Month: April 2018

CS:Go: Astralis beat Na’Vi to win DreamHack Masters Marseille

Danish CS:GO Team Astralis have won the DreamHack Masters Marseilles, beating Natus Vincere 2-0 in the final on Sunday 22nd April 2018. This tournament marking Astralis’ first title since IEM Katowice in February 2017.

The pick and ban phase suggested we, as fans, were on for a 3-map thriller. Astralis and Na’Vi had picked Nuke and Inferno, respectively, almost guaranteeing themselves victory on their own pick. The decider being on Train. 

Astralis were expected to win Nuke. Few teams really put time into it and Astralis are probably the best in the world on the unpopular map. What pundits and experts may not have expected was the brutal 16-4 domination. Na’Vi wanted to make the game messy for Astralis and stop them building an economy, unfortunately for them they were unable to do so and were blown off the map. 

Before map 2, talk was about Na’Vi resetting and winning their comfort pick; Inferno. It started out well enough with them taking a lead. Astralis however, we able to win some key rounds to get themselves in the game. Once they built up an economy, giving themselves multiple rebuys and starving Na’Vi of funds, they strangled the Ukrainian team out of the map and out of the tournament. 

A special mention must go out to my tournament MVP Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev in this match. I can’t imagine someone putting up higher stats and still losing. He was top-fragger in both maps (22, 41) and close to 93 ADR on Inferno. He had some fantastic, shots such as out sniping Device’s AWP with a Deagle, and was trying to carry the rest of his team to victory.

Astralis were able to enforce their will on the game, keeping it a tactical affair and not getting drawn into 1v1 duels. Whenever Simple was beginning to unleash he was cut down and stopped from racking up multiple kills. Na’Vi showed flashes of their fierce firepower but Astralis did well in keeping those rounds to a disconnected minimum to prevent any build-up of momentum. 

It’s exciting to see this style of play achieve results. If even Na’Vi cannot find a way to fight through that, could we be on the cusp of the Era of Astralis? 

LoL: DoubleLift: A true Pro

With the Spring split of the 2018 League of Legends season now behind us, I just wanted to take a moment to single out one player DoubleLift. Not only is he one of the most experienced players in the League but recent events have shown him to be by far one of the most professional.

It will be news to few who follow the scene, that the weekend before the NA LCS Finals, Yihong Peng, his brother, murdered his mother and hospitalised his father. In the face of internet rumours DoubleLift announced the news via Twitlonger to say that he would be away from social media and with his family.  A swift and professional response. A mere two days later Team Liquid owner Steve Arhancet unveiled the news that DoubleLift will compete in the finals.

It’s pure speculation, but I would guess it was DoubleLift making the contact and confirming his intention to play. DoubleLift said in the wake of victory, that he derives more pleasure helping his team mates achieve titles than from winning them himself. It must have been this drive that made DoubleLift get on that flight and put his undoubtedly immense emotional turmoil to one side and compete, and not only that, dominate.

The roars of the crowd in support of DoubleLift when his name was announced on stage were heartwarming. As a player he has cemented his place in League history by winning the NA LCS with three separate teams. An achievement no one else has and possibly no one else may attain.

When I initially started watching LoL I followed teams, then I got to know personalities and now I’m far more interested in the players. It will be great to see DoubleLift at MSI against the best of international League and from there hopefully secure a spot at Worlds. If DoubleLift can perform on the highest stage, the one thing that has so far alluded him, it really would be great to watch.