A play-by-play recap of probably the most exhilarating, entertaining and absolutely amazing series I have ever witnessed. Hope you enjoy!
Game 1
HKE prioritises Gragas as their first pick with bans primarily focused towards Westdoor. Toyz has to opt for the Jayce blind pick as ahq last pick Diana for Westdoor, and both teams find fairly standard compositions.
HKE forces the lane swap in the early game but it ultimately backfires as quick aggression bot-side by Mountain leads to first blood and a quick tower, before switching the aggression top-side for the dive on GodJJ and second tower. HKE looks to bridge ahq’s early movements by taking the first dragon, but an early team fight leads to both mid laners picking up two kills each.
HKE push some favorable fights in the midgame, leading to two towers and another kill for Toyz, but ahq quickly respond with Westdoor finding a pick and getting a free exit on the back of Ziv’s Stand United. HKE looks eager to find picks and plays, but a responsive ahq line-up quickly shut down any play attempts to continue growing their gold lead.
Toyz continues stacking kills as a binding by Olleh finds a wandering Albis, but the double splitpush from Ziv and Westdoor causes HKE to sweat, and allows ahq to find a favorable teamfight in the chaos, leading to even more kills for Westdoor. ahq instantly turns to the baron, but a handful of strong shock blasts by Toyz and a good Equalizer from May allow HKE to clean through their lineup and take the baron, followed by dragon #3.
HKE’s newfound strength quickly turns on its head as ahq manages to win a team fight with HKE still sporting the baron buff, as HKE’s focus on Westdoor leaves AN untouched, however HKE quickly retaliate with a pick on Mountain and some strong siege from Toyz’ poke, leading to ahq’s middle inhibitor being taken. The game quickly turns once more as ahq find a disengage-poke-reengage fight in their bottom which leads to 3 kills and their second dragon of the game, followed by the baron.
ahq return to their double split push strategy and slowly chip at all 3 inhibitor towers. This pressure proves too much for HKE as Westdoor finds a kill on Toyz with the help of Mountain and a messy fight erupts, resulting in all 3 of HKE’s inhibitors being taken in the chaos.
HKE are allowed a brief moment of solace before ahq take a dragon and eventually the third baron of the game. Teleports from Westdoor and Ziv find May alone in the top lane and he quickly falls to Westdoor before ahq easily mow down the nexus to end the thrilling first game.
ahq 1 : 0 HKE
Game 2
“There are just not enough bans in the world to keep Westdoor down” – Daniel ‘Tsepha’ Drakos
HKE prioritize the Sivir as Westdoor is forced to blind pick Ahri. Toyz responds with Orianna to accompany their triple-frontline team composition. ahq has an aggressive dive composition to suit Westdoor’s Ahri, but HKE may be able to counteract with strong utility-damage champions that form an elite team-fighting unit.
Mountain and ahq mirror early actions from game 1, with some aggressive movements along with Ziv’s teleport and Westdoor’s roam leading to two quick kills under HKE’s bottom tower, quickly followed by ahq taking the tower itself. Kills go to Westdoor and Mountain as they look to create an early lead to accommodate their team composition.
AN on Kalista opts into instantly grabbing Berserker’s Greaves and heads to push down the top tower of HKE, with a dive on May and Olleh leading to another kill for each Mountain and Westdoor, and the top tower of HKE quickly falling. ahq convert this early lead into a dragon, and head further into HKE’s side of the map to continue pushing their lead farther, with a 4-man push in the mid lane leading to ahq taking all 3 outer turrets by 12 minutes.
HKE manage to find an opening to take ahq’s top tower, but ahq quickly responds by furthering their push and taking another turret in the bot lane. ahq continues their surgical taking of objectives by keeping all 3 lanes shoved and taking the second dragon. HKE look defenseless as ahq slowly take control of their side of the map, with any attempted engage quickly being defused by AN and Albis’ Kalista/Thresh safety combo, and ahq take the inner middle turret while HKE fail a catch on AN.
HKE finally find a few picks in the mid-lane, but their efforts to shut Westdoor out of the fight allow AN to pick up a double kill and scare away the rest of HKE’s surviving lineup with the help of Ziv.
