Europe

eUnited was favored to win the tournament since June. Their competition in the bracket never really matched up, no matter what or when the match happened. eUnited showed top tier gameplay, coupled with outstanding performances, putting them ahead of the rest of the teams within the European bracket. Their staunchest opponent only reared their ugly head in the final match, an ironic twist of fate. 123, the culmination of unsponsored talent, rose to the occasion. It wasn’t Misfits, or Ninjas in Pyjamas, or even Laser Kittenz – it was a living mirror reflection of eUnited’s team-first mentality.

The ensuing final match was like watching a fighter shadowbox. eUnited did what 123 did, they dove at the problem and let the rest shake out. eUnited just had more firepower than 123, with players like Kruise out-shining Snillo and Mistakes. Vallutaja (pronounced Vallutaya) wasn’t forced to carry heavily like his counterpart Mistakes on Tracer. The D.Va play from uNFixed and Kodak was not comparable. uNFIxed planted himself in front of Snillo and absorbed every bullet, rocket and mean look he had. Kodak had less impact simply because Kruise on Genji never bothered to deal with the D.Va unless he had to.

The score of four to one does not reflect what exactly happened in this match. The key difference between eUnited and 123 was flexibility and firepower. Kruise and Boombox (on Zenyatta) were better than their counterparts. eUnited compensated their deficiencies by plugging their better players into situations where they flourish. 123 could only do what they knew and practiced, never deviating, never wavering, less the house collapse.

North America

While undoubtedly the favorites to win it all, Immortals were not the talk of the tournament. Yes, they won, beating Liquid handedly in a four to one match where Liquid looked hard press to attempt any strategy without a strong counter. But the talk of the tournament was a former sponsored team, now freelance. It was a contenders storyline made in heaven with FNRGFE showing the grit to battle their way in and around every situation. They fell short, like any sad film where the real hero never sees the finish line. They did, however, make it into Season One, and if any indication is true, we’ll be seeing more out of them in the coming months.

Immortals, on the other hand, looked as poised as ever to not just secure the win but annihilate the competition. Whether tired from the previous down to the wire match or overwhelmed, Liquid looked lost. Their one shining win was beating Immortals on Gibraltar, which very well could have been the start of a streak. It was more a bump on the Immortals pathway towards the finale. It’s hard to describe just what exactly makes them better than Liquid. Their DPS with GrimReality and Agilities looked ready to pick and play any hero to guarantee a win. They not only wanted to win, they looked like they wanted to prove something.

One thread to reflect on is that Immortals won the second day of open bracket back in June. They lost to Arc6 (Formerly Yikes!) in a two to nothing rout and later were held to their only draw against them in groups. Now they’re kings of the tournament and Arc6 will be forced to drag themselves through yet another bracket just to qualify. They improved and evolved their games week in and week out against. The only key to beating them lay entirely on knowing to exploit their sometimes rocky team fights. Liquid could not capitalize on those and went down round after round afterward.

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