Blizzcon 2009 Live Coverage Saturday: Zilea's Dreams Come True

Finals Begin At 1PM US Eastern Time:

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WoW Brackets: http://www.blizzard.com/blizzcon/tournaments/index.xml

After watching TSG beating Tugget/Brewkz's DK/warrior/paladin on live, the famous warrior/paladin duo that played these classes together for six seasons prior to their divorce (a lot of it has to do with their frustration against TSG), I was convinced no one will ever beat TSG in a mirror and they proved it against X6.  The TSG vs X6 mirror was probably the most enjoyable mirror I have ever watched in a tournament, and Zilea deserves an apology from his teammates, a drink at the bar from Veex the heart breaker, and a chance to play with them in 3.2 for his fake casts at under 500 health two games in a row to stay alive.

Prior to the tournament, Zilea predicted that X6/Shipit's DK/Hunter/Paladin will take out the great RMPs for TSG, hence giving them a clean path to the championship round and that is exactly what happened so far.  X6 defeated HON, the Korean RMP powerhouse.  While Shipit finally ended Realz and SK-US's 2009 winning streak in an epic 3-2 thriller.  Shipit had a very hard time against the crappy Taiwanese DK/warrior/paladin as DK/hunter/paladin, how will they be able to handle the real deal in TSG?  My money is definitely on TSG to advance to grand finals and they are the favorites to win it all with the way bracket is set now.  

Everyone was surprised when HON went destruction warlock/hunter/paladin against X6's PHD, and boy their alliance RMP looked awful against X6's warrior/lock/druid in the fifth and final round (Koreans still can't figure out this comp it seems, just like last year).  While they did beat DKP's DK/rogue/priest with ease, conventional wisdom says that a dual comp team without 100% confidence in RMP will not beat a pure RMP team who live and die by the sword.  However Enforce/Pookz have never experienced the loser bracket before, how will they react to it now their aura of invincibility faded with the loss against Shipit?  Not to mention the Koreans get way too much practice time with RMP mirrors, with an endless supply of elite RMPs.  My heart says SK-US, but if I am betting my own money, I am betting it on HON because I believe the loss against Shipit will create doubt in their heart, and SK-US's last series loss was against Complexity, a vastly inferior RMP to HON.

X6 should beat Inflame's warrior/lock/druid with their triple plate cleave as they did at European regionals.  And they should beat HON/Shipit as well before losing to TSG in the grand finals.  However, after watching how close SK-US got against Shipit, if SK-US beat HON somehow, I am not sure if a multi-comp PHD can do the same thing against them.  Shipit showed a lot of composure against SK-US's rushdown.  You can downplay SK-US's accomplishments any way you like, but for them to make a video about druid killing strategies AND repeat it in their opening round against Woah (Kae: It would never happen to me!), to take Shipit the ultimate RMP killer to the fifth and final game in a 2v2, it is something no other RMP can duplicate, not even HON.  Rushing down a druid of Kae's caliber looks easy (although he did make it easier with possibly too much time in caster form), but opening up all three players to burst away is the heart and soul of RMP, and extremely, extremely difficult at this level of competition.

Enjoy the games folks!  See you in a couple of hours!

SK-Gaming (3) vs Button Bashers (1)

• SK-Gaming (W) vs Button Bashers - Ring of Valor
• SK-Gaming vs Button Bashers (W) - Blade's Edge
• SK-Gaming (W) vs Button Bashers - Ruins of Lordaeron
• SK-Gaming (W) vs Button Bashers - Ruins of Lordaeron

Match Ten: x6tence (3) vs Woah (0)

• x6tence (W) vs Woah Bashers - Blade's Edge
• x6tence (W) vs Woah Bashers - Ruins of Lordaeron
• x6tence (W) vs Woah Bashers - Dalaran

Match Eleven: x6tence (3) vs SK-Gaming (1)

• x6tence (W) vs SK-Gaming - Blade's Edge
• x6tence (W) vs SK-Gaming - Blade's Edge
• x6tence vs SK-Gaming (W) - Dalaran
• x6tence (W) vs SK-Gaming - Ring of Valor

SK-US vs BB aka HON (Rogue/Mage/Priest vs Rogue/Mage/Priest): 3-1

Game 1 on Ring of Valor and Pookz/Orange did mage vs mage CCs on each other.  BB went for the riskier strategy of priest kill on SK while Realz and company went for rogue kill instead.  BB's burst attempts were stopped and their rogue dropped in a kidney shot.  SK leading 1-0.

