Grand Finals
GAME 1
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Phase,HHV,TSM
Ban,Skye,Adagio
1,Vox,
2,,Ringo
3,,Ardan
4,Fortress,
5,Glaive,
6,,Reim
[/easytable]
The grand finals series kicked off with a nailbitingly close game. TSM committed to taking turrets in the early- and mid-game, taking a turret but getting aced twice. At 15:00, there was only a 2k gold differential in favor of TSM. At 15:30, both teams were posturing around the Kraken pit, but MICSHE’s positioning was off, taking massive free damage and dying before the fight even started. HHV easily took an ace and secured two turrets, but teleported home instead of going for the Kraken. This turned out to be a huge mistake; as soon as TSM spawned, they rushed for Kraken, capturing it at 16:30. At 17:00, they traded CullTheMeek for an ace, pushed over HHV’s remaining three turrets, and closed out the game in a massive push.
Result: TSM: 1 HHV: 0
GAME 2
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Phase,TSM,HHV
Ban,Vox,Ringo
1,Adagio,
2,,Catherine
3,,Krul
4,Ardan,
5,Blackfeather,
6,,Skaarf
[/easytable]
TSM picked up a very comfortable buff composition, and HHV tried to counter this by drafting a late-game composition with DNZio on Krul to reduce CullTheMeek’s damage as Blackfeather. Unfortunately, TSM exploited HHV’s early-game mediocrity to completely snowball the game. TSM practically lived in HHV’s jungle for the entire game, grabbing a 10k gold lead by the 15 minute mark. As soon as the Kraken spawned, TSM double infused, captured Kraken, and mowed through HHV’s defenses to win the game.
Result: TSM: 2 HHV: 0
GAME 3
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Phase,HHV,TSM
Ban,Vox,Adagio
1,Skye,
2,,Ardan
3,,Ringo
4,Blackfeather,
5,Catherine,
6,,Skaarf
[/easytable]
TSM came out the gates swinging, determined to establish dominance for the match point. CullTheMeek had clutch early rotations, but fell behind slightly in CS, giving HHV the slightest gold advantage in the early-game. However, TSM hit their stride at 7:50, where DNZio’s Skye took massive free damage after an aggressive Suri Strike. TSM followed it up by getting an ace under turret, destroying the turret and grabbing the Gold Mine in a huge momentum swing. With the championship title in sight, TSM didn’t let up, taking down turret after turret before double infusing at 15:00 and pushing to the win.
Result: TSM: 3 HHV: 0
After being defeated on Elimination Day by HHV, TSM was absolutely determined to defeat their rivals in the grand finals. Now with extra footage available for analysis, TSM came into the grand finals extremely well prepared for the matchup, and it showed. The first game was close, but TSM absolutely dominated the second and third games. Incredible play from every member of TSM cinched a clean 3-0 sweep to conclude the Winter 2016 NA Championship.
Team SoloMid, Winter 2016 champions of North America!