Team Dignitas vs Last Resort

Cognitive Gaming vs Team Dignitas

Finals Game 1

Team Dignitas vs Denial NA

Finals Game 2

Team Dignitas vs Denial NA

While we've seen Last Resort continue to grow as a competitive team, this match was over as soon as it began. Last Resort's communication just wasn't up to snuff, as Team Dignitas just placed wards everywhere and out-countered every move that Last Resort tried to make. Zapman flexed his best-carry-in-the-world muscles and slayed towers, but the MVP award goes to Lassiz as Loki this time around. Getting fed early led to a quick demise for Last Resort, as Team Dginitas showcased why they're one of the perennial teams in the NA scene. With Lassiz as Loki and Zapman playing a traditional AD Carry, things become very tough very quickly for the other team, and Team Dignitas showed Last Resort just how real those threats are.Definitely a crowd favorite match up, Cognitive Gaming vs Team Dignitas wasn't the expected contest this time around. Cognitive Gaming had two subs which certainly didn't help them out, but it was honestly Shing that lost the game for them. Shing struggles while playing Fenrir was the story of this game, and that was something the announcers Bart and DM Brandon both immediately mentioned in the picking lobby. A lack of wards definitely was part of the loss, but Shing's 7 deaths and lack of any real ganks quickly allowed Team Dignitas to spiral out of control and really take over the match. Though this is always one of the more headlined events at the NA weeklies, this match didn't bring the ruckus like these two teams usually can.Cognitive Gaming beat MyoElectric for the Bronze, but you can bet next week that they will be back in full force, thirsty for that first place Gold.The first game of the finals saw pretty normal bans (Hun Batz, Isis, Athena, and Thor), yet we saw something a little out of the ordinary: Zapman (normally Dignitas' Marksman) played Freya. A player like Zapman can make the best out of any God, but with a team featuring He Bo, Loki, Fenrir and Aphrodite, playing a Freya as your main carry makes killing structures a bit different than if Anhur was the carry. This resulted in Denial NA getting some early kills off, and found the team in an early lead. By the five minute mark, Denial NA had 5 kills, and was looking to snowball their way to victory.But proving that Freya works like a real mage, as 15 minutes came and went, the Dignitas crew showed what they could do with a Carry as skilled as Zapman, and won a few team fights. The game was neck and neck for a long while, but Denial NA initiated the wrong team fight, and wound up on the wrong side of a 4-0 team fight loss. This fight solidified the win for Dignitas, as they immediately got two phoenixes down and forced the surrender.If the last match was a nail biter, this last one was a nail restorer. Denial NA abandoned the only thing they had going for them in the first game, pace. Dignitas plays at a less aggressive, slower pace. They like to let Zapman get his farm on, and then make calculated attacks, whereas Denial generally just likes to initiate fights early and often. By letting this strategy go in the second game, Denial NA really put themselves at a disadvantage and just leveled up nice and slowly. This puts the stress back on Denial NA's face, and forces them to play perfectly.Unfortunately for them, no one is perfect. Denial NA made two important miss plays in team fights, and it ultimately cost them the game. Without all of the momentum that they had early in game 1, Denial NA didn't seem like they had much of a chance against the seemingly much more cohesive Team Dignitas. Zapman once again paved the way to victory, while midlaner Thebest deserves a consolation shout out for his fantastic positioning in team fights.***Dignitas put on a great show and definitely deserved Gold this week. With Gamescom coming up (Aug. 28) and a €15,000 prize on the line, the spotlight might shift off of NA for the coming weeks. That said, as long as Dignitas is playing, we'll always be able to see top-tier competition in the NA bracket. Looking forward to next week to see Cognitive back at their full potential, and see another good DiG/CoG matchup.