ESL Global Finals Day 2: All Korean RMP Final, Orangemarmalade's 1v2 Kill Made HON The Team Of Destiny

For those of you who missed yesterday's games, many of them were uploaded:

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=IntelExtremeMasters&view=videos

Also don't miss the SK player interviews:

http://www.sk-gaming.com/content/22780 EM3_Video_Interviews_Realz_Sck_Paperkat_and_more


Wow I almost missed the global finals because today also happens to be the day when we turn the clock forward!  I am glad I woke up at 3AM instead of 4!  I had very little expectation for Complexity, knowing the whole team is damaged goods psychologically from past tournament failures (and they have never done anything internationally).  Rogue/mage/druid is just not a tournament quality comp and 0-5 was expected.  Minti-sama himself explained the huge gap between their team and HON's, who completely shut down their offense:

The games vs HON were like nothing we've ever played against. No PMR has played like that against us thus far so we were caught relatively unprepared. Multiple games we almost got kills but because we have no dispel they are able to almost indefinitely restealth and prevent gibs by sheep and slow spam. The last game I did not open on the rogue b/c I was attempting to sap him when he left combat to allow Venruki to come out of sheep and catch up. However it worked against my advantage when he decided to vanish and I got knocked out. They are on an entirely different level for RMP and while I contributed our losses to other teams due to Plague Strike removing hots and forcing us to not play druid, we lost simply b/c HON came out with something totally unexpected and controlled us the entire game which was unlike any RMP we've played before. I was very impressed. - Happyminti

I expected way more from Team EG and SK-US, as they are two of the three teams (X6 being the other) playing true WOTLK comps.  It was supposed to be like bringing a gun to a fist fight.  But unfortunately for them, American teams gave up on RMP too early and they never had a chance to practice against top RMP teams.  The RMP comp scales more than any other comp from player skills.  Just see the Youtube videos at top and watch SK-EU beating SK-US 3-1 as RMP, and Complexity losing as the exact same comp 1-3 and you will see a huge difference.  At least Serennia/Realz showed Complexity that they made the wrong choice!

Rogue/lock/shaman is not a true counter to RMP like the 2.4 rogue/lock/druid, yet Team EG still played well, taking SK-Korea (COM) to 5 games.  I still believe Azael should have played affliction, when Shinaniganz already demonstrated the power of that spec.  Destruction looked really weird.  The real surprise for me was SK-US's collapse after losing the opening series to SK-EU.  Historically Serennia-sama's teams are almost completely incapable of comebacks.  It is the one team that MUST starts off a tournament strong before they implode internally.  Let's look at SCK/Serennia-sama's comments on losing to X6/HON:

We just lost to X6 0-3. Here is the recap of Realz's performance:

Game 1: No deterrence, no stone form, ranged SCK's heal when we were ahead in the game and their hunter was about to die and Realz dies

Game 2: no deterrence, no stone form, runs out in the open of Nagrand arena when the DK is fully peeled and gets solo'd by the hunter because he chose to run right in the fing middle instead of around a pillar in the back. Their hunter was about to die after i locked the paladins heal but no MS was on hunter even before he died.

Game 3: Realz deterrence at 90% hp with sac on, doesn't stone form diseases, and gets solo'd by the DK who was hitting him for 1.4k because he ranges SCK's heals on bottom of Blades Edge yep, Dave and i are pretty annoyed at him. - Serennia 

I have to say out of all the American players at the tournament, Serennia looked better on his DK than anyone else.  Realz will admit he is not on the level of Hamchook/Cherez when it comes to playing hunters, but we have to consider the lack of TNT stuns and 9% explosive shot critical chance that would have certainly made a difference in some of the matches.  The team showed lack of experience when they lost a 2v2 as hunter/paladin to mage/priest in the opening round.  And I am sure it was painful for Serennia-sama to lose 0-3 to a PHD he called "amateur" a few days ago.

Hon is ridiculous, I have never been as impressed with another team as i was with them. my ******* hurts. - SCK

Honestly they just need to play hundreds more games together, including 2v2s as DK/Paladin and Hunter/Paladin to build chemistry and refine micros.  Realz reminded me of Michael Jordan who got his ball stolen by Nick Anderson from behind in the final minute of a play-off game, the year he came back to the NBA.  He knew he cost his team this tournament and a golden opportunity, and I expect him to practice a lot.  His team needs to qualify on TR to receive continued support from SK after such a disappointing start, and he knows it.

