Arena of Valor (AoV) - Valor Series Europe Playoffs Recap

The fight for the title of Best in the EU is over as the first day of the Valor series playoffs concludes. Here are highlights from the day’s matches.

Match 1: For the Dream vs Team Royal

Round 1

Both teams stuck with relatively common picks in the current meta. Team Royal took a strong warrior combo of Wonder Woman and Ryoma along with a double mage line up with both Liliana and Zill. For the Dream, meanwhile, broke the normal anti-marksman focus the current game has and gave Arena of Violet his signature Violet. The rest of their composition was made of rather durable choices, Lu Bu and Max making up a durable frontline while Alice supported the team from behind and Lauriel wove between the lines for some additional damage.

The game started with both teams playing exceptionally cautiously, the occasional gank attempt easily averted. The action didn’t really start until For the Dream made an early attempt at the Abyssal Dragon only to have Memorized snipe it away with a well-timed Wailing Blade.

Both teams continued to feel each other out afterward, Team Royal taking an interesting strategy of splitting the jungle between Zill and Ryoma as they roamed the battlefield. A fight broke out at dragon at 4:30, For the Dream this time coming to contest the beast away from Team Royal. They manage to avenge the gold they lost from the previous dragon, stealing it away in the skirmish and picking up two kills for first blood and a tower as interest.

For the Dream was able to use this bit of moment to lead the game and ultimately control the rest of the match’s pace. Team Royal’s towers started to periodically fell despite some skilled ganks made by the roaming Ryoma and Wonder Woman. In addition, For the Dream fully controlled both epic creatures for the remainder of the map, each kill pushing them into a larger and larger gold advantage. Their first assault on the Dark Slayer was particularly damaging to Team Royal. Team Royal rotated in to contest For the Dream’s attack but found themselves unable to steal it away. For the Dream was sure to punish their attempts as well, killing Wonder Woman and making a march down the Dark Slayer lane to siege Team Royal’s high ground. A well-placed counter-initiation by Team Royal saved the tower, however, as well as scoring them four kills and keeping them in the running for the game.

It wasn’t enough, however, For the Dream not offering any other windows of opportunity to Team Royal. Max cast Liftoff as soon as he respawned from the previous fight and flew onto Team Royal, still low due to using the window after the team fight to siege their opponents rather than heal. This would be their undoing, as For the Dream swarmed in after Max to clean up, picking up two more kills and taking out their Dark Slayer high ground tower.

Team Royal wasn’t able to take any more control of the game, For the Dream starting a long siege on their middle and Abyssal Dragon lane high ground towers. This culminated with a team fight as mid fell, For the Dream managing an Ace and winning the game 11-6.

Round 2

Team Royal attacked For the Dream directly with their bans, taking Violet off the table. They built a team that much more resembles other mobas: a single mage, a beefy side laner, a jungling assassin, a support, and a marksman. Their composition was much more late-game focused, Yorn, in particular, needing time to farm up items in order to hit his power spike. For the Dream, in contrast, took an approach very similar to their previous match, an extremely thick front line protecting their single damaging mage Liliana.

The round started off with both sides playing a bit more aggressively than before, Team Royal roaming around the map searching for ganks while For the Dream put pressure on the farming Yorn. Team Royal’s hunt paid off early, a gank on Liliana mid scoring them an early first blood. They followed this up with an early dragon kill, scoring the team an early lead.

They were not able to maintain this lead for long, however. The next dragon would fall to For the Dream at 5:26, able to snag it after regrouping after a small contest for the creature. They follow this up with their own first kill, showing off their dive comp on Yorn by picking him off under the Abyssal Dragon lane tower.

Momentum continued in For the Dream’s favor, they scoring the next dragon without contest and managing the occasional pick off of Team Royal’s heroes. This culminated in a fight in the Abyssal Dragon lane at the 10-minute mark, For the Dream picking off four of Team Royal’s heroes after successfully taking a third dragon uncontested and only giving up a single kill in return.

The game continued in For the Dream’s favor, Team Royal getting pushed further and further back until they were forced to turtle within their base. This allowed For the Dream full dominance over the map and uncontested control of both the Dark Slayer and Abyssal Dragon as a result. However, by this point in the game Yorn’s damage had grown to the point to where he could very quickly knock down the incoming minion waves and thereby protect his team from being seiged. The dive-heavy composition of For the Dream’s team proved too much, they able to make some decisive moves under Team Royal’s high ground tower in order to knock them down. While Team Royal was able to make a bit of a comeback at the 21-minute mark, a fight under mid tower resulting in them picking up four kills. This wasn’t enough to get them any more than the tier one Dark Slayer tower as a reward and they lost their last high ground tower in the process.