Game 2 on Blade's Edge and Enforcer was suckered into chasing the BB rogue, who kited away and stayed alive for a very long time, got out of LOS safely.  BB clamped down on defense this game and eventually Enforcer ran out of CDs and got caught into a KS and killed.  Instead of playing offense vs offense, I like what BB is doing as Enforcer seems to run out of gas about 1 minute into the game.

Incredible pressure from SK in game 3 on Ruins.  Enforcer got the opener on BB rogue and pumped his damage into him from start to finish.  BB was behind on momentum and forced to play defensively the entire game.  The BB rogue stayed alive for as long as he could in center but BB priest was feared into improved CS and killed.

The passing of the torch!  BB chose to go on Realz this game who did an incredible job at staying alive when Enforcer was put into a CC chain.  Once Enforcer recovered he was able to slow down the BB rogue, and at that point he is just too behind on cooldowns to survive.  Orange/Numberone were able to force a cross kill on Realz to drag it into a 2v2, but it didn't matter as Orange was out of mana/CDs and killed by mage/rogue with his priest sheeped.

SK-US takes the torch from the Koreans as the American RMP is now the undisputed number one RMP in the world!  I have to say I was disappointed with HON's new rogue, who was caught by Enforcer most of the games and shut down from start to finish.  Their old rogue DKer would have been able to put up a better fight.  HON just doesn't have the same clean, crisp play they did before and I think practicing for their secondary anti-PHD comp really hurt their main team.

X6 vs Woah (Warrior/DK/Paladin vs Warrior/Lock/Druid): 3-0

Woah had a nightmare of a time against X6 at European regionals with druid kills, and looks like Kae is in for another tough ride.  First game on blade's edge, X6 played super aggressive, blade storm right off the bat and kept Woah on the defense the entire time.  Inflame the lock had to CC, Ocelote the warrior had to stay in defensive mode and X6 just went for a quick swap to score a kill on druid.  X6 up 1-0.

Game 2 on Ruins, Woah came out super aggressive and tried to force a kill on X6 warrior, but X6 warrior just went into shield + defensive stance after he got off the blade storm.  Inflame chose to stay in to force a kill, but he died before he could drop the X6 warrior who was picked back up by his paladin.  X6 up 2-0.

The final game took place on Dalaran and X6 went blade storm + full pressure on Inflame.  With freedom they had huge mobility edge, and a power swap on druid forced a kill around the boxes.  Momentum is so important and X6 moves on to take on SK-US.  Is their secondary PHD comp good enough to beat SK-US's rogue/mage/priest?  We will find out!

X6 vs SK-US (DK/Hunter/Paladin vs Rogue/Mage/Priest): 3-1

Opening round on Ruins and SK-US did the usual quick rush on paladin but could not force the bubble as X6 opened the fight with full DPS pressure on Pookz to force block.  Once the paladin healed back to full, X6 went back to priest and dropped Realz via BM.  Seems like going on Pookz at start briefly really takes away his game, SK is in trouble if this persists.  Apparently there was significant lag so they are taking a break to decide whether the score should be reset.

Looks like the score is reset but it doesn't matter.  X6 death gripped Pookz right in and focused on him right away, pumping out so much damage middle bridge of Blade's Edge before dropping him after ice block wore off.  Just so much damage and consistency from X6.  Too hard for Enforcer to get a clean opener on this map through flare/DK aoe in mid-bridge.

Again the game took place on Blade's Edge as Enforcer was hit out of stealth mid-bridge.  Big damage on him from start to finish, and he couldn't get to his target while stuck in frost trap.  A ghoul stun finished him off as his evasion was stopped and DK/hunter bust took him out from 8K to zero in a global.

