G2 eSports, mousesports took the very tense series 2-1.
#Semifinal: Fnatic vs. SK Gaming: SK Gaming Won
Fnatic has, many times this season, failed to perform up to their potential, leaving them at the spot of an inconsistent middling European team. Compared to SK Gaming, who have been the top dogs of Europe for weeks now, they are sorely lacking. Given that, Fnatic would have needed to perform at tip top shape to even have a shot at topping the giants of SK Gaming, but perform they did, stunning everyone in the first match by destroying SK Gaming in the early game and eventually closing out their lead in the face of unexpected Reza and Joule picks. Hit hard from the first match, SK Gaming were not going to be cowed by their decidedly less consistent competition, and adapted quickly by bringing in a slightly more meta draft. After winning game two decidedly, it seemed unlikely that Fnatic would be able to close out the series. Ultimately, while Fnatic kept it close for the first half of the game, KValafar from SK Gaming popped off on his Weapon Power Blackfeather and carried his team to victory, winning the series 2-1.
#Third Place Series: Fnatic vs. G2 eSports: G2 eSports Won
Without a doubt, G2 eSports was the favorite coming into this series, despite the shakeups with mousesports sudden surge of strength. Indeed, the matchup would go as expected as Fnatic fell to G2 eSports 2-1, marking their second close loss in a row.
#Finals: SK Gaming vs. Mousesports: Mousesports Won
Mousesports must have felt on top of the world come last weekend, given their sudden success in the face of some significant opposition, but SK Gaming are the best team in Europe by good measure, ahead of the team right below them by 12 points. Mousesports winning against them would have been a surprise, for sure, but mousesports showed up once again for the final series of the weekend, quickly securing a significant gold lead and closing that lead into a win for themselves, shocking pretty much everyone. Coming into game two and high off of their win, mousesports once again generated a quick early lead against the shakier SK Gaming and replicated their success from the first match, winning the series 2-0 and getting the first place spot in the European Vainglory 8 for the first time this season.
#Seasonal Standings
| Teams | Points |
|---|---|
| SK Gaming | 30 |
| G2 eSports | 18 |
| Fnatic | 12 |
| Dynasty | 12 |
| Mousesports | 11 |
| Saltypotatoes | 9 |
| Calamity Reborn | 2 |
| Team Qlash | 1 |
#Regional Hero Statistics
Reim
Picked: 61.5%
Banned: 23.1%
Winrate: 75%
Notes: an extremely strong pick in Europe that is sometimes even first picked by certain teams, Reim sees immense success across the board
Vox
Picked: 30.8%
Banned: 46.1%
Winrate: 100%
Notes: despite seeing fantastic success in games where he was used, Vox was a relatively rare find last weekend
#This Weekend
#Day 1
#Mousesports vs. Team Qlash
Match 1:
Match 2:
Match 3:
Notes: Mousesports 2, Team Qlash 1
#Calamity Reborn vs. Saltypotatoes
Match 1: Saltypotatoes Won
Match 2: Saltypotatoes Won
Notes: Saltypotatoes 2, Calamity Reborn 0
#SK Gaming vs. G2 eSports
Match 1: G2 eSports Won
Match 2: G2 eSports Won
Notes: G2 eSports 2, SK Gaming 0
#Dynasty vs. Fnatic
Match 1: Fnatic Won
Match 2: Fnatic Won
Notes: Fnatic 2, Dynasty 0
#Day 2
#Semifinal: Saltypotatoes vs. Mousesports
Match 1: Saltypotatoes Won
Match 2: Saltypotatoes Won
Notes: Saltypotatoes 2, Mousesports 0
#Semifinal: G2 eSports vs. Fnatic
Match 1: G2 eSports Won
Match 2: G2 eSports Won
Notes: G2 eSports 2, Fnatic 0
#Third Place Series: Mousesports vs. Fnatic
Match 1: Mousesports Won
Match 2: Mousesports Won
Notes: Mousesports 2, Fnatic 0
#Finals: G2 eSports vs. Saltypotatoes
Match 1:
Match 2:
Match 3:
Notes: G2 eSports 2, Saltypotatoes 1
#North America
#Cloud9 vs. Tribe: Tribe Won
At the top of the point standings and towering over their opponents in terms of seasonal success, Cloud9 were looking to bounce back this week after their defeat at the hands of TSM and Nova eSports. Given that their seasonal performance has been consistently superior, I doubt anyone expected Tribe to win coming in, but the team known for their live buff decided that this weekend was a good time to bring that strength to the Vainglory 8. Cloud9 came out of the gates sprinting, gaining an early lead and maintaining it into the late-game, but Tribe were having none of it as they turned around a late-game teamfight brilliantly and base-raced the Kraken to victory. Looking to correct their mistakes from the last match, Cloud9 gained that same early game lead and were able to manage it better as they entered the late-game, leading to their eventual rebound and tying up the series. The final match saw gabevizzle bringing out Churnwalker, displaying for all the teamfighting power of the pick. However, it wasn’t enough to overcome ttiger’s Koshka and Tribe took home the series with a convincing final win.
#Rogue vs. TSM: TSM Won
A matchup seen just the week before in the North American Vainglory 8 finals, Rogue came in hungry for revenge against their previous betters. Unfortunately for them, they would end up with exactly the same results as before, only managing to push TSM to a game three before ceding the series 2-1.
#Gankstars vs. Nova eSports: Nova eSports Won
To say that Gankstars have struggled this season is an understatement. They are more or less outclassed by the current set of Vainglory 8 teams. In the first match of this series, Gankstars did manage to secure a somewhat significant early lead, but Nova eSports quickly caught up and wrested control of the game from there. The second match had a similar story, with Gankstars managing to nab an early lead, but quickly ceding it away to Nova eSports, who would win the series 2-0. While there is some potential here for Gankstars to remain a force on the Fold, given that they managed to look alright early on in their matches, that those leads are lost so quickly remains concerning.
