Phase 3 Week 7
Gap to the Top Widens as Leviathans Capture History
#1
Atlantis Leviathans (11-1)
Previous ranking: 1
Last week: 3-0 (Dragons 2-1, Scarabs 2-1, Bolts 2-0)
This week: Kings, Warriors
The Leviathans have made history. With their 2-0 win over the Bolts, the Leviathans ended the week with their 11th straight set victory, breaking the record of 10 set victories set by the Season 3 European Powerhouse NRG Esports. NRG later went on to win Worlds for the second year running, another accolade the Leviathans hope to add to their trophy case this coming January. The only other team besides NRG to win back-to-back? The Zapman-led Pittsburgh Knights. This Leviathans team has many parallels to that Knights squad—a selfless support, a superstar mid-jungle duo, a clutch solo laner, and, of course, impeccable macro-game shot calling from the veteran Zapman. Panitom’s emergence in particular has been a sight to behold. Two weeks ago, Sheento had nearly a nearly 20 kill lead over his jungler. Now, impossibly, Panitom’s kill total has ballooned and surpassed Sheento’s for the league-lead, bolstered by a string of incredible performances that have been, frankly, baffling to watch. He outclasses every jungler the Leviathans face, and he does so with a variety of gods that make him difficult to target ban.
The Leviathans have not lost yet on this streak, and they will have a chance to extend it going into next week. However, I think a loss is absolutely in the cards for the Leviathans in week 7. The gap between 1 and 3 may be the largest it has been all season, but winning 12 sets in a row is literally unheard of. At the same time, the Leviathans dropped a game to the last-place Scarabs. It is not like they are without vulnerabilities, even as they continue to find ways to win. The Kings, on the other hand, had a strong showing in week 6 and look to keep the ball rolling. It is the kind of result that is just crazy enough to expect it to happen in what has been a phase full of unpredictable outcomes. Leviathans fans may breathe a sigh of relief seeing the streak end in week 7 rather than, say, playoffs.
Prediction: 1-2 Kings, 2-0 Warriors
#2
Jade Dragons (9-3)
Previous ranking: 2
Last week: 2-1 (Leviathans 1-2, Warriors 2-0, Titans 2-1)
This week: Valkyries, Bolts
The Dragons lost again, and they dropped a game, too, to the Titans. The dominant Dragons from masters are now firmly gone. Replaced is a consistently good team that knows how to choke opponents out, but still plays sloppily around objectives in the mid game—a flaw that has continued to cost the Dragons games. It is not a problem they can take with them to the Worlds stage. This team has the best macro play in the first 10 minutes of any team in the league. That is a winning recipe. But the Dragons are frankly not as clutch as their blue-serpent counterparts. They don’t always find ways to win, even if they are consistently one of the best teams in the league. In fact, many of their losses are self-inflicted, as they have blundered leads on risky Fire Giant calls and ill-conceived sieges.
Prediction: 2-0 Valkyries, 2-1 Bolts
#3
Camelot Kings (7-4)
Previous ranking: 3
Last week: 2-0 (Bolts 2-1, Scarabs 2-0)
This week: Warriors, Leviathans, Titans
Week 6 was a nice week from the Kings, but a relatively easy one against two lower seeded teams. I predicted that the Bolts would beat the Kings 2-1, and I was nearly right. But sometimes I can forget just how good BigManTingz is. In a world without Sheento, BMT is the best mid laner on this planet. In a world with Sheento, maybe it is more of a tossup, though Sheento plays on the better team (which helps his stats). BMT willed the Kings to victory on the brink of near-certain defeat in game 3 against the Bolts. After seeing that, how do you ever count this team out? An upset over the Leviathans could, in theory, put the Kings in the mix for the second seed—hopes that will be quickly dashed when they lose on Sunday.
Prediction: 2-0 Warriors, 2-1 Leviathans, 1-2 Titans
#4
Tartarus Titans (6-6)
Previous ranking: 5
Last week: 2-1 (Scarabs 2-1, Valkyries 2-0, Dragons 1-2)
This week: Bolts, Kings
I will be honest, I don’t understand this team. They will look absolutely anemic sometimes, dominant others, and sometimes they will play a better team close and lose, or a worse team close and win. The Titans’ results have run the gamut this phase and this week, but they still look massively improved after a tough first half. Closing out with a strong week, including an upset victory over the Kings, will establish the Titans as a firm top-4 team who can beat anyone—if the dice roll their way.