Superb play from SK as Enforcer was finally able to force the bubble on X6 paladin off the bat.  However Pookz was taking damage the entire time and had to block at the same time.  He was under a world of pain once he came out of block, but managed to stay alive long enough to drop the X6 DK.  The game is a lot smoother for SK on Dalaran as Enforcer can actually get his opener on this map.

Wow, another technical difficulty and that last game was disqualified as well.  RMP is all about momentum and I really don't think they can come back from this.  4 games into it and SK is down 0-2, can they pull off a miracle?

Seems like every single paladin die at least once against SK without bubbling.  SK opened on DK at the start but did a sudden strong swap on paladin.  X6 paladin was caught in a global and died, but Realz's priest went down shortly after, not before buying his rogue/mage enough time to take hunter very low and winning the 2v1 against DK.  SK still down 1-2, it will be one of the greatest comebacks of all time if they pull this out.

There will be no miracle as the last map was on ring of valor.  SK couldn't force bubble and X6 took advantage of the (lack of) LOS issues and pumped massive damage into Pookz.  With no place to go after ice block, Pookz went down to BM and Realz suffers his first career tournament defeat without Serennia.

The road to a championship is clear for TSG and Zileas, as their triple plate cleave has the match-up advantage against both Shipit and X6.  Can they capitalize?  Can Zileas be the first paladin to ever win a REAL tournament (Sck and Pandemic won the WSVG China stop two years ago but it was not exactly against top competition)?

TSG vs Shipit (DK/Warrior/Paladin vs DK/Hunter/Paladin): 3-1

Great opening match on Blade's Edge as Shipit dumped damage into Zileas to force an earlier bubble than their own paladin and eventually dropped him first.  However their own paladin died right after and DK/hunter could not beat DK/warrior as Veex stayed with shield + one hand to stay long enough to finish off the hunter, and TSG won the 2v1 fight.  TSG up 1-0.

Game 2 was easier for TSG as Shipit went on Veex.  Blade Storm + DK disease took both hunter and paladin low.  Paladin had to bubble to heal, and came out of bubble at 50% health.  Quick swap by TSG and they took a 2-0 lead.  

Koreans pulled out destruction warlock/survival hunter/paladin, this must be the Korean special vs cleave teams.  TSG could not put much pressure into a teleporting warlock backed up by frost trap, and they could not dish out enough damage to get anyone into kill range.  Shipit warlock finally got open after a long fight and landed his bursts to score a kill on TSG DK.  Can TSG adapt?

The final game took place on Blade's Edge and this game TSG managed their target swapping quite a bit better.  If the warlock jumped off the bridge they went on the hunter or paladin briefly, and swapped back to him right after.  Shipit warlock never had a chance to get off his hard casts, and their paladin eventually ran out of mana.  At end of the game TSG had all three of the enemy players at 40%, and Veex's blade storm came back up as he took down the warlock and his team advances to the grand finals!  Shipit dished out zero pressure this game, maybe they should consider affliction vs X6?  We will see!

Shipit vs X6 (DK/Hunter/Paladin vs Warrior/Lock/Druid): 3-2

Will Shipit try something different?  X6 will probably start with DK/warrior/paladin and move to one of their many comps depend on what Shipit comes up with. 

To my surprise X6 went with warrior/lock/druid which is quite a bit riskier against DK / BM damage.  Shipit went with BM instead of survival and trained X6 druid down for an easy win on Ruins.  Shipit up 1-0.

Why is X6 taking a chance again in game 2?  They went with warrior/lock/druid again instead of triple plate, the comp that counters PHD.  Almost the exact same play of game 1 on Nagrand.  Korean hunter got his trap on the ground then hopped over the frost trap with BM up to pump his damage into X6 druid, who stayed alive a little longer this game around the pillars but still went down after he coughed up his NS.  What is up with the druids in this tournament?  They all love to travel form through frost trap / desecration . . . Shipit up 2-0. 

