FnaticMSI to Grand Finals

The much anticipated match-up between the world's top 2 HoN teams this weekend unfortunately ended in a very anti-climatic fashion as FnaticMSI eased to a 2-0 victory over bitter rivals Evil Geniuses. Looks like their consistent practice has finally paid off as they looked the more coordinated side as well as their usual strategic drafting.

Game 1 [22979568]
Evil Geniuses		FnaticMSI
Bans (Legion First)
Picks
/ /		/ /
Lanes
[EG] se`busca (Top) [EG] FujiApples (Top) [EG] Dodo (Top) [EG] chu (Mid) [EG] bkid (Bot)		[MSI] Trixi (Top) [MSI] N0tail (Mid) [MSI] Freshpro (Bot) [MSI] Fly (Bot) [MSI] NoVa_ (Bot)

If you can't beat em, join em

Evil Geniuses made an interesting choice at the drafting phase, opting to ban 3 heroes who weren't exactly MSI-exclusive and proceeding to use their 1st 3 hero picks on heroes which have proven to be popular with Fnatic's lineup. However, with their eagerness to deny Trixi the chance to play his trademark Slither and Gladiator, left the door open for MSI to put him on Repulsor. MSI also appeared to have taken a leaf out of DTS's (European DotA team) book as they assigned solo mid player N0tail with the Demented Shaman against chu's Defiler.

Being the team which effectively established the trilane regime in HoN, MSI certainly knew what they were doing, with Trixi's Doctor doing quite a lot better than bkid's Slither in a 1v3 situation. N0tail's interesting build on Shaman, getting an early level in Arcane Hide, proved vital as he saved teammates and himself on countless occassions. After assuring dominance for Fresh's Madman against bkid's Slither, Fly and NoVa_ proceeded to go mid to put pressure on chu. This caused him to play extremely passive and miss a couple of creep waves. By 17 minutes, MSI had a fairly dominating overall lead of 8k.

Good coordination and baiting won MSI a genocide in the 24th minute along with Kongor. Their XP and gold lead by then had snowballed up to 20k. The game looked lost for EG as the inevitable loss was coming regardless. GGs were called at the half hour mark and the game was over, 28-6 in favour of MSI.

---End Game 1---

Game 2 [22985828]
FnaticMSI		Evil Geniuses
Bans (Legion First)
Picks
/ /		/ /
Lanes
[MSI] Freshpro (Top) [MSI] NoVa_ (Top) [MSI] N0tail (Mid) [MSI] Trixi (Bot) [MSI] Fly (Jungle)		[EG] FujiApples (Top) [EG] Dodo (Top) [EG] chu (Mid) [EG] bkid (Bot) [EG] se`busca (Jungle)

Outpicked

It was fairly obvious that Evil Geniuses got outpicked by the end of game 2's draft. MSI did a fantastic job of not revealing their full hand until the very last picks. Having banned Behemoth and Pebbles in game 1 as well, it did not raise much thoughts about the strategy they were planning to run. The odd ban on Moraxus, a hero which only they have used in any high tier clash was explained as their lineup was completed. With the arguably the best initiation in the game along with 3 heavy AOE damage ultimates coupled with the push potential to force teamfights, victory did not look too far out of MSI's reach.

The game started off rather differently as EG's pseudo-trilane involving a jungling Wildsoul yielded tremendous results, with se`busca racing off to a 5-0 start. However, EG's strategy forced them to concede freefarm and roaming to Fly's Tempest, who had a very early portal key and unstoppable farm. Despite being 4-10 down at one point, MSI pulled themselves back into the game very quickly by forcing teamfights.


MSI breaking through EG's base
A massive turnaround was completed by the 15 minute mark, with MSI leading by 14k gold 4 minutes later. Their performance was near flawless when it came to applying pressure on EG's towers. By the half hour mark, the entire EG team was left cooped up in their base trying to defend for dear life. Fnatic eventually pushed in after a minute of pressure at EG's base entrance, demolishing both bottom and mid lanes. Seeing how pretty much any effort to turn the game around was futile by that point, chu called GGWP at 33 minutes.

---End Game 2---
With Evil Geniuses sent down to the Loser's Bracket, it is now guaranteed that MSI will be awaiting an American opponent in the Grand Final. With the way Evil Geniuses got easily swept aside in this series along with their match against MSI at the GameReplays Season 3 opener last week, it seems like EG members are going through some sort of a slump, will they become mortal to the likes of SK Gaming and Deal With it? Or will they emerge back to the Grand Finals with something to show MSI?