image courtesy of Sheever
Third day at The Summit 6 started with the first elimination series, NP versus EHOME, two teams that are already well known for certain comfort picks and clear tactics.
Showing a lot of respect for each other, both NP and EHOME chose for the two games played identical first round of bans: EHOME taking Naga Siren and Drow Ranger off the table while NP denied Nyx Assassin and Venomancer.
Game One
After being defeated two times in a row by Wings Gaming in the past week, Jacky 'EternaLEnVy' Mao went into his first game against EHOME with the Warlock pick that's been so popular in this meta plus an AOE damage strategy for their cores. The Chinese team tried to secure a heavy sustain draft with Zhang 'LaNm' Zhicheng’s signature Undying and a carry Necrophos for Liu 'Sylar' Jiajun. The laning stage went well for NP, who benefited from their Chen rotations and managed to bully out of their lanes. Envy faced no real threat in the mid lane versus EHOME’s Juggernaut. Having early Necronomicon ready on the Beastmaster and level six on their Warlock before the 10 minute mark, NP gathered as four in the bottom lane to push the tier one tower. But despite their decent lead in both items and levels, NP got outplayed in the team fight that happened under tower and, courtesy of Undying’s Tombstone and strong Soul Rip heals along with the heals coming from the Necrophos, EHOME was able to secure their first two kills of the game. They counter pushed NP, taking the first tier tower down themselves.
Recognizing EHOME’s incredible team fight sustainability, NP went on farming and avoided any major engagement for as long as possible. At the 18 minute mark NP’s Chen finished his Mekansm and at the same very moment the Centaur Warrunner completed his Pipe of Insight. Three minutes later NP got an amazing five man Fatal Bonds - Chaotic Offering combo, and the entire EHOME lineup got wiped in seconds as Mirana's Aghanim's took them fully by surprise. Riding on their momentum, NP went straight for EHOME’s base, took down the first lane of barracks, and forced the Chinese to tap out.
Game Two
The second game unfolded a similar story, but with an elevated game plan from EE-Sama. Going again with the Warlock support, NP reserved a surprising offlane Omniknight for Arif 'MSS' Anwar and a Queen of Pain last pick for Envy. Again, NP had a better laning stage, the solo offlane Omniknight proving impossible to kill by EHOME’s dual Witch Doctor- Weaver while the safe lane also did well, with Kurtis 'Aui_2000' Ling's farming almost undisturbed.
EHOME understood very fast that they didn't have the manpower to stand against the lethal Fatal Bonds - Storm Hammer - Sonic Wave combo and tried to outmaneuver NP on the map, always opting for objective trades. Eventually NP reached EHOME’s tier three towers, and this is when the game took an interesting turn due to Envy’s master plan. Triple Linken's Sphere on the NP cores Sven, Mirana, and Omniknight plus the Repel spell made Aui literally immortal. Protected by the three Linkens, Sven charged the high ground on his own and chopped through the tier three mid lane tower leaving EHOME no choice but to spectate as their base went down. The GG call came a bit over the 30 minute mark, and EHOME became the first team eliminated from The Summit 6.
NP’s next adversaries in the lower bracket are Evil Geniuses, the series being scheduled for tomorrow, November 19 at 10:00 PST/19:00 CET.
