Slam Jam City vs. Cognitive Gaming



Bans: Athena, Mercury, Chang'e, Zeus



Slam Jam City: Weak3n (Fenrir), PeccYz (Bastet), Tocketty (He Bo), Funball (Chronos), Snoopy (Sun Wukong)



COG Gaming: Shing (Thor), Hero (Neith), Nick (Agni), Wolfy (Tyr), Eonic da Truth(Guan Yu)

Denial eSports vs. Exertus eSports



Bans: Chang'e, Zeus, He Bo, Mercury



Denial eSports: PonPonULaLa (Athena), PainDeViande (Neith), MacetodaFace (Zhong Kui), Rushed (Guan Yu), JeffHindla (Bacchus)



Exertus eSports: Andinster (Hun Batz), BaRRaCCuDDa (Apollo), MLCSt3alth (Agni), Omega (Guan Yu), DareToCare (Sobek)

Team Dignitas vs. Cognitive Gaming



Bans: Tyr, Sun Wukong, He Bo, Athena



Team Dignitas: Zapman (Neith), Lassiz (Freya), TheBest (Ao Kuang), ShadowQ (Sobek), AnatoLiy (Guan Yu)



Cognitive Gaming: Hero (Apollo), Shing (Mercury), Nick (Agni), Eonic (Bacchus), Wolfy (Hercules)



Finals GM 1

Team Dignitas vs. Exertus eSports



Bans: Ao Kuang, Mercury, Hun Batz, Athena



Team Dignitas: Lassiz (Freya), Zapman (Neith), TheBest (He Bo), AnatoLiy (Tyr), ShadowQ (Sobek)



Exertus: andinster (Fenrir), BaRRaCCuDDa (Anhur), MLCst3alth (Zhong Kui), Omega (Zeus), DaretoCare (Guan Yu)

Finals GM 2

Team Dignitas vs. Exertus eSports



Bans: Ao Kuang, Mercury, Athena, Freya



Team Dignitas: Lassiz (Hun Batz), TheBest (Agni), Zapman (Cupid!), AnatoLiy (Chang'e), ShadowQ (Sobek)



Exertus eSports: Andinster (Fenrir), MLC St3alth (Zeus), BaRRaCCuDDa (Neith), Omega (He Bo), DareToCare (Guan Yu)