For Americans To Succeed, We have To Do It The American Way

In Blizzcon, American teams did extremely well and that is because we played American basketball warrior(rogue)/lock/druid.  I was shaking my head when I saw Minti-sama playing shadow dance instead of mutilate (and his team playing RMP instead of RMD in many series), when he was clearly not comfortable with the spec.  Stick to your guns! 

I also expect RMP to make a real comeback in America, not to the level of European/Korean teams, but with 3.1 PHD nerfs across the board, the comp should be much more competitive and we should at least give other American teams enough practice against the comp. Right now I see that comp once in ten games on live servers, and usually played by tier 2 players.

I also believe it is pre-mature to write off American players, when we had two of the top three teams at Blizzcon 2008, the biggest international tournament to date.  I expect American teams that are actually capable of surviving the grueling tournament realm to do much better.  We just have to find our comp and style for 2009.

RMPs Not As Hot As This Tournament Indicated, But Will It Matter When 3.1 Comes Around?

Everyone who actually competes on live servers (especially the tournament realm) know RMP is not as strong a comp as suggested by this tournament (four RMPs in the final four).  Most of the teams you see in this tournament are based on 2008 sponsorships, or brand new line-ups that never played offline together before (SK-US).  I doubt you will see even half of these teams qualifying for TR, and many will lose their sponsorships. 

2009 Blizzcon will almost certainly see brand new faces/rosters.  Players like Shinaniganz need to get sponsored and carry the American pride, and I expect Nick hammer and Hamchook to do much better.  Sponsors, wait until TR is over and reload your rosters!  If your team can't compete online, they won't perform offline and it is just that simple.  

Of course, the tournament did prove the comp is not as weak as public perception especially here in America (in Cyclone a RMP already tops the chart with a 80% win rate so I would say Europeans are once again ahead of us).  Priests are getting amazing buffs in 3.1 and mutilate is getting better as well (and I still expect a shadow dance buff before PTR is over).  With PHD nerfs across the board, RMPs will definitely be top tier in future tournaments.  This was the one tournament I thought scrub express classes like PHD could have won, but I am glad rogue heroes stepped up to the plate to reject it!

Power Of Friendship - Will The Power Of Naruto Carry AAA To The Finishing Line?

Analit (aAa) - "Friendship is the most important thing to being a successful eSports team."

Maybe Serennia-sama can learn from this quote?  Dominant teams that consistently finish high in tournaments, are almost always teams that have played thousands of games together.  I still believe he has the right players around him, this tournament just came too soon.

No one expected AAA to go this far, but they got wins over both Korean teams yesterday.  You can bet the Koreans talked intensively overnight and expect them to do much better.

Winner Bracket Finals: SK-KR vs AAA Nowak: 3-0

AAA did defeat the Koreans in group stage, but RMP is such a streaky comp and it will come down to the team with hotter hand.  In game 1 both teams went on priest while CCing the DPS's, SK-KR got a head start as their rogue opened first and they dropped AAA priest first.  While AAA did manage to eventually kill the SK-KR priest it was too late as their rogue was already at low health and couldn't survive the 2v2.  SK-KR takes opening round.

Game 2 saw Jaywalker of SK-KR getting the opening sap on opposing rogue.  He was nova-ed out but he popped shadow dance right away to get opening cheap shot, and with arcane mage assist they dropped AAA priest in opening seconds to go up 2:0.

Game 3 saw Jaywalker popping AAA rogue out of stealth.  A lot of damage was dumped on him to force pain suppression and SK-KR swapped to AAA priest for a kill.  Shadow dance + arcane is just too much burst and when you manage it as clutch as the Koreans, it is just so hard to stop as mutilate/frost which relies on dragging the game into late game.

I noticed Korean rogues are EXTREMELY good at getting openers.  So patient, knows exactly where to look for the other rogue, and seems to always win the opening advantage which is critical to RMP mirrors.  They will almost certainly create a lot of shadow dance players in US/EU. 

ZOM also said HON is the most impressive RMP (and their rogue the most impressive rogue) he ever encountered.  The HON rogue would open on a target to dump his energy, vanish immediately to regain energy (and get 1-2 combo points from honor among thieves), then he ambush + 5 point KS on a target and shadow dance cheap shot the other to give his mage two stunned targets to choose from.  It is incredibly potent on target swappings.  Koreans also seem to protect their priests better than European RMPs.

