Day 1 of the MPGL: Grand Finals has finally come to a close and we have to say that we were quite disappointed with the quality of games. Both series were 2-0 stomps, which clear showcased that the two teams who moved on to the Upper Bracket Finals deservedly did so thanks to some great plays.
Here’s a brief recap of what went down on Day 1 of the MPGL: Grand Finals in Thailand.
The game got exciting right of the bat in the drafting phase where EVOS Esports picked up a Midlane Necrophos, while Clutch Gamers took Visage carry and a Templar Assassin mid. A failed gank by Clutch Gamers gave EVOS two kills and an advantage in the bot lane. Due to great macro play and CS leads, however, Clutch Gamers kept dead even with EVOS in gold. As skirmishes began, CG couldn’t use their aggressive teamfight-oriented composition because EVOS had nearly perfect positioning. But the game turned on its head when Ahjit’s buyback on his Templar Assassin completely punished EVOS Esports overextension. Not long after, CG forced the Indonesians into their base with their triple Ravage online. Before taking EVOS’s ancient right in front of them.
Clutch Gamers opted for a far more early game oriented lineup opting for three Tanky cores. A gank at level two by Boombacs caught ilLogic off-guard, giving first blood to CG. Deciding to play patiently this game, CG patiently farmed until they hit their power spike, resulting in five kills in EVOS’s favor. Now with the advantage, EVOS smoked aggressively to catch out CG members with a Black Hole. However it backfired, EVOS lost the subsequent Rosh fight, and a lane of Barracx as Black Hole was on cooldown. Clutch continued to build on this momentum and easily closed out the game to take a 2-0 win to move to the next round.
Knowing Keen Gaming had no vision in their safelane, Ewe blindsided Keen Gaming’s bot lane for first blood. Keen replied with kills of their own and slowly edged ahead of Execration. Despite having the advantage early, Execration didn’t make many plays around the map so Keen Gaming caught back up to even out the game. Keen Gaming had great objective control, but they couldn’t win teamfights so Execration started to beat them out. Equipped with an Aegis and Cheese, Execration looked poised to take the game and they did so quite easily.
A risky early rotation put Keen Gaming behind, as Execration caught two members for first blood and the early advantage. The strong early pick off potential of a Windranger and DK let Execration earn multiple kills. Keen Gaming replied with a great teamfight in the midgame to bait Execration into taking a bad fight to even out the game. Using solid midgame rotations and good catch potential, Keen Gaming steadily took control of the map and forced Execration to play safe. However, as soon as Execration’s cores farmed their BKBs it was game over for Keen Gaming as they just didn’t seem to have the damage to bring down their opponents. As a result, they were forced to call GG and concede the series.