OGN Global hosted the second set of matches of the Round Robin stage today live on Twitch.tv. Six of the top teams did battle on the Fold, with more matches to follow in the coming weeks.
With the VIPL including some lesser-known teams, I was expecting some of the games to not live up to the standard set by the best teams from the World Invitational. However, I was pleasantly surprised with the competitive nature displayed in each match.
The Vainglory International Premier League threw a curveball this morning when they announced that some teams had experienced roster changes and other teams were running the same original lineup from before, but with a few name changes. We have all the updates and match reviews for you below.
roam sub causes near shutout
pqq vs victorious
Team pQq swapped out their roam player for Mauloa, a male model from Korea. Initially, I questioned this move, as Goodbye, the original roam for pQq, was phenomenal. However, after Mauloa earned MVP for his Adagio play I was convinced. With a stat line of 1-0-11, Mauloa was omnipresent on the Fold, helping his team have nearly a flawless victory over Victorious.
Behind a six minute Shiversteel on the jungle Krul, pQq played a nearly perfect game, ousting Victorious in a final score of 15-1. Throughout the match, pQq maintained a gold advantage and knew the limits of their heroes and their enemies.
Moving forward, I wonder how pQq will decide which roam will play, as they have already showcased the talents of two amazingly skilled roam players. With some of the best players I’ve seen warming the bench — and still winning in a decisive 15-1 fashion — I expect great things from pQq from the rest of this tournament.
bans couldn’t hold beyond back
VAP vs Beyond
The famed double-crystal comp was in full effect in the second match of today’s games at the Yongsan e-Sports Stadium. Beyond had a slow start. Despite scoring first blood, they were still falling behind in team gold. When VAP rushed the Gold Mine just six minutes in, VAP quickly circled up into lane, catching Beyond and scoring two unanswered kills.
Beyond rallied behind the immense poking potential of ForgottenWar playing Skaarf. Just seconds before the Gold Miner would pay out, VAP lost a team fight, quickly losing lily9999iu, their roam. Beyond wasted no time, dropping down to the miner and securing an immense gold payout, which pushed them into a gold lead that they wouldn’t lose.
Despite a Celeste ban targeting ForgottenWar, his Skaarf still earned MVP of the match with a score of 2-1-8, with 166 CS in 18 minutes. In a low-scoring match, the final score was 2-10, meaning ForgottenWar had 100% kill participation in this dominant performance.
Worlds experience pays big in wild debut
Hunters vs Wild
Wild had a roster swap that brought former Warcraft III player, Senti, to the starting line-up to play the lane position. This was a risky move, but based on the lack of synergy between the roam player from the qualifier tournament and West, I felt like this was a necessary change.
Senti had a fine game, doing his best to suppress the growth of Godfather on SAW in lane. Godfather posted an impressive final score of 4-2-5 with 150 creep score as SAW, besting Senti by 25 creeps at the end of the game.
Wands, Hunter’s jungle carry, had a massive game. His stat line was an impressive 6-3-5, but his real impact could only be captured on the live stream. His ability to harmonize with Ardan to deny his opponents’ retreat or disable two or three enemies in a single Core Collapse was astounding. When the Celeste ultimate came over the base wall for the final team fight, it blind-sided Wild, and two members were deleted instantly.
Hunters had an impressive 50% gold lead at the end of the game, despite the controversial SAW pick. Was SAW made viable with the inclusion of Ardan as a support? Will SAW winning on the highest level lead to us seeing more SAW in solo queue? Will we see more SAW in the rest of the matches? Time will tell!
If you missed the live stream matches here’s a link! These were some fantastic games with the best talent in Vainglory.
Don’t forget to tune into the next set of games on Thursday, August 27th at 5 AM PDT/2 PM CEST. To see the full schedule click here.
*Photos courtesy of OGN.