SX Phase 1 Week 2

Ravens With Impressive Opening Week as Kings, Warriors Lead The Pack

#1

Camelot Kings

2-0 (T-1st Order)

Make no mistake: these are the same Kings that left us in January. Despite losing in the kickoff LAN to the surging Warriors, the Camelot Kings showed this weekend why they are the team to beat, easily dispensing with two heavy hitters in the Dragons and Ferrymen. Their calling card? The same as it has always been—objective control. If not for a methodical-but-lengthy late-game siege that netted the Dragons several fire giants, the Kings would have handily led in objective control for all three major objectives. They are the only team in Week 1 to boast 70% control over each objective, including a backbreaking 82.4% over the Gold Fury. This team beats you with precision, always being in the right place at the right time and punishing even the slightest hesitations.

This week: Leviathans, Hounds

#2

Oni Warriors

2-0 (1st Chaos)

I wrote last year of the surging Leviathans that good teams win even on their bad days. Week 1 was certainly a bad week for the Warriors relative to the expectations they set as Kickoff LAN champions. They needed three games to get past the Leviathans and nearly dropped a game to the Hounds. Still, they demonstrated perhaps their scariest quality—that they are never out of a game. Even in their single game loss to the Leviathans, late game heroics nearly had them positioned to win. If this team doesn’t beat you early, they might steal the game late through sheer outplays and force of will. Pegon and Panitom remain a force of a mid-jungle and perhaps one of the deadliest mid 2v2s in the league. If the Kings are the sharpest team, then the Warriors are the heaviest team. Rather than beating you cleanly through precise play, this Oni squad will simply overwhelm you.

This week: Ferrymen, Dragons

#3

Highland Ravens

2-0 (T-1st Order)

A more than impressive week for the Ravens, they battled past the Leviathans and the Hounds, earning a surprising 2-0 start. The stand-outs? Venenu and Hurriwind. The current-and-former mid laners, who in season eight exchanged blows on Twitter, showcased clean mechanical play that helped lead them back from the brink against the Leviathans. Hurriwind’s Yemoja in particular was devastating, as his use of riptide to cut off escape routes sealed their comeback in style. There is no telling where this team will wind up, but their first match against fellow division-leading Kings will be hotly anticipated—and hopefully entertaining.

This week: Dragons, Ferrymen

#4

Jade Dragons

1-1 (2nd Chaos)

The way the Kings were playing in Week 1, nobody realistically had a shot to beat them. Still, there was some cause for concern against the gladiators, as both of their wins required lengthy sieges. As they described in the post-game interview, those sieges were more methodical than hesitant, but they were still not as clean as perhaps the Dragons would have liked—delaying the game, after all, is always risky.

Still, there was a lot to like with this Jade team in Week 1 despite the loss, and it comes on the back of an impressive runner-up finish at the Kickoff LAN which saw them battle past the Leviathans and Hounds. PolarBearMike now laning alongside Vote was particularly entertaining, as the superstar ADC got a chance to flex pressure in the lane rather than play a more passive style he was known for last year. It’s too soon to say whether this team can legitimately contend for a title, but for a core roster known for late-season failures, they will be under intense scrutiny all season.

This week: Ravens, Warriors

#5

Styx Ferrymen

1-1 (3rd Order)

The Ferrymen just don’t seem to have that “it” factor right now. Yes, they play SMITE well, and yes, they won’t be an easy out for the top teams, but like the season nine Titans who came before them, it’s tough to imagine them steam-rolling their way to the top of the standings. Their losses to the Hounds at kickoff and to the Kings in Week 1 looked awfully similar—they could hang around, but they struggled to take control of games. One has to wonder if this roster, like the one ranked below it, is something of a sleeping giant that just need a little bit of time to awaken. Over the course of a long season, I would take this team over the Ravens, Dragons, and perhaps even the Warriors—these players, after all, find a way to win in January. However, today, after Week 1, this roster configuration clearly has some growing pains to endure. A week against two of the SPL’s Week 1 standouts could spell more trouble for them in the early goings of Season X.

All of that being said—welcome back, Cyclonespin. Your brief hiatus was all too long.

This week: Warriors, Ravens

#6

Atlantis Leviathans

0-2 (T-3rd Chaos)

Slow starts must be in Zapman’s DNA. It’s not even his fault, and I don’t mean to suggest a lack of motivation on his or his team’s part. This season, it’s mostly due to Sheento missing the kickoff LAN and then playing on ping during Week 1 as the team awaits his return from Uruguay. The team did get a chance to flex at times, taking a commanding lead over the Ravens in game one that unraveled after a Fineokay lazy back and even winning a game against the Warriors on the strength of Adapting’s breathtaking Ao Kuang. Speaking of Adapting, it feels almost like the two-time champion never left. The all-time SPL kills leader looked more like the Adapting of old than the one that left after season seven. The motivation, the fire, the skill—it’s all there. This team scares me, even if they are struggling early.

This week: Kings, Gladiators

#7

Eldritch Hounds

0-2 (T-3rd Order)

It feels unfair to put the Hounds at 7 after such a competitive week, but they lost both games and their long-term potential is arguable lower than that of the Leviathans, who boast more World Championships between them than any other team. The room for growth on this roster, however, is vast. The Hounds feature three rookies—VaporishCoast, Quig, and Oathhh—the only rookies in the SPL, a second year player in BennyQ, and a coach in ElChuckles with experience helping fledgling teams reach unexpected highs. They have a lot of potential and a lot of time get there—and playing against the best of the best might just help this team improve sooner rather than later. Their first real shot at a win? Sunday against the Gladiators. It’s a match they can’t let slip away, since they only get one shot at their cross-division rival.

This week: Kings, Gladiators

#8

Gilded Gladiators

0-2 (4th Chaos)

And so we have our last place team, the Gilded Gladiators. It was a rough week, to put it lightly. Both the Ferrymen and the Dragons stepped past them rather easily, even if the Gladiators were able to stretch a game or two a few minutes longer than they should have. They were almost never in control, even in a game two against the Dragons where they handily led in kills, the gold lead remained elusive. For the same reason the Kings have the #1 ranking, the Gladiators find themselves here—objective control. They need to learn to play the map more effectively if they wish to be competitive this year.

The lone bright spot? Stuart, who wasn’t even on this roster to begin with. After Week 1, Stuart’s 2 deaths is the fewest of anyone in the pro league—the next closest is a five-way tie at 4 deaths. Stuart posted a slash line of 8/2/11 across four lost games, good for a KDA of 6.75. That performance on a struggling team is, frankly, absurd.

This week: Leviathans, Hounds