With no defenses left, For the Dream was able to sweep in and take out the Core, ending the game at 24:50 with a final kill score of 10-11

Round Winner: For the Dream

Match 2: Vitality vs Nova

Round 1

Vitality took a recently popular dive composition with durable heroes like Lu Bu and Maloch making up a strong front line. Surprisingly, rather than grabbing one of the top four mages in the game, Vitality took Mganga as their main source of magic damage. Nova built up a more traditional late game build, durable heroes like Ormarr and Omen there to protect squishier late-game damage dealer Yorn.

The game started off with an invasion trade, both teams invading the other’s Might Golem camp. After clearing their opponent’s jungle, both teams returned to their respective sides of the field and began feeling each other out. Several skirmishes came close to being the first to spill first blood, but each ended with the target proving too slippery and skirting away from the fight. This continues on to the first dragon fight of the match, both teams struggling for the creature at 2:40 until Ryoma manages to secure its bonus. This fight broke up without either team drawing first blood, however. First Blood honors would have to wait until a gank on Alice at 3:43, The Flash managing to sneak in the last hit. This didn’t go unpunished, however, as Mganga and Lu Bu managed to pick off two of the attackers as they tried to disengage from the fight.

The game continued in a back and forth, both teams trading the occasional pick off while Vitality maintained control of the Abyssal Dragon. The gold advantage that this caused started to show itself at 7:30, Vitality managing a two for one kill trade at the Abyssal Dragon lane. This opened up enough of a window for the team to siege the Abyssal Dragon lane tower, making it the first building felled in the game.

Vitality’s lead only widened from there. At the 10-minute mark, Vitality managed to trade their first forfeit of the Abyssal Dragon for a pickoff in the Dark Slayer lane and the destruction of its tier 1 and 2 towers as well. The pressure of this push then allows a detachment to move mid, catching the few members of Nova who had not moved to defend the Dark Slayer high ground off guard. Despite a tower’s assistance, Vitality was able to trade kills in order to tear down the mid lane’s tier 1.

Another decisive victory came to Vitality at 12 minutes, a fight breaking out with Maloch’s dive and ending with three members of Nova dead. This momentum was enough for Vitality to break through the Dark Slayer lane’s high ground and begin attacking the core, but they lacked the minions they needed to wrap up the first game of the match. This didn’t shake Vitality, however, they feinting retreat and hiding in Nova’s jungle brush. The move worked flawlessly, several members of Nova wandering into their range and getting caught in a gank. Vitality managed to pick off the whole team save for The Flash. The fastest man alive proved not to be enough of a barrierr for the inevitable, however, Vitality sweeping in afterwards to end the game with a kill score of 18-8.

Round 2

TeeMee found their first time off the ban list this match, Nova making pointed bans against Vitality instead of the usual picks. Nova continues their trend for a late game team, TeeMee, Lu Bu, and Lauriel protecting Yorn. Team Vitality, on the other hand, continued to show their preference for a dive comp with durable heroes like Wonder Woman, Maloch, and Rourke while Alice and Chaugnar lent them their support.

The match was much faster to break into action than the first, a fight breaking out at the three-minute mark down at the Abyssal Dragon. Nova moved to contest the dragon as Vitality tried to slay the beast but is unable to do so against Rourke’s burst damage. If this wasn’t bad enough, Vitality then turns to fight Nova directly, scoring four kills while only giving a single up to Nova.

Nova was able to find a bit more luck after this, managing a few pickoffs as both teams farm and attempt to trade. Vitality didn’t let them completely off scot-free, however, a Nova gank at 6:38 getting reversed by an increasingly powerful Rourke. This reversal gave them enough momentum to then dive under the tower to pick off Yorn and knock down the defensive structure a mere minute later. The pace proves addictive, Vitality immediately moving to slay the nearby Abyssal Dragon. While they were able to kill the beast, it came at the cost of trading Rourke’s life for Nakroth’s when Nova came to contest it.

