Page 25 - SMITE Magazine Issue 34

ESPORTS
SPL experience with Team Allegiance as the ADC in
the spring of last year. NeilM is probably the weakest of
the three SPL squads, but time will tell if they’re even
good enough to still be considered an SPL squad.
Hailing from the Open Bracket is In Memory of
Gabe, Astral Authority, and Cope is Still the Problem.
In Memory of Gabe is a team that many consider a top
4 SPL squad that is for some reason being forced to
play against these lesser squads. Hear this team! Solo
Whalrus from Noble, Jungle Cynosure from Allegiance
Xbox, Mid Hurriwind from Flashpoint, and the duo lane of
ADC Snoopy and Support Eonic from SoaR. All of these
players have experience in the top level of play, as even
their sub Meerkat has played for Denial. Astral Authority
is in a unique situation in that they have been together
a long time in many community tournaments and have
earned such a name for themselves that they got picked
up by an organization. You may have heard of them as
Salsa Squadron, as they finished first in the Challengers
Cup in the Fall under that name. The only player on this
roster with SPL experience is Support LeftSyndrome, as
he played support for The Randozos in the spring last
year. Filling out the rest of the roster are players that
have consistently finished top 3 in the Challengers Cup
and are finally getting an SPL shot: ADC FaymousHate,
Mid Sheyka, Jungle Fineokay, and Solo Mangoh. Cope is
Still the Problem is, as you would imagine, led by former
Allegiance solo laner Copebby. The rest of the roster is an
assortment of players unknown to most of the scene, with out of the running for Relegations after starting off 0-2,
the exception of their sub Fearno, who subbed for Enemy
last season. Those lesser known players include Jungler
Mexiety, Mid Viper, Balentine Support, and Sops ADC.
NORTH AMERICA RESULTS
Astral Authority played on the backfoot too much
against Noble in the first match of the day, which let
MLCSt3alth wreak havoc as Zeus. He dealt 33k player
The Official SMITE Magazine Issue #34
damage in 30 minutes while also shutting down Ra’s
healing with Divine Ruin. Cope is Still the Problem tried to
cheese Enemy with Rallying Ritual, but the Enemy’s Titan
stood tall with about 2,000 health. They were just too far
behind in gold and couldn’t withstand the large amount
of AoE damage coming out of ADC PandaCat’s Cupid
and Mid Khaos’ Agni. In Memory of Gabe’s Cynosure
dominated on Serqet in his debut out of the SCL against
NeilMah with top kills and no deaths. He wasn’t alone,
however, as Hurriwind’s Janus in the midlane put out
top damage against NeilMah’s double guardian comp.
Noble failed to make it two in a row against Enemy, as
PandaCat once again set the pace, this time with Izanami.
He picked apart the boys in yellow and black with a 7/0
and 18k player damage. In Memory of Gabe handed
Astral Authority their second loss of the day on the back of
Snoopy’s Vulcan ADC (shoutouts to Allied). Cope actually
wasn’t the problem for once for his team, as he led the
team in damage out of the solo lane. NeilMah drafted
Sylvanus and Chang’e in order to get a large amount
of sustain in the middle of the map, but still didn’t have
much healing despite Cope’s team not counter building
healing very much. It was a short game with very few
kills, but In Memory of Gabe remained undefeated on
the day against Cope and company. Snoopy’s Vulcan ADC
continued to pay dividends for his IMoG (I’m lazy, I know),
as his opposition just couldn’t stay out of his ultimates.
Many considered Astral Authority to be pretty much
but they surprised Enemy and managed to get a win
against the SPL squad. It was convincing as well, as they
had 21 kills to Enemy’s 3, mainly because of their double
assassin composition that worked wonders. Mangoh in
the solo lane as Ratatoskr and fineokay in the jungle as
Serqet combined for 13 kills against a less than mobile
Enemy composition containing Nu Wa and Ymir. Speaking
of teams making a comeback, NeilMah took a game
off of Noble in a dominating fashion. NeilMah easily put
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