Introduction
This is it! The Final Match of RGL Season 1 Highlander for Open division. Congratulations to Sifety and Barcode-HL on 2 very successful seasons. This match features the undefeated number 1 seed team Sifety, which lost only 3 rounds this entire season (all in week five in a 4-3 win over LNL), and the no-scrim number 3 seed team Barcode-HL. In their week 2 regular season match up, Sifety swept Barcode 3-0 on pl_swiftwater_final1, the first map of the night. Not having faced each other since, it will be a very interesting opening map. In the first round of playoffs, both teams took clean 3-0 victories to move on to the Semi Finals. In those matches, Barcode defeated the number two seed el Deguello, (who they previously lost to 3-0 on steel), , 2-1, winning the maps swiftwater and borneo. In Sifety's Semi Finals match, they defeated The Garage Band, the number 5 seed and our Bronze match winner, 2.5-0.5, winning on swiftwater and steel. Sifety did drop an early round to The Garage Band on swiftwater, showing that lack of focus and sloppy execution could hinder the efforts of Sifety in tonight's match. Barcode-HL's general lack of preparation for highlander as a format throughout this season has shown in their losses, but with the team feeling well established on tonight's maps and well strategized pick/ban choices, the tables are set for an excellent match, regardless of its outcome. To watch the match live, starting at 9:30 pm est, go
here!Author's Note
Haha! this wasn't out 4 days ago, and now it's almost match time. FeelsBadMan.
Bronze Match Results
el Deguello: Steiner // ? // Cookie // -L // ||||||||||| // ScottLuck // ? // St3vo // Catfish
The Garage Band: Vacket // Hoekstra TF // Rhysand // Joey // AstronomyTwin // Smokey // LucG_ // Thot Patrol // Lookout! Awwww.
Pick/Bans
The Garage Band bans koth_lakeside_final
el Deguello bans pl_swiftwater_final1
el Deguello picks koth_product_rc9
The Garage Band picks cp_steel
The Garage Band bans koth_ashville_rc1
el Deguello picks pl_borneo
koth_product_rc9
I expected El Deguello to roll on Product, and boy was I wrong. The Garage Band's scrims payed off big dividends as they took a close 3-2 win on this map. It was a great effort by both teams and I'm impressed that The Garage Band was able to pull off such a shocking map win as the statistical underdogs.
cp_steel
Back on their "home turf", The Garage Band was feeling great going into Steel. They took fairly clean wins, out positioning and generally overwhelming EL Deguello. Taking the 2-0 win on cp_steel secured their win over El Deguello and ended the match. No Borneo!
Analysis:
A great match to end the season on for the Garage Band. As I have said many times, The Garage Band exemplified what it means to be a top Open team in RGL, and I am very impressed by all the work they put into this match. El Deguello
was without a few mains but they rang Open players for their Open match, which is something TGB insisted on, and rightly so.
Prediction: 2-1 The Garage Band
Result: 2.5-0.5 The Garage Band
Grand Finals Match Prediction
Sifety: DanTheMan11 // Kenvii // Com-Lag // A Satanic Fish // Hael // gLuD // Guild Knight Nub // Page // Bliztank
Barcode-HL: angent // savvy // escape // juice // mocha // DatDrop // TopsideHorse // Captured // mcgee
Pick/Bans
Barcode-HL bans cp_steel
Sifety bans koth_product_rc9
Sifety picks pl_swiftwater_final1
Barcode-HL picks koth_lakeside_final
Barcode-HL bans pl_upward
Sifety picks pl_borneo
Map 1 - pl_swiftwater_final1
Sifety has already beaten Barcode-HL on this map once before, and they will be confident going into this first map. However, the majority of Barcode's roster hadn't actually played on swiftwater competitively more that a few times before that week 2 matchup, and they really had no idea what they were doing. Barcode has since played on this map and won against a higher seeded team (el Deguello), and they are feeling better about the map. Payload maps are, of course, all about the cart, and Barcode will need to remember to keep 3 on the cart at all times to beat Sifety. If Sifety keeps Barcode's attention elsewhere, and prevents coordinated pushes, they'll be able to hold out until time runs out.
Expected map result: 2-1 Sifety
Map 2 - koth_lakeside_final
Ahhhhh Lakeside, where do I even begin? Barcode has a much stronger flank than Sifety and controlling bath shouldn't be a problem for Angent and savvy. I expect Sifety will have to continuously have to rotate combo through bathhouse in order to stop Barcode's flank from harassing them at every opportunity. This one should fly by quickly.
Expected map result: 3-0 BarcodeHL
Map 3 - pl_borneo
Borneo is another payload map that Barcode has grown a lot on. Of all the payload maps, they have played borneo the most this season, and are comfortable playing it against well coordinated teams. Barcode has also played better teams on this map that Sifety, courtesy of the scheduling system.
Expected map result: 2-1 Barcode-HL
Analysis:
As I mentioned in the introduction, Barcode "out pick/banned" Sifety and that small victory should play a large role in tonight's outcome. Barcode, as per usual, got cp_steel out of the way with quickly. It's a map that they hate playing on, and many share their sentiment. Sifety then used their first ban on product, the map Barcode
lost on in their semi final match. Barcode did
not want product and Sifety wasted a valuable ban early on. Sifety's choice of swiftwater as the first map was a predictable yet dangerous one. Sifety may have simply looked past Barcode's progress on this map when doing bans, and jumped straight to the "we beat them here once we can do it again" mentality. Confidence is great but over confidence hurt Sifety in the first round against The Garage Band. Barcode was able to secure in my opinion their best koth map by choosing lakeside as the second map of the match. Any confidence Sifety has after swiftwater may very well be shattered while playing a team like Barcode on a map they have played a million times (in 6's). Barcode banned upward here as a way of ensuring they will play the last map on one they enjoy. Both ashville and borneo would be fine for Barcode, so they eliminated their uncertainties. With the final pick, Sifety shied away from playing on another koth map and chose borneo. Borneo is probably Barcode's best payload map, and they certainly have the most time on it as a team. Overall, Barcode got a huge advantage with how the pick/bans played out. They're on maps that they know, maps they've won on, and maps Sifety has no idea how Barcode plays as a team.
Advantage on Flank: Barcode-HL
Advantage in Combo: Barcode-HL
Advantage on Support: Sifety
Prediction: 2-1 Barcode-HL