The Korean 16/0/54 (and its variations) will see a ton of play come 3.1, especially with the new tricks of the trade glyph giving 25% damage bonus (potentially every 20 seconds) to a teammate. 

Loser Bracket Finals: HON vs AAA 3-1

HON is easily the most impressive team at the tournament, and many people called them pure art when it comes to RMP.  Their mage Orangemarmalade re-specs/re-glyphs between every match to keep mixing things up, it is just amazing to watch him play every variation of frost and arcane.  His favorite seems to be arcane with icy vine and haste gear, which allows him to hard cast arcane blasts for much more damage than shatter comboes.  Coupled with shadow dance / arcane power, it is absolutely lethal.   

Despite AAA getting the opener on HON rogue, HON rogue DK recovered nicely with shadow dance to score the rogue mirror kill.  It seems like shadow dance has a tremendous advantage over mutilate in mirrors as he simply pops dance to stop the opposing rogue's evasion and two ambushes and an eviscerate is huge damage.  HON did a great job controlling AAA's mage/priest and got the 1-0 lead.

Wow, HON demonstrated the power of RMP to perfection in the second game.  Despite of their mage sitting in a sap for the first 10 seconds, HON rogue + priest assist almost took AAA rogue down.  AAA rogue was at low health and ran away in desperation with fan of knives spam, thinking the vanished HON rogue will re-open on him.  Until he realized HON already made a swap to his priest, shadow dance goes off and the priest is down as the HON took 2-0 advantage.

Double sap saw both rogues sapped in the center to start off game 3, AAA chose to train HON mage and played the game to their tempo.  Going on the mage in WOTLK RMP mirror is very risky but if you maintain the pressure you take away the other team's heart of offense/defense.  Full pressure on HON mage allowed AAA mage to go off and took him down eventually.

The final game saw HON protecting their mage much better but AAA did manage to drag it into late game.  AAA Mutilate vs HON shadow dance when both rogues are out of cooldowns, is a big advantage for AAA and they eventually scored the kill on HON rogue.  But HON managed to score the cross-kill 2 globals later and it was mage/priest vs mage/priest.  AAA mage was out of mana and I was surprised to see HON allowing him to evocate back to full mana, until HON unloaded all of their cooldowns on AAA priest when he was caught into two mana burns and a big round of bursts!  He was at low health and completely out of mana, and AAA mage couldn't help him to reset as HON scored the kill and the series.

Winner Bracket Finals: HON vs SK-KR (COM) 3-2, 3-2

I think everyone want HON to win their first ever international tournament, as they are by far the best RMP to watch.  Historically they had edge over COM, but will they be able to win two series back-to-back?

I actually enjoyed the commentaries a lot.  You need shout casters who can pump energy and emotion into the audience and for the most part, the guys on stage did their job.  The viewing angle is fine as long as they keep it consistent.  I would prefer them to keep it on the mages (who doesn't want to see Orangemamalade's view through out the entire match?) as they control both offense and defense.  When you keep it on the rogues you are missing a lot of the action although you do get a more cinematic up-close feel.

It is too bad Kill EA stayed out of the tournament giving SK-KR (COM) the chance.  In hind sight it wasn't a bad idea, as Kill EA was unsponsored and had to pay for their own hotel/flight to Germany, basically forcing them to score a top 3 just to break even!  Let's get to the games!

Set 1:

Game 1 saw SK going on HON priest initially, but HON pressured SK mage and sheeped SK rogue for perfect peels.  HON priest was at 20% health but did not have to blow pain suppression.  That is what you call total confidence in your teammates.  They slowed down SK rogue damage pressure before a gorgeous swap on the SK priest for a kill.  Shadow dance and arcane power on same target in 2 globals is just so pretty if you can coordinate it flawlessly.  But it is HON's ability to play defense despite having a fragile comp, until the opportunity arises that separates them the pack. 

Game 2 was a very ugly start for HON, rogue got sapped for a full 10 seconds and their priest opened on.  Somehow they once again kept their priest safe (something American RMP teams can never do) despite 2v3 for the opening moment.  Cross kill on the rogues and it was mage/priest mirror.  HON had a low mana priest and high mana mage, SK had low mana mage and high mana priest and priest turned out to be the more important of the two here as SK survived mage burst and eventually killed HON priest after he was OOM.

