image credits @wykrhm
In this week's battle for supremacy, we take a look at the four heroes who have fought their way to the semi-finals.
Last week, I wrote an article on the quarterfinals of the Arcana Showdown. It was a tense battle, but Io, after having beaten last year's runner-up, was once again able to beat Wraith King to secure his spot in the semi-finals. The other winners included the all-time community favourite Pudge taking it over Sven, Juggernaut triumphing over Ember Spirit and Slark beating the only female left in the contest - Windranger.
This week's Arcana Vote, bringing Io to the Final Four, shows that the community's love for Io may just be more than fun and memes. What is in this hero that is making the community so rapidly pour in their votes for him, yet almost never pick him in their public games? Some people argue that it is because Io is the only hero who has progressed this far, who does not have any cosmetic item. In this case, the community also hopes for a rework along with the arcana, like we saw happen to Zeus last year.
However, many people also reason that they want to test the creativity of Valve to its fullest. That argument certainly has a lot of weight in it too. What would Valve do with a hero who has no voice-line, is yet to receive a cosmetic, and is virtually a floating ball of light? Regardless of whether people will buy it one or not, an Io arcana will be a tough challenge for Valve's best artists.
The semi-finals of the 2015 Arcana Vote consisted of Zeus, Queen of Pain, Juggernaut and Tiny. Juggernaut was beaten by Queen of Pain and Tiny by Zeus to progress forward to the finals, where Zeus was eventually crowned the rightful receiver of the Arcana. This year, only one of those semi-finalists has survived up till now, which is Juggernaut.
It seems that the community's willingness to get a Juggernaut Arcana is one that is not bound by the barriers of time, and that they might keep on voting him until he finally receives an Arcana. However, we may not have to wait another year for that, because Juggernaut is currently winning against Pudge in the semi-finals of the Arcana Vote, and it is quite likely, according to the latest results, that we may see Juggernaut in the final of the Arcana Vote.
On the other side, Io's chance to progress through to the finals of the Arcana Vote was greatly strengthened today, as the recently released Immortal Treasure III consists of both a normal Hydrakan Latch dagger for Slark, as well as the same item in Golden version in the Very Rare rarity version. Another interesting thing to note is that Immortal Treasure III consisted of many immortals for heroes who have yet to receive one such as Bane and Ogre Magi. And yet again, no effort was made at giving the community an Io cosmetic, which may mean that an Io arcana will be, after all, his first cosmetic item in the game.
Yet, if both the heroes who are leading at this time of the week make it through to the finals, we would possibly have a battle between Io and Juggernaut. Will Juggernaut's timeless love be able to take him through to the finals, and reign supreme over the community's all-time most played hero - the Butcher? And will the disco-ball dream stay alive, with Io being one step away from the Arcana vote if he manages to take it over Slark. The prestigious grand finals is only a week away, Ladies and Gentlemen!
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