Recap of the Smite Pax Prime Finals versus Denial NA

This last weekend we saw PAX put on another great event. The top four NA teams were invited to compete for a prize pool of $20,000. Team Dignitas looked favored to win the event, as they were coming to the event off of a 56-4 competitive match record.

The team didn't rest on its laurels and scrimmed feverishly, making sure they'd be well prepared for the event. They asserted their dominance, going through the round robin stage without dropping a single match. The question was, though, if they could reproduce those same results in the finals. Let's take a look.

Game 1

The numbers next to bans and picks are ordered to match the ban/pick phase.

Team Dignitas Bans

1. Loki
3. He Bo

Denial NA Bans

2. Sobek
4. Athena

 

Team Dignitas Picks

1. Ne Zha
4. Agni
5. Neith
8. Guan Yu
9. Aphrodite

Denial NA Picks

2. Bacchus
3. Hercules
6. Thor
7. Poseidon
10. Apollo

 

Team Comp strengths for Team Dignitas:

- Very strong early ganks on duo lane (Aphrodite + Neith CC with Ne Zha follow-up)

- Good mid game control with Neith global pressure and Ne Zha's mobility

- Good tower pressure through healing sustain (Guan Yu + Aphrodite)

- High potential for catching enemies rotating (Neith Ult -> Ne Zha combo -> Agni)

 

Team Comp strengths for Denial NA:

- Beefy front line in Bacchus, Thor, and Hercules

- Strong AoE (Thor, Poseidon, Hercules, Bacchus)

- Hard engage with Thor -> team follow-up

 

Recap of Game 1:

Denial NA invaded Team Dignitas' blue buff camp and Thor ends up killing Aphrodite at the Tier 2 tower. Apollo solo kills Guan Yu in lane and Agni gets caught in Denial's jungle and dies. At this point Denial NA was up 1200 gold (~3 minute mark). Ne Zha then dies in mid lane as he goes for minion kills. Guan Yu was rotating to help Ne Zha but dies as he gets caught out of position.

Team Dignitas' early warding was weak relative to the aggressive rotations and ganks coming from Denial NA. Although Denial NA put out a lot of pressure and made plays they failed to take objectives off of kills.

Team Dignitas turns their attention towards Hercules and he dies twice to ganks. Aphrodite and Neith ward defensively and avoid a 4 man gank, thereby wasting much of Denial NA's time and regaining objective pressure.

Now, winning their lanes and skirmishes in the jungle, Team Dignitas is in control and pulls ahead in gold at the 9:30 mark. Denial NA don't change their playstyle and become shaken, dying in their lanes and during rotations.

At the 12 minute mark, Team Dignitas leads Denial NA by over 3000g. Team Dignitas postures around Gold Fury and they trade 4 kills for Aphrodite's death, which leads to them taking Gold Fury at ~14:30, and puts them up 6000g over Denial NA as the game approaches the 15 minute mark.

Team Dignitas' lead is strong and they pick up 4 more kills before taking Fire Giant, pushing their lead up to 8000 gold at 17:30. The rest of the game Team Dignitas runs a clinic on Denial NA's towers and phoenixes and then kills the minotaur at 27:50.

 

Stats for Game 1

Team Dignitas

6/1/4 Ne Zha (Lassiz)
5/2/15 Guan Yu (Anatoliy)
10/1/9 Agni (Thebest)
1/3/12 Aphrodite (Shadowq)
4/0/14 Neith (Zapman)

Why did Team Dignitas win?

Although Denial invaded, ganked, and rotated well during the early game, they failed to translate their kills into objectives. During prolonged ganks and rotations, they lost out on minion kills and steady experience gain. Zapman and Shadowq were pressuring the tower harder than PainDeViande (Apollo) and JeffHindla (Bacchus).

Thebest started rotating towards Hercules more often and was successful in keeping him small. In fact, Thebest's rotations and strength in jungle fights took the pressure off of Team Dignitas' duo lane, which in turn let them pick up kills on Apollo. Not only did Team Dignitas start getting kills, but they were able to turn the kills they got into objectives.

Team Dignitas repeatedly killed Denial's tanks, which left them lacking in items and experience, thereby weakening Denial's frontline and making teamfights much easier.

Once Team Dignitas got Fire Giant, they immediately turned their attention on sweeping out the rest of Denial's towers and phoenixes. Their team comp's strong sustain let them facetank for extended periods of time, ensuring they'd get the maximum amount of objectives while the Fire Giant buff was still up.

After all 3 phoenixes went down, it was only a matter of time before Team Dignitas closed out game 1.

 

Game 2

Team Dignitas Bans

1. Hercules
3. Loki

Denial NA Bans

2. Aphrodite
4. Sobek

Team Dignitas Picks

1. Athena
4. Ne Zha
5. Neith
8. Hel
9. Hades

Denial NA Picks

2. Bacchus
3. Agni
6. Thor
7. Chang'e
10. Anhur

Team Comp Strengths for Team Dignitas:

- Strong global map pressure with Neith + Athena

- Strong disengage with Hel + Hades + Neith (Slows, Speed Boost, CC Immunity, Fear, and Root)

- Front line with teamfight control (Hades + Athena)

 

Team Comp Strengths for Denial NA:

- Strong CC in jungle fights (Bacchus + Agni + Thor + Chang'e)

- Strong AoE

- Hard engage with strong team follow-up

 

Recap of Game 2:

Denial NA started out with an invade and counterjungled Team Dignitas' speed buff. They attempt a 4 man gank on Team Dignitas' duo lane but don't get any kills. This sets them behind in gold a little bit, but most importantly sets them behind in experience.