Game 3 and 4 saw HON going on SK rogue, and SK going on HON priest and it went 1-1.  When I played RMP mirrors myself I loved going on other team's priest as opposed to rogue vs rogue mirrors, as it is simply the path with lesser resistance.  To be fair against non-dwarf priests it is probably the best option.  3.1 will almost certainly change this strategy but it was amazing to see HON keeping their priest up for so long against shadow dance + arcane power.

Game 5 was a nail biter for me.  HON rogue was popped out of stealth and CCed and SK trained HON priest as they always did.  A stone form into a 10K+ heal was so incredibly clutch, yet the HON priest was still brought below 5% health and sat there for almost 10+ seconds with the SK mage on his tail.  I was cheering for HON so I really wanted him to live and he did!  SK rogue eventually ran out of CDs and HON scores the kill on him to win the first set.

Set 2:

Once again you have to give a ton of credit to HON's defense, as SK had a great start, bringing the HON rogue to 5%, before swapping to their priest and dropped him below 2%!  I thought HON priest would have went down for sure but stone form -> heal saved him again.  Against lesser teams SK would have won for sure, but HON managed to outlast their cooldowns before scoring a kill on SK rogue.  Hon in the lead 1-0!

Double sap to start the match again and HON caught SK rogue in a great spot, but Kwana managed to CC HON rogue out of his dance attempt before reversing the arcane power / shadow dance on him for a kill.  The Koreans play at such a fast pace, I think American rogues including myself all have a lot of work to do.  I played shadow dance on PTR duels and got owned, I have to practice a lot more.  SK ties it 1-1

Amazing control by SK in game 3.  In such a fast paced match-up, winning and losing almost always comes down to whether you can control the opposing DPS's big cooldowns.  SK rogue had to blow trinket early and was caught in a full kidney shot by HON rogue at 50%, shadow dance went off but HON rogue was once again CCed out of it.  And he was swapped onto for a kill.  SK is using shadow dance and trinket much earlier to get the initial pressure, and it gave them the tempo advantage.  SK 2 - HON 1

Can Council of Mages win their first title since WWI Paris?  Yes they can!  Once again good control on HON rogue to slow his DPS before they scored a kill on him but HON forced a a cross kill to make it 2v2.  Once again HON's priest had lower mana and SK caught him with mana burns before killing him.  1v2, Orangemarmalade somehow DID NOT GIVE UP.  SK priest was insulting him with wands.  SK mage thought they had it in the bag, chased him into starting room and got separated from his priest.  A poor blink actually got him out of LOS of his priest and Orangemarmalade landed a critical kill on him thanks to arcane chain crits!  Orange was still at low hp/mana but against a discipline priest he managed to reset and drag it into a 20 minute+ draw. 

I don't agree with the admins that draw games should be decided on damage, I think it a rematch would have been more fair.  Either way Orange saved his team from elimination and managed to tie it up 2-2.  One game for all the marbles!  This was the single most impressive individual performance I have ever seen!  Consider the circumstances, Orangemarmalade carried his team with the ultimate individual triumph!

Final game, SK was clearly devastated from the previous round.  They were pressured from the get go and their rogue went down in seconds.  Honestly even if the previous match was called as a tie giving them the 2-1 lead, they would have still lost because of the shock effect.  HON became the team of destiny and finally wins an international tournament.  Just an amazing finish by an amazing team led by an even more amazing player!

You are so good that I don't want to play my mage because it is a disgrace. - Radikal     

I don't know if SK can recover from this for a long time.  I was changing my blog's header when tehe SK priest was wanding OM-sama.  This is the price to pay when you underestimate the jutsu of the best mage to ever play the game!  I believe the admin rule was biased against healing classes, but they had no one to blame except themselves, allowing such a comeback in such a high stake game.  This was worse than Ohnoes falling off the bridge, I really don't know if any team can recover from this.  We will see how they perform going forward!

Never, ever give up, believe it!

For some reason the ending to ESL global finals reminded me so much of Daigo vs Justin in SF3 back in EVO.  It is not quite as technical, but will certainly go down as the moment that defines WOW as a tournament game.