Phase 3 Week 3
Chaos and a New Number 1
The last thing you see before your titan dies
#1
Camelot Kings (3-1)
Previous ranking: 2
Last week: 2-0 (Scarabs 2-0, Warriors 2-1)
This week: Titans, Leviathans
Someone has to be on top. Why not the Kings? They dispensed with the Scarabs easily, flexing superior objective play and team fight coordination, and they came back admirably after a game 1 loss to a then-undefeated Warriors team that defeated the Dragons earlier in the weekend. The reality is that the margin between the top 3 teams is razor-thin, and while the Kings did lose 2-0 to the Dragons in week 1, that felt less like the Dragons being outright better and more like the Kings being a touch sluggish in the first week back from a long break. Fans should remember that, despite the Dragons winning summer masters, it was the Kings who took the first seed in phase 2. Whether or not they can capitalize on the regular season success and win a LAN is another question altogether, but the Kings still feel like one of the teams to beat—and it is never going to be easy.
The Kings especially thrive against teams that struggle with consistency, as their superb objective play keeps teams honest and makes it difficult to mount any meaningful lead on them before they beat you in the late game. Fortunately for Kings fans, they face two such inconsistent teams this week. Despite having on paper the hardest weekend of any top 3 team, I don’t see the Kings dropping any games.
Prediction: 2-0 Titans, 2-0 Leviathans
#2
Oni Warriors (2-1)
Previous ranking: 3
Last week: 1-1 (Dragons 2-1, Kings 1-2)
This week: Valkyries, Scarabs
For almost 24 hours, the Warriors were on top of the SMITE world. After a game 1 win against the Kings, it looked as though the Warriors might stay there. Alas, CaptainTwig and his menacing stare had other plans. Still, it is hard not to be proud of these Warriors who went from not playing at Worlds and having to play their way back into the SPL to now being a bona fide top team.
This week is unlikely to change anything, as the Warriors face off against the Valkyries and the Scarabs—two teams struggling to break out of the bottom third of the league. The Valkyries will likely make games interesting, but the Warriors excel in areas the Valkyries don’t, such as objectives and team fights. It wouldn’t be surprising for a modest Valkyries lead to suddenly go missing at the 20-minute mark. This team finds ways to win, and it’s beautiful to watch.
Prediction: 2-0 Valkyries, 2-0 Scarabs
#3
Jade Dragons (3-1)
Previous ranking: 1
Last week: 1-1 (Warriors 1-2, Titans 2-0)
This week: Valkyries, Bolts
When the Dragons win, they win hard. They win so hard that after a mere two matches in week 1, fans were legitimately wondering if they would lose again any time soon. That’s how it felt when they faced the Titans on Sunday. They put their boots to the Titans’ necks and never let up for a second. All gas and no breaks—when they’re winning.
But they lost on Saturday to a Warriors team that made near perfect adjustments after game 1. It wasn’t a convincing loss per se—the set was plenty competitive from the second they sat down. But the Dragons have only had two games this split that they didn’t essentially lead wire to wire, and they lost both of them. It seems that if teams can keep the game close for the first 20 minutes, the Dragons are beatable. Easier said than done, but it is enough to raise some questions (though far from troubling) about how the Dragons respond to adversity. It may be that the Dragons aren’t as good as the Kings and Warriors at playing from even or behind. It may also be that it never matters. It may be that the Dragons are yet still the best team in the league (razor-thin margins, after all), but last weekend the Warriors and Kings were better.
This week, the Dragons will face the Valkyries and Bolts, which should be wins for them. However, I could see the Dragons stumbling a bit if a game gets messy, and any team with BennyQ is going to pull you into the mud.