Denial chooses a 1/2/1 lane setup. At ~3:30 Anhur gets caught out of position in the jungle and is taken down by a Neith Arrow into Ne Zha Ult, with Hel having provided some initial damage. This puts Team Dignitas up by about 1600 gold around 4 minutes into the game.

After having a slow start in lane, Anhur and Bacchus manage to pick up a kill on Hel with Belly Flop -> Impale -> Desert Fury. Around the 7 minute mark, Neith and Athena go for a kill on Chang'e, but are met by Thor and Anhur, which leads to Neith's death.

Ne Zha instant buys Tier 3 Deathbringer at 8 minutes in. Bacchus, Agni, and Anhur kill Hel in the mid lane. At the 9 minute mark, Team Dignitas is down 2 kills but still up ahead in gold, having farmed in lane better and taken the mid furies more often.

Thor and Agni go for a kill on Ne Zha in the short lane, but good juking, kiting, and an Athena ult keep Ne Zha alive. At 11:50, Ne Zha and Hel kill an out of position Bacchus in the jungle.

Shortly after, Team Dignitas starts on Gold Fury, but decides to direct their attention towards Chang'e, even using Neith Ultimate on her. Chang'e manages to escape the 5 man attack and sets her team up for a great counter-engagement. Denial kills Neith, Hel, Hades, and Ne Zha at Gold Fury and then moves on to take the Gold Fury at 12:40. This puts them in the lead by about 1800 gold.

Ne Zha and Athena go for a kill on Chang'e with assistance from Neith's Ult, but are kited and then stunned by Chang'e. Bacchus, Agni, and Anhur join Chang'e and pick up a kill on Ne Zha. At the same time, Team Dignitas destroys the Tier 1 middle tower. Denial responds by destroying the Tier 1 long lane tower at 14:25 and the Tier 1 mid lane tower under 30 seconds later.

It was clear that Denial was doing their best to turn their kills into objectives, unlike the game before (which ended up hurting them a lot). At 16:20 Denial NA is ahead 2500 gold. After a favorable teamfight in the jungle (with a great ultimate by Hades), Team Dignitas takes Gold Fury at 18:30.

Denial NA still managed to stay on par with Team Dignitas in terms of teamfighting, up until the 23 minute mark, when Team Dignitas kills Anhur, Thor, Bacchus, and Agni. A great Neith ultimate into Ne Zha ultimate set up the one-sided teamfight. Team Dignitas went on to take the Tier 2 mid tower and then Fire Giant. This string of events puts Team Dignitas up 2500 gold at 24:20.

Team Dignitas looked to keep a stranglehold on the game, taking Gold Fury at 25 minutes in and taking the Tier 2 long lane tower after a 2-for-3 exchange. Team Dignitas' lead grows, as they push their gold lead to 7000 gold ahead at 27 minutes.

Showing a safe, systematic approach to ending the game, Team Dignitas pressures the Tier 1 short lane tower. After they destroy it, Team Dignitas gets a Deicide off of a great Hades ultimate and team follow-up. They push through the short lane all the way to the Minotaur and end up killing the Minotaur at 35:29, giving them the set win 2-0.

 

Stats for Game 2

Team Dignitas

4/4/9 Ne Zha (Lassiz)
2/1/10 Hades (Anatoliy)
6/5/8 Hel (Thebest)
2/0/13 Athena (Shadowq)
3/4/10 Neith (Zapman)

Why did Team Dignitas win?

Denial did a much better job taking objectives early game, most importantly having been successful in turning their kills into objectives unlike in Game 1. They were also able to keep Thebest's Hel down through repeated ganks, making sure that he would not carry as hard as he did in Game 1.

Once Hades was able to make an impact on the game, Team Dignitas ended up winning decisive teamfights, allowing them to take more objectives. The steady advantages from repeated Gold Furies, Towers, and Fire Giant made Team Dignitas stronger in teamfights.

Although this game was a lot closer than Game 1, Team Dignitas showed their objective superiority and got their second and deciding win of the set, making them the winners of PAX.

Looking ahead for Team Dignitas

Although the individual members of Team Dignitas are all highly skilled, their true power comes from their ability to act and react as a team. The synergy between all the players allows for huge plays even when they're behind in gold and/or experience. On top of that, their objective pressure and control are unlike any other team in the North American scene. They prefer to pick fights when they can get objectives and will then usually go from objective to objective, snowballing their lead in a very short period of time.

Once Team Dignitas' early game play matches their late game play, they will be unstoppable (not that they aren't already). As event Smite tournaments become larger and more common (such as Gamescom and PAX), it's a great time to be a Smite fan and an even greater time to be a Team Dignitas fan.

 

Thanks for reading! Look forward to reading an interview with the Team Dignitas Smite squad soon about their victory about PAX and much more.