Image: Tencent Games
With two Ultimate Battles in one day, Nongshim Redforce and Team Vitality are set to clash in the Honor of Kings Invitational Season 3 grand finals.
Nova Esports and Nongshim Redforce are the grand finalists of the Honor of Kings Invitational Season 3 after the two squads survived Ultimate Battles in the semifinals of the Knockout Stage on Friday (28 February). Nova Esports defeated Team Vitality to secure the first slot in the grand finals before Nongshim Redforce pulled off a reverse sweep against Blacklist International.
Nova Esports continue to show why they are the best
Nova Esports got themselves an early advantage when they took the first game from Vitality. However, they felt the force that shocked everyone in the tournament in the next three games, trailing 3-1 and with their opponents on match point. However, Nova mustered a comeback at the right time and won the next two games to force an Ultimate Battle for a spot in the grand finals.
With the Ultimate Battle rule, the global ban-pick system was thrown out the window and each team were given three minutes to do a blind draft with no restrictions. Both can pick the same hero, resulting in a more chaotic game and showcasing the dilemma between picking your team's best heroes or countering the enemy's.
Both teams picked the four heroes in the game: Dharma, Augran, Arli, and Dyadia. The difference was on the mid lane, where Guan “Wen” Ren Hao picked the aggressive Mai Shiranui while Wang “Wendy” Jinwen picked the more control-oriented Yixing. With his masterful gameplay, Wendy secured the victory for Nova by shutting down Vitality's aggression with his Yixing.
Nongshim Redforce survive second straight Ultimate Battle
While the Nova-Vitality series was a back-and-forth battle, it was a game of momentum between Blacklist International and Nongshim Redforce. The last hometown team launched a vicious early blow against their South Korean opponents after winning a 23-minute game series opener. Blacklist then rode their momentum in the next two games to give themselves a commanding 3-0 advantage, with a 4-0 sweep and a spot in the grand finals well within reach.
However, Nongshim Redforce showed their resilience by weathering the early aggresion from the Filipino team before turning it around with a crucial teamfight to get themselves one game. The pattern was again repeated in the next two games, where Blacklist International got the early lead only for the tables to get turned by a crucial teamfight win by Nongshim Redforce.
The Ultimate Battle was held once again. This time, however, it featured more varied picks, with only Augran and Mai Shiranui being the same heroes from both sides. However, having survived the tournament's first UItimate Battle against Elevate, Nongshim Redforce showed a more refined tactic, securing an early Pentakill and setting the game's tone. Ultimately, they couldn't be stopped and the last Filipino team in the tournament was forced to bow out in front of a heartbroken home crowd.
The Ultimate Battle system has already proven to be a game changer in Honor of Kings esports, with three of the six Knockout Stage matches forced to seven games. Each battle featured a different tone and a much more chaotic fight worthy of its name. Nongshim Redforce is now the only team in the tournament to play in back-to-back Ultimate Battles and win them both. Will they have to play a third straight in the grand finals against Nova Esports?
The Honor of Kings Invitational will continue with the grand finals pitting Nova Esports against Nongshim Redforce in a David-versus-Goliath series on Saturday (1 March). The winner will be crowned the champion of the first half of the Honor of Kings season and receive the lion's share of US$100,000 out of the tournament's US$300,000 prize pool.
