KDe, a team full of former DotA stars, including LevenT, H4nn1 and Kebap, was in the third edition of the Honcast tournament up against Clan fiVe, lead by former StarCraft starlet Nick "Testie" Perentesis.
The teams were seeded first (KDe) and second (fiVe) in the brackets, and they both made their way to the final, KDe a bit simpler as they were given a forfeit win in the quarter final.
KDE vs. fiVe - Game 1 Match Report
Bans are Engineer, Chipper, Vindicator and Soul Reaper, Plague Rider and Hellbringer - notable surprises are no Accursed, Fayde or Ophelia bans, or Slither.
5 gets first pick and goes Fayde, possibly to keep it out of the hands of H4nn1, who plays a brilliant Fayde. KDe then picks Ophelia and Defiler. Despite the Ophelia nerfs she's still a very strong hero, and it also gives an extra solo lane to KDe. Defiler of course, is one of the strongest pushers in the game. 5 then grabs Pollywog Priest and Pyromancer - I would expect AngryTestie playing Pollywog, as he's done so plenty of times in the past. KDe then picks up Zephyr and Slither, Zephyr being a very strong hero and Slither as well, adding a little pushing power to the mix. 5 then picks two of the most powerful support heroes in the game with Demented Shaman and Accursed, and KDe takes Thunderbringer as the last pick, a popular choice for KDe in the past.
The player-hero line-up is as follows:
KDe:
LevenT - Zephyr
HoNGod - Defiler
Kebap - Ophelia
H4nn1 - Thunderbringer
Mag1X - Slither
5:
AngryTestie - Pollywog Priest
Draskyl - Demented Shaman
tabako - Pyromancer
Fogged - Fayde
bdiz - Accursed
Lanes are Defiler vs Fayde/Pyro and Zephyr/Slither vs Shaman/Accursed, 5 choosing to put both support in one lane and both stunners in the other. The first kill goes to KDe, with Ophelia and Defiler taking out Fayde, but Legion gets the killing blow, so no bloodlust. The first proper bloodlust kill comes at the seven minute mark, when Accursed and Demented Shaman takes out Slither in the top lane.
AngryTestie's strong Pollywog play (by far the highest g/m in the game at this point) brings down the Legion middle tower in the 9th minute after two ultimates. 5 as a result takes the early lead, 5 kills to 3, and more importantly, a 3.8k gold lead. H4nn1 is doing his best to counter that though, killing Pyromancer at the 14-minute mark for a 4-0 kill streak, being tied as highest level with AngryTestie, and his 5th kill one and a half minute later on Fayde.
Shortly after that, a big teamfight near the tower in the bottom lane gets H4nn1's kills up to 7, as KDe takes down 3 5 players while only losing Ophelia themselves.
AngryTestie traps his teammate Fogged's Fayde with his ultimate in a fight at the 19-minute mark and ends up getting him killed.
A big teamfight ensues in the bottom lane three minutes later, finally giving H4nn1's Thunderbringer his first death. Pyromancer and Pollywog die on 5's side, but everyone except Slither is wiped out on KDe's side. They got a tower kill and two hero deaths and they lost four heroes.
5 kills Kongor at the 31-minute mark, putting the Token of Life on Fayde. There seems to be no stopping 5 from this point on, they keep winning teamfights decisively, a huge one being at the 35 minute mark where they kill off everyone except Ophelia on KDe's side, losing nothing but the Token of Life from Fayde, following it up with two tower kills, tow barracks kills and more hero kills on Defiler and Zephyr after they respawn. KDe gg's shortly after that, and 5 takes the first game, up 1-0 in this best of three series.
KDE vs fiVe - Game 2 Match Report
Bans are Engineer, Chipper, Vindicator, Plague Rider, same as the first game, but Fayde and Defiler are banned as well. 5 banned Fayde, since they didn't get first pick this game.
KDe gets first pick and goes Hellbringer. 5 then picks Soul Reaper and Demented Shaman, two strong heroes with AoE heals. KDe picks up Soulstealer, a popular carry in high-level games, as well as Accursed, a strong support as always. 5 grabs Pyro and Jereziah, which KDe reacts to by picking Electrician, a hero not seen that often in high-level games, but his ultimate obivously counters Jereziah's Protective Charm easily. And then 5 comes with the most unexpected choice, picking Scout for their final choice. KDe gets Wretched Hag for the last.