Prediction: 2-1 Valkyries, 2-0 Bolts
#4
Tartarus Titans (2-2)
Previous ranking: 5
Last week: 1-1 (Valkyries 2-0, Dragons 0-2)
This week: Kings
The quintessential middle team. The Titans are sloppy and messy and chaotic, but they will beat the bad teams and lose to the good teams. Their drafts still seem lacking—top picking Layers’ Da Ji after it struggle in game 1 against the Dragons was perplexing, and they seemed to allow the Dragons onto picks they were comfortable with. The Titans seem easy to draft against because it isn’t clear what they want to do, or what other teams should be afraid of. The top 3 teams have such distinct identities—contrast that with the Titans, who feel like they are throwing things at a wall to see what sticks. So far, it’s all bouncing off. Except for Ishtar. Ishtar was good.
This week they face the Kings. I hope their preparation is strong, because they will need to have something of a gameplan figured out in order to keep pace.
Prediction: 0-2 Kings
#5
Atlantis Leviathans (2-1)
Previous ranking: 4
Last week: 1-0 (Bolts 2-1)
This week: Scarabs, Kings
The Leviathans might have liked to play twice this week. I can’t imagine they would say no to more time playing with this roster. As of now, they look about as good they did before they got Haddix. Sure, they beat the Titans in week 1. But their win over the Bolts was inexcusably sloppy. They had to rely on an early Christmas present from the Bolts in game 3 as they graciously gift-wrapped the win and priority shipped it to the Leviathans. Credit to the Leviathans for capitalizing on those mistakes, but I can count 5, if not 6 other teams who would close them out in that position. They aren’t going to beat the Kings this week if they find themselves in that big of a deficit. It needs to be cleaner.
Still, something is nagging at me as I watch their games. It’s too cinematic—Zapman struggling to get out of the middle of the pack, his team under-performing in regular season games. At this point, I’m wondering if some devil somewhere has Zapman’s soul, and in exchange he gets to wreck the SMITE world one weekend a year and one weekend only.
Prediction: 2-0 Scarabs, 0-2 Kings
#6
Valhalla Valkyries (1-2)
Previous ranking: 7
Last week: 1-1 (Bolts 2-0, Titans 0-2)
This week: Warriors, Dragons
The Valkyries beat the Bolts. They did not beat the Titans. They continue to improve, but there is plenty of room to grow. BennyQ continues to fascinate with his unorthodox picks, but the duo lane of Wowy and Gamma still struggles to hold up to pressure. Against the Dragons, a team that pressures duo side more than anyone else, I could see the Valkyries duo lane having a long set. Still, the Valkyries are a team that will surprise you, and they have managed to keep almost all of their games close. And, as we said earlier, the Dragons are beatable if you can keep it close. They probably can’t—not for three games anyways—but I can see the Valkyries getting the upper hand once.
Prediction: 0-2 Warriors, 1-2 Dragons
#7
Olympus Bolts (1-3)
Previous ranking: 6
Last week: 0-2 (0-2 Valkyries, 1-2 Leviathans)
This week: Dragons
We knew there would be growing pains. This is more like growing torture. The Bolts can’t seem to convert winning positions. It is a full blown problem at this point. It has little to do with Baskin, who has looked mostly solid in his return to the SPL, or LASBRA, who has been one of the better junglers through two weeks in phase 3. The back line for the Bolts has looked shaky at times, but that alone doesn’t explain how they can’t win from ahead. It is genuinely baffling. Over the course of a season, you might expect to lose some fights up 4000 gold. You might expect to lose some fights with the opponent’s left side phoenix down (which, by the way, provides a massive positional advantage for the fire giant, which was spawning). But you should never lose 5 for 0. It’s inexcusable.
The Bolts should stay up late tonight writing thank-you notes and sending flowers to the Scarabs, who are the only reason the Bolts are not dead last right now. My only prediction for this week is that the Bolts will beat themselves.
Prediction: 0-2 Bolts
#8
Solar Scarabs (0-3)
Previous ranking: 8
Last week: 0-1 (Kings 0-2)
This week: Leviathans, Warriors
The Scarabs are too talented to be this bad forever. The Scarabs are too talented to be this bad forever. The Scarabs are too talented to be this bad forever. (Repeat until they win a set).
Prediction: 0-2 Leviathans, 0-2 Warriors