#Hammers vs. Tempo Storm: Hammers Won
With results just as poor as Gankstars, Tempo Storm desperately needed points on the board coming into this series, but Hammers outclasses them just as much as Nova eSports outclasses Gankstars. The first match saw Hammers gaining a small lead that they grew throughout the game and utilized to finish things out. The second match went fairly similarly, although Tempo Storm seemed to fall apart even further, leading to a wider gold discrepancy as they won the series 2-0.
#Semifinals: TSM vs. Tribe: TSM Won
TSM came into this series with superior recent seasonal play, despite Tribe’s narrow win against Cloud9 last weekend. It was rather clear to anyone coming in that Tribe were at a disadvantage in this series, and that disadvantage only became clearer as the series wore on. The first match saw TSM accruing a significant gold lead early on and maintaining it into the late-game with grace, cleanly closing things out. Unfortunately for Tribe, they were unable to turn things around in the second match, leading to a swift 2-0 defeat.
#Semifinals: Hammers vs. Nova eSports: Hammers eSports Won
Hammers and Nova eSports are likely very similar in terms of exactly how strong the teams are perceived, with a small edge definitely being given to Nova eSports in terms of what they are able to achieve, certainly, even if they are less than consistent at times. Both teams have superstar laners and consistently strong junglers and captains, although Status is perhaps a bit flashier than LoneDelphi. In many ways, they are similar, and the close series to come was a testament to that. Hammers took the lead in the first match before trading back and forth with Nova eSports before they eventually started to flat out lose teamfights, leading to Nova eSports taking the win. The second match was a bit of the opposite, with Nova eSports gaining an early lead with some smart engages before Hammers managed to claw their way back into the game and eventually close it out with a successful Kraken push. The final match saw both teams staying relatively even early on before Nova eSports took a good fight and secured a gold lead firmly for themselves by taking the Gold Miner. They more or less maintained that lead up until the late-game, but Hammers finally turned things around with a quick Kraken capture after some critical zoning and a clean late-game team fight, winning themselves the series 2-1.
#Third Place Series: Nova eSports vs Tribe: Tribe Won
In terms of seasonal play, Tribe has undoubtedly performed worse than Nova eSports, although their performance against Cloud9 was inspiring last weekend. Of course, Nova eSports has defeated TSM in a previous week, which is certainly a notch on the belt of similar magnitude. Given all of these things, the series was liable to be relatively close, although perhaps somewhat in favor of Nova eSports. In the end, however, Tribe performed well last weekend, just as they had against Cloud9, and managed to turn things on Nova eSports as they took the series 2-0.
#Finals: TSM vs. Hammers: TSM Won
TSM were undoubtedly the favorites coming into this matchup. Hammers, while they have seen a few successes, cannot be compared to how good TSM has looked, despite their falters in early weeks. Indeed, this series would reflect that, with Hammers admittedly being able to secure a small lead early on in the first match before TSM managed to come back in force and win. The second match saw the same story, except accelerated on the part of TSM’s comeback, leading to a clean 2-0 defeat on the part of Hammers and seeing TSM the champions of the weekend once more.
#Split Standings
| Teams | Points |
|---|---|
| TSM | 22 |
| Cloud9 | 20 |
| Rogue | 17 |
| Nova eSports | 13 |
| Hammers | 11 |
| Tribe | 10 |
| Gankstars | 0 |
| Tempo Storm | 0 |
#Regional Hero Statistics
Reza
Picked: 30.6%
Banned: 15.3%
Winrate: 50%
Notes: saw a lot of priority from Tribe in their series against Cloud9, but achieved only mixed results, Reza seems to be situationally strong
Churnwalker
Picked: 15.3%
Banned: 15.3%
Winrate: 50%
Notes: picked up by both Cloud9 and TSM this weekend, the pick saw some success but overall was a bit inconsistent for the two top tier teams
#This Weekend
#Day 1
#Tempo Storm vs. Tribe Gaming
Match 1: Tribe Gaming Won
Match 2: Tribe Gaming Won
Notes: Tribe Gaming 2, Tempo Storm 0
#Gankstars vs. Rogue
Match 1:
Match 2:
Match 3:
Notes: Rogue 2, Gankstars 1
#Nova eSports vs. Cloud9
Match 1:
Match 2:
Match 3:
Notes: Cloud9 2, Nova eSports 1
#Hammers vs. TSM
Match 1:
Match 2:
Match 3:
Notes: Hammers 2, TSM 1
#Day 2
#Semifinal: Cloud9 vs. Hammers
Match 1: Cloud9 Won
Match 2: Hammers Won
Match 3: Hammers Won
Notes: Hammers 2, Cloud9 1
#Semifinal: Tribe Gaming vs. Rogue
Match 1:
Match 2:
Match 3:
Notes: Rogue 2, Tribe Gaming 1
#Third Place Series: Cloud9 vs. Tribe Gaming
Match 1: Tribe Gaming Won
Match 2: Tribe Gaming Won
Notes: Tribe Gaming 2, Cloud9 0
#Finals: Rogue vs. Hammers
Match 1:
Match 2:
Match 3:
Notes: Hammers 2, Rogue 1
What are your thoughts on some of the exciting matches in last weekend’s Vainglory 8? What are you looking forward to this weekend and do you have any predictions? Have some suggestions? Drop all of those in comments below!
Posted Oct 28, 2017, 8:04 AM UTC · edited