**MUST WATCH** Match ID: 33523670

First match of the weekend, and it starts off with some extremely unorthodox play. Slam Jam City opted to completely throw the meta to the wayside and run double jungle. The match was pretty lopsided with SJC on the wrong side of things, but I'm eager to see the future of the double jungle strat. For the first 10 minutes or so (despite poor play from SJC), COG was on their heels, not really sure how to react. Cog quickly figured out what to do, and sent Eonic to roam permanently with his Guan Yu. By 25 minutes in, COG was way too far ahead, and earned the 30 minute surrender.PeccYz definitely wasn't as comfortable in the jungle as his counter part Weak3n was, and it showed. Stronger play from PeccYz and a stronger pick (Bastet? really?) could had easily solidified this seemingly awkward idea into a real strategy. In the future lets look to see a double jungle with two solid picks, possibly a tankier presence like an Athena/Hercules/Tyr, and I think the double jungle squad could work out. PeccYz is definitely a better player than he showed here this week, so look forward to him practicing jungle with Weak3n some more, and hopefully bring this play to the front page of everyone's playbook.This was probably the most obvious finals rematch in a long time. XTS came out thirsty for blood after getting shut out in last weeks finals, and wanted to win and win big. It started with a first minute first blood for MLC, and a kill onto PonPon (and his red pot) 30 seconds later. The team then moved on to further punish PonPon's Athena and kill most of his jungle camps, leaving him to lane for a bit or get no experience otherwise.Both teams kept up the aggression and both teams had lost a tower before 10 minutes even hit. Exertus was pounding towers, knocking them down with 4 team members, and moving onto Gold Fury when Andinster disconnected, pausing the game for over 5 minutes. Even though the limit is 10 minutes and that would force Exertus to play 4v5, Denial realized that they were way too behind to win this game should it be an even match, so they surrendered during the pause. Classy move by the Denial organization, the sportsmanship is alive and well in the North American SMITE scene.Dignitas won this game in the picks and ban phase. Most other teams ban things based on the meta, when one character is viewed as too strong (Zeus), and once in a while you'll see a single respect ban come out (the old take Poseidon from MLC). But Dignitas goes all in and really has a picks and bans game scores above the other teams. Here they made sure Wolfy couldn't play the two solo laners he's been playing virtually exclusively for the past month or so, and made sure to pick Guan Yu because Wolfy is comfortable with him too. Wolfy was forced into a Hercules pick, which he isn't bad at at all, but is far from his first choice. But when faced against a solo laner as strong as AnatoLiy when you're not on your top 2 gods and Toliy is on one of his more favored, you're not going to be very happy.The game started predictably with AnatoLiy forcing Wolfy onto his tower almost the whole time. An early solo lane tower went down, but even with that COG got aggressive and started to shift the lead in their favor. Zapman died a lot of times and wasn't able to get his farm up like usual, and COG tried to capitalize on that. At the 9 minute mark TheBest DC'd for a full 10 minute pause period, and Dig decided to play down a man anyway. TheBest came back 2 minutes after the unpause, and the break in the action really destroyed all the momentum that COG had gathered. What was previously an energy filled game for COG turned into a stagnant offense, allowing Dignitas to creep ahead. Dignitas went for a Gold Fury at 25 minutes, turning it into a team fight where they had the 4 v 3 advantage vs. COG. COG still somehow won the team fight, got the gold fury, and proceeded to get 2 towers in center lane before having to retreat due to respawns.Not content letting Cognitive Gaming get one of the biggest comebacks in recent memory, Dignitas responded pretty strongly by heading straight to the Fire Giant, and powering through all of center lane after that. COG tried to force Dignitas off of the center lane by attacking left lane, but in response DIG just kept going at it and killed the Minotaur before left could fall to even the Phoenix.This matchup was very even and made for very exciting finals play. Tons of rotations and counter-rotations from both sides lead to many half-team fights well before you'd expect it. Excellent responses meant that even when people got caught out and ganked, nothing was free. Both teams responded quickly.Dignitas realized that the late game potential of XTS' Zeus and Zhong Kui was very, very, real, even with He Bo on their own side. This made their gameplan a rush strategy, and they went for an early gold fury at 16 minutes. Dignitas forced XTS into a Fire Giant fight that XTS couldn't handle, and wound up wiping XTS completely. They then just pain trained the center lane for the Minotor and the win, very aware that if the game went further than 30 minutes it'd be easy for XTS to come back. Total respect shown to XTS from Dig with that rush play, understanding that their opponent was just as skilled in teamfights as they are.This was easily the most exciting game that the NA Weekly Series has seen yet. Both teams were running on all cylinders, nothing was given up easily, nothing was taken easily. Both teams knew that either could swing the game into their own favor at any point in time, and everyone played incredibly aggressive because of it. XTS remembered game one and didn't want to lose to another 30 minute blitzkrieg, so they decided to be just as aggressive as Dignitas.The first team fight came out at 5 seconds, with Dignitas taking 4 members of XTS off the board and only losing 2. The game continued to be just as bloody, with trades happening the entire game and another huge 5v5 team fight at a surprisingly early 8 minutes. Dignitas won this fight, and started on an early Gold Fury. XTS made it back in time to steal the gold fury, keeping the gold difference minimal and clotting the bleeding a little bit.Dignitas started their first big push at the 18 minute mark, killing 3 towers and two of members of XTS. The first big lead goes to Dignitas with those kills, now up 5k gold. TheBest was an absolute monster getting a level a minute and being a full 3 levels higher than anyone else on XTS by 20 minutes. Dignitas opted to not go overboard and instead play a little passively despite their lead, again giving Exertus the proper respect knowing that all leads are precious and can be taken away at a moments notice when your opponent is as skilled as XTS is.XTS successfully got a Fire Giant kill, but Dignitas erased that buff completely by getting a deicide right after with the help of some legendary plays by AnatoLiy.XTS did fantastic and really gave Dignitas a run for their money, but it just wasn't enough. XTS did wind up getting a late game deicide and a tower against all odds, with all of Dignitas having Fire Giant buff, just to remind Dignitas that they are a real force not to be taken lightly. The game ended with a textbook counter-engagement from Dignitas into a fight that XTS started very much in their favor, that Dignitas used to turn into a victory. Great game played by all 10 players on the field, and one of the most explosive games of SMITE that you can watch. Do NOT miss this one!**********This was by far one of the most high octane weeklies that has been broadcasted in recent memory, probably of all time. XTS is such a good team and proves week in and week out that they are the real thing. Every week they get better and better, and with seasoned, experienced top notch players at every position everyone in the NA scene should be very afraid of what these guys are capable of. MLC_St3alth is back to take back his crown of best center in the game, and he doesn't show any signs of rust after being absent for a few weeks.Very awesome to see some new meta strategy out of Slam Jam City; SMITE definitely benefits from this type of experimental play. Slam Jam City should keep working at it and although it won't work for every game, having more than one option available in your playbook is definitely the right way to go, and all credit should be given to SJC for leading the charge.Dignitas heads to China on Monday for a week, to play in an exhibition match against one of the Top EU teams. Due to China's internet laws the games won't be live streamed, but the footage is going to be taken home and live casted, so keep an eye out for coverage of that event. This is a very big thing for SMITE, and with the release date looming, expect this game to just get bigger and more competitive. Be excited for the future!