Image: Tencent Games
Nongshim Redforce defeated Elevate in the first Ultimate Battle of the Honor of Kings Invitational Season 3 to advance to the semifinals.
The action-packed second day of the Honor of Kings Invitational Season 3 on Thursday (27 February) saw South Korea's Nongshim Redforce and European qualifier winners Team Vitality advance to the semifinals at the expense of Filipino squad Elevate and Indonesia's Bigetron Sigma.
Before the start of their match versus Elevate, Nongshim Redforce turned heads by becoming the first team to qualify for the Knockout Stage after a dominant performance in the Group Stage against the Philippines' Rough World Era and Bigetron Sigma. Elevate, meanwhile, had to settle for a second place finish in their group after going 1-1 with a loss to Blacklist International and a victory against Gen.G Esports.
Nongshim Redforce knock out Elevate after ‘Ultimate Battle’
Despite going down 3-2 against an opponent in their home turf, Nongshim Redforce became the first team in the tournament to force an Ultimate Battle to knock out Elevate in seven games. The Ultimate Battle system aims to be an exciting way to close out closely-contested matches in Honor of Kings esports, as it nullifies the existing global ban-pick system for the seventh game of a match and allows both teams to head into the series decider with a blind draft.
Elevate drew first blood against Nongshim Redforce in the first game with a strong counter-draft on the red side. The Filipino squad picked Angela and Mayenne against Biron and Menki to mitigate their aggression and seal the game. However, the South Koreans struck back by securing the next two games with a strong showing from their mid-jungle combination.
Elevate then secured the next two games by playing counter picks and showingcasing their mastery on the red side, giving them match point in front of their home crowd. Audrey "Ajiizix" Cedro notably played the game of his life with Princess Frost in game four, shutting down Nongshim Redforce's mobility with a crucial Frigid Prison and Winter is Here.
However, the sixth game was Jo "Illusion" Seung-bin's game, as the mid laner proved he was a master of Gan and Mo with a 3-0-4 statline. He was untouchable all game long and never felt threatened by everything that Elevate threw at him.
And so, with the score even at 3-3, it was time for the Ultimate Battle. Both teams picked Dun, Dolia, and Loong, as the rule enabled the same heroes to be picked by both teams. However, when Elevate picked Dharma and Princess Frost, Nongshim Redforce trusted their solo laner with Sun Ce and Mai Shiranui. While the game was at a stalemate early on, Nongshim Redforce showed their macro understanding with crucial pickoffs in the mid game that gave them the lead. However, the game ended in anticlimactic fashion with a sneaky push by Sun Ce, which destroyed Elevate's core and life in the tournament.
Team Vitality continue dominant showing
On the other side of the bracket, Vitality showed why they are among the best teams in the tournament by beating Bigetron Sigma in five games. DaoDao and his teammates seemed to understand the meta more with their picks and macro-intensive gameplay.
The European representatives defeated Bigetron Sigma in a battle of execution as both coaches aimed to outsmart each other during the drafting phase. Heroes like Jing, Mulan, and Consort Yu were given the spotlight in this series, showing the fearless attitude from both coaches.
Bigetron Sigma, however, can hold its head high as they were the only team that could take a game from the Vitality in game two of their showdown. There, Zhan Quan "ZhanQ" Yong's Musashi dominated the map and sealed all moves that Vitality made with his crucial pickoff and map-clearing prowess.
The Honor of Kings Invitational Season 3 continues on Friday (28 February) with the semifinals, where Nongshim Redforce will take on hometown heroes Blacklist International while Team Vitality will face off against Nova Esports.