About time!  Why didn't X6 run this comp to start?  They went triple plate and was able to eventually catch Korean hunter in an intercept stun and kill him.  The Koreans put up a decent fight, forced bubble and got enemy DK low, but hunter is just so incredibly fragile against arms warrior's plethora of intercepts/charges.  Will the Koreans run their lock/hunter/paladin team?  Will X6 pick warrior/lock/druid in anticipation?  Shipit up 2-1 but the answer lies in the heart of battle (what is up with the Ryu line from announcers)!

Game 4 takes place on Blade's Edge and Shipit went with Korean destro lock/hunter/paladin.  On Blade's Edge it was a long game as the warlock as able to survive for a very long time with teleports and bridge jumps.  However Shipit had the exact same problem they experienced against TSG, as their destruction warlock could never get off any hard casts.  Immolation's are cleansed and if it wasn't, the lock usually had a cleave on him to stop his casts.  Why not trying out affliction?  The warlock is doing very poor damage compared to the X6 cleave, and the hunter can't possibly make it up.  Seems like Shipit is out of ideas against triple plate.

Shipit went back to their root of PHD for the fifth and final game and X6 stayed with triple plate as expected.  I thought X6 had it in the bag but Shipit went aggressively on X6's paladin, who chose to Zilea a flash of light against a Korean DK when he was at 4000 health, as opposed to bubbling right away.  Mind freeze and he was caught in an interrupt and killed for a second time this tournament before he could bubble (the other time against SK-US).  Souler cost his team the ticket to grand finals for sure on that play, but they really have no one to blame except themselves for NOT playing triple plate during the first two games. 

Not sure why so many people dogged on Payce of the American PHD who died against SK's rushdown before he could bubble, when every single paladin in this tournament experienced it at least once.  The divine shield is paladin's trump card and they hold it as tight as Zilea holds his cat.  Countless times a paladin would get away at  under 25% without bubbling, being able to save it for later and win the match, no one ever notice it.  Every now and then a single pre-bubble death, everyone dog them.  The life of a goal keeper I guess.

TSG vs Shipit (DK/warrior/paladin vs DK/hunter/paladin): 2-1

TSG is the heavy favorite here unless Shipit can find an answer for triple plate in short order. They trained X6 paladin and experienced some degree of success but I am not sure if that is reliable enough to win two series back-to-back against a full time paladin like Zileas.

First match in Dalaran and TSG charged right out of the gate, Veex got off a sensational blade storm right away and took the Shipit hunter to very low.  TSG rode the momentum and got all three targets low, once Shipit paladin got out of his bubble he went down for the count.  Zero pressure on TSG at all, total control start to finish.

Better game for Shipit on ROV as they dished out a ton of pressure on Zilea early but he did not go down without bubbling.  TSG again brought both hunter/paladin low to force bubble, and once both paladins are out of bubble, they both took big damage and went down at roughly same time.  Unfortunately for Shipit, hunter just can't get away from DK/warrior and they lost the 2v2 again and Zilea is one game away from his championship dreams!

Superb play by Shipit as they forced a paladin trade in game 3, except this time their DK had his hungering cold back up and was able to buy time for his hunter to get away and unload.  Shipit won the 2v2 and it is now 2-1.  So close, can TSG bring home the American pride for Stormstrike?

Go TSG!  Go TSG!  The world champions!  Final map on Dalaran and TSG played a much tighter game on Shipit hunter and made a much cleaner swap to him after bubble/hand of protection.  Just impossible for hunter to deal with warrior/DK cleave as he was pressured so much, unable to dish out real damage.  Veex/Valrath just so good together at dishing out maximum damage and when they brought down Shipit the crowd was on their feet! 

USA!  American Pride!  Not only TSG played the brute strength of cleave to perfection, SK also proved themselves as the best RMP in the world with wins over HON(BB).  The golden age of American WOW arena!  The fact that we do not have a singular dominant BG is exactly what gives us the versatility and a large array of comps to play with.  Humans, Gnomes, Taurens, Orcs, and Trolls all live happily in one land.  Strength in diversity!