The player-hero line-up is as follows:
5:
AngryTestie - Pyromancer
Draskyl - Jereziah
tabako - Soul Reaper
Fogged - Scout
bdiz - Demented Shaman
KDe:
LevenT - Hellbringer
HoNGod - Soulstealer
Mag1X - Accursed
H4nn1 - Wretched Hag
Kebap - Electrician
Lanes are Soul Reaper/Jereziah vs Electrician/Hellbringer top, Pyromancer vs Soulstealer mid, and Demented Shaman/Scout vs Wretched Hag/Accursed bottom.
The first 5 minutes are fairly uneventful, some harass back and forth. Pyromancer being played by AngryTestie is doing very well againt HonGod's Soulstealer in mid, getting plenty of denies and last hits. The second he hits level 6 he catches Soulstealer in a triple combo, first a level 2 stun, then a level 3 wave and the ultimate to finish him off, getting 5 the bloodlust kill. 2 minutes later, Electrician comes in to try evening out he score by killing Pyromancer, but just barely fails, with Pyro escaping with a sliver of health left.
The game is pretty slow, 16 minutes in only six kills, 4-2 in 5's favor, three of them from AngryTestie's Pyromancer. 5 is farming well though, way ahead in gold and experience.
It stays slow for the next 10 minutes, 8 kills only. KDe gets off a Kongor kill, and starts moving in for the attack, and finally we get a teamfight, starting with an initiation on Scout, who dies, quickly buys back and joins the fray again. 5 defends well, taking out three of KDe's heroes, only losing Scout, who bought back immediately. KDe lost their Soulstealer despite him having Token of Life from Kongor. They continue on to take out the middle base tower.
After a quick gank on Hellbringer spotted in Legion's forest, 5 is up 13k gold and 13k experience, having a firm lead. Fogged's Scout picks up a Frostwolf Skull after some entertaining mishaps with a courier and limited inventory space, a rare item on a rare hero in highlevel games.
At the 32-minute mark, 5 starts a strong push, going into the KDe base with creep support, taking out wards, and sneaking in quick ganks with Pyro's and Scout's ultimates on any hero who comes too close. Soon enough, Soulstealer drops as well, KDe is 3 heroes down, a barracks is dropping, and they concede.
by Joakim "Phoenix" Hellstrand
Links
eSportMedia.com - KDe vs. fiVe Game 1
eSportMedia.com - KDe vs. fiVe Game 2
The teams were seeded first (KDe) and second (fiVe) in the brackets, and they both made their way to the final, KDe a bit simpler as they were given a forfeit win in the quarter final.
KDE vs. fiVe - Game 1 Match Report
Bans are Engineer, Chipper, Vindicator and Soul Reaper, Plague Rider and Hellbringer - notable surprises are no Accursed, Fayde or Ophelia bans, or Slither.
5 gets first pick and goes Fayde, possibly to keep it out of the hands of H4nn1, who plays a brilliant Fayde. KDe then picks Ophelia and Defiler. Despite the Ophelia nerfs she's still a very strong hero, and it also gives an extra solo lane to KDe. Defiler of course, is one of the strongest pushers in the game. 5 then grabs Pollywog Priest and Pyromancer - I would expect AngryTestie playing Pollywog, as he's done so plenty of times in the past. KDe then picks up Zephyr and Slither, Zephyr being a very strong hero and Slither as well, adding a little pushing power to the mix. 5 then picks two of the most powerful support heroes in the game with Demented Shaman and Accursed, and KDe takes Thunderbringer as the last pick, a popular choice for KDe in the past.
The player-hero line-up is as follows:
KDe:
LevenT - Zephyr
HoNGod - Defiler
Kebap - Ophelia
H4nn1 - Thunderbringer
Mag1X - Slither
5:
AngryTestie - Pollywog Priest
Draskyl - Demented Shaman
tabako - Pyromancer
Fogged - Fayde
bdiz - Accursed
Lanes are Defiler vs Fayde/Pyro and Zephyr/Slither vs Shaman/Accursed, 5 choosing to put both support in one lane and both stunners in the other. The first kill goes to KDe, with Ophelia and Defiler taking out Fayde, but Legion gets the killing blow, so no bloodlust. The first proper bloodlust kill comes at the seven minute mark, when Accursed and Demented Shaman takes out Slither in the top lane.
