#5 The Last Pride [EvIL] vs. #6 Idiot Savants [iQ] - Game 2 of 3
5 6
Eun Jong K
1 7
Legend Of Danjang
7 6
Bloodlight Blade
7 6
The Last Of Master
6 3
Ruin K Grasy
2 7
가따올께 채꽃이다
3 7
Only One Star
3 7
Soul Wedding
1 6
Lara Valor
1 6
Big Mchugelarge
6 3
Hello Apollo
2 1
Agro Rayne
3 5
Kami Of Fire
6 3
Nalesia Alvindi
3 5
Red Bars Go Up
3 5
Sarus Noobie Bot
Note: some skill descriptions may have changed since this match was played. Highlight the skills with a red border to see these changes.
Match report

EviL took a primarily unchanged build into the second game, with the interesting replacement of a Ranger/Assassin for one of the Domination Mesmers. But this increased mobility appeared to be for naught as they loaded into iQ's hall selection, Isle of the Jade, a map that limits movement and split effectiveness better than almost any other. Not to be deterred, EviL formed up into a 4-4 split right out of the opening gate, and adhered to it from early on.

Meanwhile, iQ had gone back to their highly successful build from Game 2 against Irresistible Blokes, but were again on their heels in response to EviL's advances. Just as they had done in the previous game, the Last Pride found their openings and took full advantage, catching iQ players under-manned or out of position, and making them pay. By four minutes, iQ had become split up, suffered a few deaths, lost a handful of NPCs, and given control of the flag stand to EviL without much of a fight. By ten minutes, they had parked themselves firmly in their base, and had no interest in trying to chase their Shadow Step-loving opponents all around the map any longer. They wanted Victory or Death, literally.

The ensuing wait to VoD felt more like PvE than PvP, as EviL tried fruitlessly over and over again to “pull” iQ from the clutches of their NPC core. They even tried sacrificing deaths in order to sneak someone back in to resurrect them and perhaps take out a few more NPC's, but iQ never strayed far from their remaining defenses. The Savants sat back, drank some Dwarven Ale, and counted the minutes until they could again unleash their monstrosity of a VoD-strat for this particular map.

But as the Victory or Death shout landed, iQ took the unexpected route, and reacquainted themselves with the gank rush that had held up so well for them thus far in the tournament. EviL, who had manuevered to pincer the stray NPCs, were caught unprepared for such a move, and hurriedly moved back to defend their Lord. Having already sustained some hefty damage from the Spiked Coral en route to the opposing base, iQ began the fight without max Health, and perhaps thought they could out-damage the Lord before Monk support could arrive. But when almost an entire team has Dark Escape, and both Monks have Return, it becomes a tough task to sneak anything under their noses, to be sure.

All at once, three different battles raged into play. A 6-on-6 battle in EviL's base, a 2-on-2 battle in iQ's base, and an NPC-on-NPC battle at the flag stand, where iQ's remaining forces actually managed to take out both of The Last Pride's Bodyguards and quite a few Archers before going down themselves. Unfortunately for iQ, that was the only battle of the concurrent three that had much of a bright side. Forced to hold a Monk back to defend their own Lord, the Savants couldn't heal through the damage during their attempted gank, and wound up back at square one–the waiting game. Back to Plan A!

There's nothing quite like a 35 minute Guild Lord escort when you're facing elimination, but it's especially exceptional when you're packing Glyph of Sacrifice and Meteor Shower. Rayne played his part just like his name specified, and held agro like a champion. Just as he'd done against iB, he hit Whirling, received a healthy dose of Smite, and ran into the biggest group he could find to lay traps while a Meteor Shower flew in from overhead. Instantaneous mayhem, now in a convenient take-home kit!

Down went the remaining NPCs for EviL, followed by a series of kills on Assassins, and then the underlying question of the match came into focus. While a Monk/Assassin makes for one of the most elusive healing builds you can muster, what happens when there's nowhere left to run? Forced to stick with their Guild Lord, EviL deflated and just couldn't pump enough sustained healing power into their Lord. With no way to regain energy because they weren't the typical Mesmer secondary, the Guild Lord went down in the most peculiar of scenarios–with the entirety of his team still alive and holding a massive morale advantage.

~Joshua Lovejoy (GuildWars.com)