Nova showed a bit of desperation as the match once again started to fall under Vitality’s control. Despite managing to keep a relatively close pace in terms of kills, Nova needed to even the score. They attempted to do this by taking an early swing at the Dark Slayer but were quickly chased away by an aware Vitality. It took a few minutes, but Vitality was able to punish this action as the game neared 11 minutes. Maloch dove behind the tower to start a tea fight, he quickly able to dispatch Yorn. Without their main damage dealer, Nova’s team started to fall one by one to Vitality and eventually gave up four unanswered kills and a tower to the tenacious Vitality. This move proved to be disastrous to Nova, Vitality then able to take the other two Dark Slayer lane towers and the Dark Slayer itself.

While at this point Vitality seemed to have secured their victory, Nova wasn’t going to let them go without a fight. Now with the Dark Slayer buff assissting them, Vitality attempted to siege the middle high ground tower at 13:30. iFlekzz showed that he has had enough time to properly farm up some items for Yorn, using the marksman’s immense firepower to clean up four members of Vitality’s team. The fight wasn’t without their own casualties, however, Nova trading three of their own for this moment of glory. This wasn’t enough to swing the fight, however. Yorn and Nakroth only managed to secure a dragon for their team before Vitality was up and charging back at Nova’s base once again.

This seemed to have given Nova a bit of extra wind in their sails, they able to thwart a few more siege attempts made by Vitality. Unfortunately for them, this came to an end at 17:30. A fight broke out in the mid lane and Vitality managed to knock out two members of Nova while only giving up a single member of their own team in return. Nova continued to fight valiantly, picking off another member of Vitality as their base was sieged, but Vitality was still able to pierce through their final defenses and finish the match with a kill score of 13-20.

Match Winner: Vitality

Match 3: For the Dream vs Vitality

Round 1

Both teams defaulted to picks they showed comfort with in earlier matches, save For the Dream’s Violet who took the recently popular Lindis as his jungle pick. Vitality took up their Wonder Woman and Ryoma combo they found luck with when playing against Nova, the rest of the team doubling down on the two warriors’ diving potential with Zephys and Lumburr. For the Dream, meanwhile, broke from their previous dive comp and took a more balanced mix of heroes. Lu Bu and Maloch made up the frontline while Alice, Lindis, and Liliana would support and damage from behind. That is not to say that the team would be unable to dive if wanting, both Grizzlyq and Rezz having shown that they are more than willing to charge under towers in the past.

The game started with both teams trading jungle camps. Well, both teams tried to invade each others jungle, that is. A quick move from Maloch allowed him to snag the Might Golem away from the invading team Vitality and immediately disrupt their rhythm. The invading Vitality force chased Maloch for a moment in vain attempt to reclaim the might buff, but this proved to be a fatal mistake. Now aware of their position, Liliana rotated down to the jungle to assist Maloch with the invaders, and without similar troubles of their own, the remaining three members of For the Dream managed a clean steal of Vitality’s Might buff before moving to help their teammates as well. The invading Vitality force manages to barely slip away from Maloch and Liliana at first, but allowed themselves to get immediately ganked afterward. Confident that the chase was over, Zephys began a usual jungle rotation at Vitality’s Sage Golem despite being low on health while Lumburr and Mganga attempted to zone away any invading opponents. The full force of For the Dream was too much for them, however, For the Dream rallying and invading Vitality’s Abyssal Dragon side jungle. For the Dream managed to snag an early kill as well as capture Vitality’s Sage Golem, granting them a very early lead.

Vitality never recovered. The level disparity that these early fights caused allowed For the Dream to tidily snag the first Abyssal Dragon without any pressure from Vitality, resulting in an even further gold lead. For the Dream took full advantage of this, putting constant pressure on Vitality and regularly stealing their jungle buffs. By the time the game was nearing its 5-minute mark, For the Dream had easily scored their second dragon and a 2.5k gold advantage over Vitality.

The onslaught didn’t let up, For the Dream periodically diving on Vitality for quick kills and towers without losing anything in trade. For the Dream’s dominance perhaps showed itself most clearly at 8:30 where Vitality engaged upon them 5 v 4 and For the Dream still managed to score unanswered kills. Soon after, For the Dream joined together and began a final siege on Vitality’s high ground, tower after tower falling in their wake. It wasn’t until the middle high ground fell that Vitality was able to manage their first kill on For the Dream, however it was far from enough to make up the nearly 9k gold discrepancy between the two teams.

