GameReplays Season 3 Invitational through Semis, xFin vs. Infs in Finals

After a thrilling round of Quarterfinals matches in the GameReplays Tournament Season 3 that saw the defeat of World Cup Finalists FnaticMSI and SK Gaming, the semi-finals were characterized by a dominating performance in the Evil Geniuses vs. Infused Tt eSPORTS series, and drama and controversy in the Finale vs. Inner Circle Elite series. In the end, the higher-seeded teams both won, setting up this weekend's finals to be between Infused Tt eSPORTS and Finale.

There weren't any real stand-out picks in Game 1, as EG drafted a stun-heavy lineup, in comparison to Infs' arsenal of powerful AoE ultimates. Madman's farm at the top lane was shutdown by Infs' Swiftblade tri-lane, while Witch Slayer was given the creep kills in the bottom lane and Valkyrie and Hammerstorm kept up constant roaming.

EG put the pressure on early by aggressively ganking and controlling the runes. Their aggression paid off, thanks in part to chu's great Bombardier play, and Witch Slayer had an early Ghost Marchers followed by Portal Key. However, Infs had the better teamfight lineup and came out ahead in several skirmishes (even with AstonL missing most of his ults on Hag), using Malphas to push towers afterward. They took down the final first tower in dominating fashion, genocided EG, and Swiftblade came out of it way ahead of anyone else in the game. All the while, Infs kept a joke-filled and light-hearted mood in Ventrilo. EG put up a good fight until the end, but Infs made few mistakes and Amingo (playing Swiftblade) ended the game on an Immortal streak.

---End Game 1---
Game 2 had Infs picking the late-game-centered Sand Wraith, backed by some strong support heroes. EG clearly had to use their early-game advantage to end the game quickly, and their lanes matched up well with Infs'. Tundra bested Wretched Hag in the top lane, and chu's Bubbles defeated Bombardier at mid, again securing control of the runes.

EG then made an interesting choice to almost completely abandon the other lanes and stay at bottom, justified in their effort to shut down Sand Wraith's farm. They kept diving past the bottom tower, but little by little, Infs became better at repelling the ganks. Sand Wraith managed to avoid dying too many times, while racking up the assists. Eventually, EG realized that their strategy wasn't working. They try for Kongor to incite a teamfight, but hit a terrible timing window; Sand Wraith's Mock of Brilliance had just been completed and Infs rolled over them. The trades continued to go in Infs favor - several fights in a row ended in 3-for-0's or 4-for-0's. The game was a foregone conclusion at this point. Once again, Amingo played an excellent carry, ending the game with a score of 17/3/35.

---End Game 2---
ICE played this series with some ringers on their side, but xFin still denied them the Nymphora pick every game. Finale had a ringer of their own for Game 1: JoshP, who had just recently left ICE. Did this give them a strategic edge? Either way, there was definitely some bad blood between these two teams before the match even started.

Both teams tri-laned their short lanes, and things were pretty even until an early 4-for-1 exchange in ICE's favor. ICE capitalized on Vindicator's early Sheepstick and Madman's 500+ gold-per-minute farm, and the game was over at the 36-minute mark.

---End Game 1---
In Game 2, ICE drafted an odd team with Vindicator again, but as their sole carry. Finale ran 2-2-1 lanes; they seemed to have the stronger hero lineup overall. But ICE took advantage of the strong push in their Moraxus + double healer tri-lane, and the first tower fell at 2:40. They looked primed to take a quick second, but xFin managed to delay their push.

Using excellent Kongor baiting, xFin forced a teamfight and came out with a 4-for-0. They made a push of their own, and GG is called at 30 minutes. After he was swapped in for JoshP after Game 1, [ze] Kebap's strat-calling proved to be valuable, both in-game and at the Pre-match Screen, helping xFin out-pick ICE.

---End Game 2---
Both teams got serious and cut the smack-talk for the deciding Game 3. Finale had to make another roster change, subbing in [ze] twiSta for [xFin] waytosexy. ICE ran a Kraken tri-lane, while once again, xFin ran a 2-2-1, with a TDL carry to counter Doctor Repulsor. (I just want to note that ICE had all three sea creature heroes on their team.)

ICE responded by switching up their lanes, matching the 2-2-1 setup themselves. The game was back-and-forth for a while, until the crucial point when ICE attempted a Kongor kill. Kraken got stunned while tanking Kongor and couldn't avoid a 5-second arrow. He bought back immediately after dying, but a lot of ICE players were already missing health; two went back into Kongor after the first engagement, and they got destroyed in a 6-for-1 trade, giving TDL an annihilation.

Finale pretty much sealed the game with a massive push top, getting the rax and putting themselves way ahead. TDL was on an Immortal streak and they took Kongor again; several teamfights and a "GG"-spam-filled pause later, they had won the game.

---End Game 3---
Drama among ICE ensued after the series, and swindlemelonzz was removed from the team. He was heavily blamed in Ventrilo for the losses during Games 2 and 3, and afterward on the HoN forums. Inner Circle Elite will be disbanding after the 3rd Place match on Saturday, February 5th at 20:00 CET between ICE and EG.


The winners of the semi-finals, Infused Tt eSPORTS and Finale, will play a best-of-five series in the finals on Sunday, February 6th at 20:00 CET. GameReplays.org will have livestreaming again, so don't miss what should be an epic showdown between Infs and xFin!



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