The RaidCall EMS ONE Americas has ended its playoff stage with a boom. Eight teams have been battling it out in group play since September 29th. This tournament held a great deal of weight for the reformed lineup of Evil Geniuses and Dignitas, the two seeking an invite to the final stage of the tournament. Nevertheless, it was us Jimmy ‘Demon’ Ho’s day as his stitched together team of
Take 5 brought down the house in five games for the Grand Finals.
The group stages were quick and sweet with round robin play among two groups of four teams. Dignitas made their existence felt early by not shedding a match in group play, while
Take 5 surprised the crowd when they also went unbeaten with a notable win over Evil Geniuses taking two games to nil in a best of three set.
The playoffs got underway on October 5th, finding Evil Geniuses matched up versus
Dignitas and us Take 5 versus pe Revenge. This was an opportunity to see the two franchised North American power houses face off as they were matched in different groups during the first stage of play. Clinton ‘Fear’ Loomis and company were up for the hurdle, forcing Dignitas out of the tournament in two games. The story was the same on the other side of the brackets, with us Take 5 taking their match in undefeated fashion to keep their streak alive.
It all came down to a best of five engagement between Take 5 and Evil Geniuses for the Grand Finals. It was a chance for Jimmy ‘Demon’ Ho, who had been replaced in the roster change by Evil Geniuses, to make a significant win versus his former squad. Take 5 took the first couple of games with sound drafting and hungry play. The inclusion of Jerry ‘EGM’ Lundkvist of the Alliance standing in on Take 5 was really felt by game 2, playing Abaddon to peak potential by maintaining teammates alive in situations they had no right to live through.
Take 5′s play pushed their challengers in Evil Geniuses to the edge of elimination early in the best of 5 series which looked like it may be over swiftly. EG however saw a chance to dig their way back into the series, and took game three in the eighth minute with a score ending at 14-2. It was the first crack in the armor of the Take 5 squad as they ‘d been unbeaten to that point. After evening the tally, both teams were faced with a critical game 5. The combination of Shadow Fiend aura mixed in with Alchemist acid from Take 5 seemed to be too much for an Anti Mage on EG’s side to tank through, and after an even start, Take 5 pulled away to obtain their invite to the LAN finals of RaidCall EMS ONE.