A final team fight broke out at 11:30 as For the Dream marched down Vitality’s final lane. Despite their nearby tower and starting the fight on their own terms, Vitality couldn’t do anything to slow down For the Dream. For the Dream scored three unanswered kills before continuing down the Dark Slayer lane and destroying Vitality’s core. The game’s final kill score was 13-1.

Round 2

Both teams picked compositions very similar to those of game 1, Vitality going for a more dive-heavy composition while For the Dream allowed Arena of Violet to take his favorite role of jungle marksman. For Vitality, Lu Bu, Omen, and Cresht made their main front line, however, damage dealing Rourke is no slouch when it comes to durability either. For the Dream had a more vulnerable line up, Liliana, Alice, and Slimz all vulnerable when caught alone. Getting caught alone would not be a frequent problem with Max and his global presence on the team, however.

The game started much more mercifully for Vitality this time, neither side even attempting to invade the other’s jungle. Both teams spent the first few minutes of the game farming and feeling each other out. This came to a swift close near the 2-minute mark, however, For the Dream drawing first blood on Lu Bu in the Abyssal Dragon lane. Afterward, they moved to the Abyssal Dragon in attempts to use the window this opened to slay the beast. While Vitality moved to intercept them and contest the dragon, it wasn’t fast enough to keep it out of For the Dream’s hands. If that wasn’t bad enough, For the Dream was able to chase Vitality away from the lost dragon and pick up a pair of kills from the disadvantaged team.

Both teams continued cautiously after this encounter, Vitality desperately trying to catch up to For the Dream’s gold lead while For the Dream farmed to maintain it. Things moved even further into For the Dream’s favor after the 6-minute mark, they managing to pick off Tulen mid and score their second dragon kill. The game slowed down again until it reached the 8-minute mark where Vitality finally was able to pick up their first kill of the game.

This wasn’t enough to get any momentum for Vitality, however, as For the Dream continued to dominate the battlefield. While Vitality was able to avoid giving up kills, they were unable to protect their towers as the structures started to fall, nor could they prevent For the Dream from having total dominance over the Abyssal Dragon and its treasures. Vitality does get a moment of hope at 11:17, Cresht unleashing a beautiful Metamorphosis onto For the Dream to pin three of them against a wall. His teammates were quick to follow up and the initiate and even managed to pick up two kills, however, were unable to do so before Wonder Woman and Max jumped in to support For the Dream. Max in particular disrupted Vitality’s attack, managing to absorb a large amount of Vitalities fire and knocking down the would-be attackers until they were forced to retreat. What should have been a slaughter in Vitality’s favor turned into a three for two trade in For the Dream’s favor, Wonder Woman able to follow up by knocking down the mid-tower as well.

Another team fight broke out at 13:20, a gank on Wonder Woman gone awry when counter-initiated by For the Dream. A Metamorphosis by Cresht keeps the fight from turning into a quick rout and allows nearby Vitality members to join in, but wasn’t enough to swing the fight to their favor. For the Dream managed to pick off three members of Vitality with no loss to their own numbers, knocking down the final towers of the Dark Slayer lane in the process before crushing Vitality’s Core. The final death score was 3-12.

Round 3

The team compositions of game 3 featured some heroes not yet seen in the day’s games. Xeniel finally makes it off of the ban board and into the hands of Grizzlyq. He is joined by Ormarr and Lu Bu to make up For the Dream’s front line while Arena of Violet and shurko take their familiar picks of Violet and Liliana. Meanwhile, on Vitality’s side, The Joker and Thane make their first appearances of the day, joined by familiar picks of Mganga, Ryoma, and Wonder Woman. This composition is much squishier than Vitality had been using in the prior matches, however a change of pace might be what they need to catch For the Dream off guard.

A change of pace didn’t catch For the Dream off guard. Vitality moved to invade For the Dream’s Sage Golem but walked right into a trap For the Dream set up on their side. Caught completely by surprise, Vitality tried to make an escape but were unable to completely escape from For the Dream’s punishment. Violet, Liliana, and Ormarr all managed to snag an early kill and give For the Dream a 1k gold lead before even the first full minute had passed.