Prediction: 2-0 Bolts, 2-1 Kings
#5
Olympus Bolts (4-7)
Previous ranking: 4
Last week: 0-2 (Kings 1-2, Leviathans 0-2)
This week: Titans, Dragons, Valkyries
Week 6 was a hard week for the Bolts. They nearly beat the Kings—and they should have—but they fell down in the late game. The reality is this Bolts team, while they look better, has only beat two teams—the Warriors and the Scarabs. What are their chances this week against the Titans and Dragons? The Bolts have fared better against other team-oriented teams like the Warriors and Kings, rather than teams that beat you on talent like the Dragons and Titans. This is oversimplifying, as the Dragons especially can play strong team-oriented SMITE, but the talent mismatches with theses rosters, especially in mid, has me concerned for the Bolts’ chances in the final week.
Prediction: 0-2 Titans, 1-2 Dragons, 2-0 Valkyries
#6
Oni Warriors (6-5)
Previous ranking: 6
Last week: 1-1 (Valkyries 2-0, Dragons 0-2)
This week: Kings, Leviathans, Scarabs
The Warriors beat the Valkyries, but that is their lone positive performance in the second round robin—and their lone win, too. The Warriors should be able to handle the Scarabs, but against the Kings and Leviathans, I have doubts. The Warriors will still have a decent seeding going into playoffs, but that is largely due to a strong start to the phase—a start that has all but evaporated after a 2-0 defeat to the Dragons. Playing the Scarabs at the end of the week, I think the Warriors could even be vulnerable in that set, as they have been trending in opposite directions for the last two weeks.
Prediction: 0-2 Kings, 0-2 Leviathans, 1-2 Scarabs
#7
Solar Scarabs (1-11)
Previous ranking: 8
Last week: 0-3 (Titans 1-2. Leviathans 1-2, Kings 0-2)
This week: Valkyries, Warriors
I have moved the Scarabs to 7. Let me present the following apology:
The Scarabs are a team that, amid struggles, find a way to show up. Through numerous roster changes, they have always been that team. In phase 1 of season 8, they somehow made the phase 1 playoffs by beating a top 3 team. Then after their roster turned over and they were back at the bottom, they wound up in 4th at Worlds. This year, they beat a Kings team in Phase 2 they had no business beating. When their team lost Stuart and changed their entire duo lane, they notched their first set win of the phase the very next time they played. They are 1-11, but they have not lost their chance at a 7th place finish.
The Valkyries, whom I will discuss in a moment, had chance after chance to lock the Scarabs in the cellar by winning just 1 set. Now, if neither team wins their other match-ups in the final week—an outcome which is at least somewhat likely—the winner of their rematch on Thursday would determine the 7th seed. I will take it a step further, though. The Scarabs will close out the Valkyries, yes, but they will defeat the Warriors too. The first week after losing their coach, the Scarabs played close sets against two of the top 4 teams. Their 2-0 loss to the Kings in week 6 was disheartening, but the results have honestly been there for the bugs. They play hard seemingly every set, and they find ways to compete even despite obvious talent mismatches and a slew of challenges. The stage is set this week for the Scarabs to once again shock the SMITE world and wind up in 7th place. You better bring your popcorn.
Prediction: 2-1 Valkyries, 2-1 Warriors
#8
Valhalla Valkyries (2-9)
Previous ranking: 7
Last week: 0-2 (Warriors 0-2, Titans 0-2)
This week: Scarabs, Dragons, Bolts
The Valkyries still have a shot at the 6th seed and a playoff berth, but it would require the Bolts to lose out, and the Valkyries to beat both the Scarabs and the Bolts. It would be exciting for the Valkyries to play the Bolts with the final playoff spot on the line in phase 3’s final set. However, I think the Valkyries will lose their chance before that match even happens. Let’s look at this objectively: the Valhalla Valkyries beat the Kings. They have consistency issues, as we all know, but they have shown a capacity to show up in hard sets sometimes.
Well, with playoff implications in the penultimate week of phase 3, the Valkyries played two good but certainly beatable teams in the Warriors and Titans. Seeing as they beat the Kings, those sets should have at least been close the for the Valkyries, especially with their place in the standings hanging in the balance. Splitting these sets was a possible, even likely outcome, but instead these sets were unforgivably noncompetitive. The consistency issues have now ballooned into an inability to show up when they need to, and with every set mattering for their playoff hopes, I have qualms with betting on them. They needed to build off of their Kings win, and instead the foundation they laid in that set has all but been reduced to ash. Meanwhile, their neighbors in the standings—the Bolts and Scarabs—are improving.
Prediction: 1-2 Scarabs, 0-2 Dragons, 0-2 Bolts
