MXM ‘The River King’s Cup’ Europe Group Stages 2nd Round Result

Soobin "Pratt" Choi, Junseok “Tonny” Bae

Aug 20, 2017

On August 20th (PST), The 2nd Round of the River King’s Cup Europe Group Stage, the MXM community tournament, took place. Just like the 1st Round, the tournament consisted of 8 teams going through single elimination, and this round determined which 4 teams will advance to the semifinals in the European region.

As a result of this round, CLG, TSM, Masters of Battle, and SNAX made it to the semifinals.

The 1st round was between Kronos Corp. and Nothing Personal. Whereas Nothing Personal banned MBA-07 and Vita, Kronos Corp banned Ignuma and Bumaro, and picked Sonid, which was a rather unusual ban-pick. While Kronos Corp pressured the top lane with Bumaro, Nothing Personal pressured the bot lane with MBA-07.

Though both teams collided around Monolith, they had an equal number of casualties and maintained similar points for quite some time. It was Kronos Corp’s Taejin who broke the balance when he stole King Tanian with his ult while Nothing Personal was trying to take him down. However, this gap was closed quickly by Nothing Personal when their Vonak killed Rozark, and Kronos Corp eventually gave up on the monster and quickly demolished one of Nothing Personal’s towers instead.

Nothing Personal’s towers were reduced to only 2 as a result, but Kronos Corp kept losing teamfights against Nothing Personal which provided Nothing Personal with a slight lead. Both teams tried everything in their power to claim the second Rozark, even summoning the Titan Incarnate, and Kronos Corp eventually took over Rozark. However, this did not make a big difference in points in the end.

It was already 20 minutes into the game, and teams began to fight for as many points as they could. Although their points were similar to each other, Nothing Personal was slightly ahead as they managed to kill some of Kronos Corp’s masters here and there. Kronos Corp’s Bumaro tried to destroy Nothing Personal’s tower in 20 seconds before the end of the match, but Nothing Personal’s Zber prevented it and ended up getting a kill on Bumaro. Nothing Personal claimed victory with the final score being 802 to 827.

▲ The teamfight around the second Rozark caused many casualties on both teams

▲ Kronos Corp’s Bumaro attempted to destroy the tower right before the end, but wasn't successful

The 2nd round was between Hydra and Fight Club from Group C. Hydra banned Kat the Cat and Vonak, while Fight Club banned Ignuma and MBA-07. Along with Vonak and Poharan, Hydra picked Sonid and Kromede, who are considered rather unusual picks, resulting in a somewhat squishy composition.

Whereas Fight Club quickly claimed jungle objectives with Pancuga, Jingtai, and Bumaro, Hydra earned their points by harassing from a distance with their ranged masters. Hydra’s strategy worked effectively, providing them with more points by slaying the Fallen Heroes even though Fight Club claimed both Altars in the top and bottom lanes.

Fight Club did not yield and attempted to earn points by continuously claiming jungle objectives. When they were hunting down King Tanian, they prevented Hydra’s steal by keeping them at a distance. Whenever Fight Club was trying to slay Titans or Fallen Heroes, Hydra would send their ranged masters to intervene; throughout the game, it was a fairly common scene to see Hydra chasing after Fight Club.

In order to end the game, Hydra attempted a major teamfight. Their attempt failed and the team was vanquished, giving Fight Club a considerable advantage. Fight Club annihilated the opponent team with only one of their core towers remaining and overturned the points by taking Rozark. Hydra, after respawning, attempted a last assault with the Titan Incarnate, but they were annihilated again, with 1,000 health remaining in Fight Club’s core. Fight Club eventually claimed victory in the end.

▲ When Fight Club went for jungle objectives, Hydra chased after them

▲ Hydra attempted the last attack but failed with 1,000 health of the opponent’s core remaining

The 3rd round was between Bronze is Bae (BiB) and Over[Z]ealous. Whereas BiB banned Lilu and Vonak, and made a balanced composition, Over[Z]ealous banned Vita and MBA-07, and picked rather tanky masters. Over[Z]ealous took the lead in the jungle with Juggernauts and Skirmishers and attempted a number of skirmishes during the early game.

Over[Z]ealous pressured the opponent team by aiming to take over the Altars in both lanes, but BiB precautiously prevented it and managed to reduce the damage taken as much as possible, maintaining similar points for both teams as a result. BiB then killed King Tanian and took the lead with more points in the mid game, but they couldn’t gain any advantage from the teamfights. Even with the Titan Incarnate, BiB couldn’t come out on top during fights and Over[Z]ealous seemed to be winning the game as a result.

Over[Z]ealous attempted to kill Rozark right after defending against BiB’s attack. Even though BiB marched towards Rozark as quick as possible after respawning, StarZerg with Pancuga and Nedien managed to defend the entrance alone by using the Titan Incarnate, allowing his team to team to safely take down Rozark. After the successful hunting of Rozark, Over[Z]ealous came out and vanquished BiB, creating a big point gap.

Not looking forward to making the gap any wider, BiB used the Titan Incarnate during the teamfight around King Tanian. Despite BiB’s efforts, Over[Z]ealous came out on top once again, and they seemed to be only one step away from victory. However, the second Rozark they attempted to slay had an immense amount of health, so they could not take him down as quickly as before, and the situation became much worse as BiB managed to annihilate all defending players outside and steal Rozark. In the end, BiB gained a huge point gap and won the match.

▲ Thanks to Over[Z]ealous’s StarZerg, the first Rozark was not stolen, but…

▲ The team could not prevent BiB from breaking in and had to let them steal the monster

The last match was between Super Gun Shooters (SGS) and Roam is Real (RiR). Both teams had 3 Tower Shield Auxiliary skills, and banned Vita, Sizuka, and MBA-07. Both teams actively engaged in skirmishes in the top lane starting from early game, but RiR won the teamfight in front of King Tanian and earned points, whereas SGS suffered a casualty by defending against a Fallen Hero.

RiR took over the second Altars in both lanes, pushed towards the enemy towers, and attempted to slay Rozark right after that. The rest of the team defended the entrance while ranged masters were hunting down Rozark, but SGS managed to penetrate the defense and break into the chamber. Having little health remaining for Rozark, both teams summoned the Titan Incarnate and engaged in battle. SGS’s Titan managed to steal Rozark by performing the focus attack in the Hammer form.

After winning the teamfight at Rozark, SGS was ahead in points, and they tried to hunt down King Tanian right after. However, RiR’s MBA-07 managed to steal Tanian and close the point gap. The chicken run of RiR chasing after SGS continued and the balance was broken when they attempted to kill the next Rozark. SGS secretly began to hunt down Rozark while RiR was killing King Tanian.

It almost seemed successful since RiR did not make any movement to Rozark, but it turned out that the opponent team was aware of it. They decided to hit SGS’s main base while they were focusing on Rozark. As a result, Rozark was taken by SGS, but they couldn’t leave the main base after that as all of their towers were destroyed. RiR waited outside, and destroyed the SGS’s core with Fallen Heroes and the Titan Incarnate, winning the match.