HKE find a great fight 27 minutes into the game with ahq overstepping their aggression and quickly being punished for it. A strong Alistar-Orianna combo from Olleh and Toyz allow HKE to cleanup three kills and quickly grab the first baron of the game.
The baron buff allows HKE to push in the bottom lane and find another great team fight facilitated by their strong composition, taking a few kills and ahq’s bottom inhibitor. HKE finds some picks in the mid lane but ahq prove that they’re not out of it yet, with a few kills in response followed by their 4th dragon of the game.
ahq find HKE trying to take their second baron and get a couple of kills before Mountain falls in response. ahq turns onto baron but quickly peel off and find some kills of Albis’ heatseeking hooks onto HKE. ahq take the baron and two more kills to complete the ace before recalling and heading straight down the mid lane.
Westdoor dives into HKE’s base to find kills on both of HKE’s carries before ahq quickly melts down the inhibitor. ahq manage to find the rest of HKE unprepared and quickly dispatch of them before taking the nexus for their second victory of the series, albeit not very cleanly.
ahq 2 : 0 HKE
Game 3
HKE prioritize Rumble for May despite an only average performance in game 1, and ahq confidently take the Thresh/Kalista combo that worked effectively in the previous game. Fairly standard compositions follow, with Toyz blind picking Jayce for the second time in the series to match their game 1 composition barring Olleh’s Janna instead of Morgana. Westdoor counters with Diana once again.
Early attention bot-lane once again from Mountain leads to a 40 cs lead at 6 minutes for AN over GodJJ, and a double gank from Mountain and Westdoor facilitated by a great Thresh engage from Albis leads to first blood for Westdoor. HKE abandons their losing bot lane and take the top outer turret, but it allows AN to collect some more easy farm in the bot lane, resulting in a 60 cs + 3 level lead at 10 minutes for AN.
Toyz finds a big pick on AN to bring his team back into the game somewhat, leading to HKE taking the bottom outer turret and moving towards the dragon, but they quickly back off as ahq sends members their way. ahq manages to take the first dragon at 13 minutes, despite Dinter’s best efforts to steal it over the wall with his Q + Ultimate combo.Â
HKE attempt some movements and find a kill for May, but ahq continues growing their gold lead off the back of AN’s lead and control in the bottom lane, leading the cs 150-70 at the 18 minute mark. An aggressive flash gank mid from Dinter finds another kill for Toyz. HKE looks to siege mid but ahq engages powerfully with great combos from Albis and Ziv, leading to a quadra-kill for AN and an ace for the team.
ahq start moving towards baron but carefully back off under threat from HKE, opting to take their time to methodically take objectives. HKE overextend trying to kill Mountain around the baron pit and ahq are able to respond by finding 4 kills with only Westdoor going down. Toyz is able to swap his life for Albis’, and May and Olleh are able to kill the remaining three members of ahq as they take the baron, with Westdoor being the only one to retain the buff. HKE moves botside to take their first dragon of the game as a consolation prize, but ahq retains an 8k gold lead at 27 minutes.
HKE are able to find a pick onto Westdoor during a siege on mid lane and convert that kill into the mid inner turret before backing off. ahq look to counteract by pushing the midlane themselves but are unable to find any kills or objectives over a cautious HKE.Â
A great teleport flank by May finds a kill on AN in the midlane, which leads to a won fight by HKE and ahq’s middle inhibitor going down. ahq rush back to baron and quickly melt it down before finding a trio of kills and pushing HKE back, leading to a top tower take by ahq. ahq take the dragon but HKE find three kills in return and head through the mid lane to ahq’s base.
ahq barely defend their nexus as the game turns once more and grab a few kills. HKE keep the pressure on as they siege top lane while Westdoor split pushes bottom for ahq. Westdoor is able to grab the bottom inhibitor as ahq grab two kills while attempting to stop HKE’s recalls, but GodJJ is able to get back in time to save the nexus. ahq converts this pressure into a second inhibitor in the middle lane.
A great teleport flank by Ziv finds two kills, and ahq steamroll through HKE’s remaining defenses to win the game!