AngryTestie's strong Pollywog play (by far the highest g/m in the game at this point) brings down the Legion middle tower in the 9th minute after two ultimates. 5 as a result takes the early lead, 5 kills to 3, and more importantly, a 3.8k gold lead. H4nn1 is doing his best to counter that though, killing Pyromancer at the 14-minute mark for a 4-0 kill streak, being tied as highest level with AngryTestie, and his 5th kill one and a half minute later on Fayde.
Shortly after that, a big teamfight near the tower in the bottom lane gets H4nn1's kills up to 7, as KDe takes down 3 5 players while only losing Ophelia themselves.
AngryTestie traps his teammate Fogged's Fayde with his ultimate in a fight at the 19-minute mark and ends up getting him killed.
A big teamfight ensues in the bottom lane three minutes later, finally giving H4nn1's Thunderbringer his first death. Pyromancer and Pollywog die on 5's side, but everyone except Slither is wiped out on KDe's side. They got a tower kill and two hero deaths and they lost four heroes.
5 kills Kongor at the 31-minute mark, putting the Token of Life on Fayde. There seems to be no stopping 5 from this point on, they keep winning teamfights decisively, a huge one being at the 35 minute mark where they kill off everyone except Ophelia on KDe's side, losing nothing but the Token of Life from Fayde, following it up with two tower kills, tow barracks kills and more hero kills on Defiler and Zephyr after they respawn. KDe gg's shortly after that, and 5 takes the first game, up 1-0 in this best of three series.
KDE vs fiVe - Game 2 Match Report
Bans are Engineer, Chipper, Vindicator, Plague Rider, same as the first game, but Fayde and Defiler are banned as well. 5 banned Fayde, since they didn't get first pick this game.
KDe gets first pick and goes Hellbringer. 5 then picks Soul Reaper and Demented Shaman, two strong heroes with AoE heals. KDe picks up Soulstealer, a popular carry in high-level games, as well as Accursed, a strong support as always. 5 grabs Pyro and Jereziah, which KDe reacts to by picking Electrician, a hero not seen that often in high-level games, but his ultimate obivously counters Jereziah's Protective Charm easily. And then 5 comes with the most unexpected choice, picking Scout for their final choice. KDe gets Wretched Hag for the last.
The player-hero line-up is as follows:
5:
AngryTestie - Pyromancer
Draskyl - Jereziah
tabako - Soul Reaper
Fogged - Scout
bdiz - Demented Shaman
KDe:
LevenT - Hellbringer
HoNGod - Soulstealer
Mag1X - Accursed
H4nn1 - Wretched Hag
Kebap - Electrician
Lanes are Soul Reaper/Jereziah vs Electrician/Hellbringer top, Pyromancer vs Soulstealer mid, and Demented Shaman/Scout vs Wretched Hag/Accursed bottom.
The first 5 minutes are fairly uneventful, some harass back and forth. Pyromancer being played by AngryTestie is doing very well againt HonGod's Soulstealer in mid, getting plenty of denies and last hits. The second he hits level 6 he catches Soulstealer in a triple combo, first a level 2 stun, then a level 3 wave and the ultimate to finish him off, getting 5 the bloodlust kill. 2 minutes later, Electrician comes in to try evening out he score by killing Pyromancer, but just barely fails, with Pyro escaping with a sliver of health left.
The game is pretty slow, 16 minutes in only six kills, 4-2 in 5's favor, three of them from AngryTestie's Pyromancer. 5 is farming well though, way ahead in gold and experience.
It stays slow for the next 10 minutes, 8 kills only. KDe gets off a Kongor kill, and starts moving in for the attack, and finally we get a teamfight, starting with an initiation on Scout, who dies, quickly buys back and joins the fray again. 5 defends well, taking out three of KDe's heroes, only losing Scout, who bought back immediately. KDe lost their Soulstealer despite him having Token of Life from Kongor. They continue on to take out the middle base tower.
After a quick gank on Hellbringer spotted in Legion's forest, 5 is up 13k gold and 13k experience, having a firm lead. Fogged's Scout picks up a Frostwolf Skull after some entertaining mishaps with a courier and limited inventory space, a rare item on a rare hero in highlevel games.
At the 32-minute mark, 5 starts a strong push, going into the KDe base with creep support, taking out wards, and sneaking in quick ganks with Pyro's and Scout's ultimates on any hero who comes too close. Soon enough, Soulstealer drops as well, KDe is 3 heroes down, a barracks is dropping, and they concede.
by Joakim "Phoenix" Hellstrand
Links
eSportMedia.com - KDe vs. fiVe Game 1
eSportMedia.com - KDe vs. fiVe Game 2