The pace mercifully slowed down, giving Vitality some breathing room for a few minutes. They even managed the first dragon of the game without heavy contest as the game approached the 4-minute mark. Knowing that they had to get some kills to get back into an even game, Ryoma and Mganga hiding in the brush beside For the Dream’s Sage Golem camp. Unfortunately for them For the Dream had caught on to their scheme and converged on their jungle, forcing the trapped Vitality players to fight their way out 3 to 4, 3 to 5 after Xeniel swooped into the fight. Vitality was devastated by the counter-attack, two of the invaders and Wonder Woman, who had rushed over to aid the retreat, falling without scoring any kills for their efforts.

Another devastating loss came to Vitality at the 6-minute mark, they punished for attempting to contest For the Dream’s assault on the Abyssal Dragon. The contest broke into a full team fight, For the Dream’s gold lead and Xeniel’s global presence keeping them always at an advantageous offensive. Once again, For the Dream was able to score three unanswered kills on the retreating Vitality and push themselves even further into the lead.

The onslaught continues as the game reaches eight minutes. All five members of For the Dream dove on both Joker and Ryoma, picking them both off and knocking down the Abyssal Dragon tier 1 tower in the process. This wasn’t enough for For the Dream, however, as they continued their advance to the tier 2 tower, not only dispatching it but taking out Wonder Woman and Thane as well. Their offensive changed from heading toward Vitality’s base to across the lanes, knocking down the tier 2 towers in both mid and top lanes as they moved.

Vitality finally manages a kill as the game approached the 10-minute mark. Xeniel stood guard over his teammates as they assaulted the Dark Slayer. Vitality wasn’t going to let the monster go without a fight though and began skirmishing with the heavily fed tank. They managed to draw him far enough away from the Dark Slayer that they could fight without fear of interference from the rest of For the Dream and converged on him, picking the tank off to finally get on the scoreboard 15-1.

For the Dream began sieging all three high ground towers and, between Liliana and Violet’s poking ability, there was nothing that Vitality could do to stop them. A team fight finally broke out mid lane, For the Dream grabbing three kills and knocking down the Abyssal Dragon high ground in celebration. The tower now gone, For the Dream had nothing stopping them from approaching Vitality and quickly picked off the fourth hero, proving their dominance. It wasn’t long before all of Vitality’s towers were down and For the Dream destroyed their core, cleaning up the game and the match with a kill score of 19-1.

Match Winner: For the Dream

Exhibition Match: Immortals vs Pain Gaming

Round 1

The game started cautiously, both teams getting a feel for one another in lane while the supports roamed the field, looking to set up ganks. Their efforts started a team fight at 1:10, Ormarr caught in the enemy jungle and starting a skirmish that quickly ballooned into a full team fight. The fight resulted in Pain Gaming picking off two members of team Immortals and only losing one person in exchange, giving them an early lead. While Immortals was able to close the difference in kills at the 3-minute mark with a pickoff, Pain Gaming used the time to grab a dragon kill and keep a small lead in the match.

The lead didn’t last long, however, a team fight breaking out at 4:10. Immortals were able to score three unanswered kills in the skirmish through a well-executed initiation by Ormarr and large amounts of follow up damage from Lindis, Liliana, and Ryoma. After the dust had settled, Immortals had turned the game around and now led by three kills and 0.6k gold.

This proved to be a decisive change in momentum, Immortals next able to snag two more kills and a dragon by the 6-minute mark. The window and power difference that this offered additionally allowed them to knock down each one of Pain Gaming’s tier 1 towers as well. Pain Gaming now certainly down, but weren’t going to give out without a struggle. The Flash rushed in on Immortals as they tried to take out the Dark Slayer at 7:30. Despite being heavily outnumbered, the Fastest Man Alive managed to snatch the epic beast away from Immortals and provide its buff to his team. The Flash even managed to pick off Lindis in the process, she weak from fighting with the epic creature, but lost his life for his valiant efforts.

Pain Gaming continued to throw everything in their fighting, managing to come ahead in a few small skirmishes as they broke out across the map. Immortals maintained their lead, however, and was able to undo a lot of the inching forward that Pain Gaming had done up to that point. A team fight broke out at 12:05, Pain Gaming moving in on Immortals. The combined crowd control and damage from Lu Bu, Ormarr, and Liliana, however, proved to be too much, Pain Gaming losing three of their team while only scoring a single kill in the process.

Immortals didn’t allow another window to open up for Pain Gaming, quickly eliminating the tier 2 towers to force Pain Gaming back into their base. This allowed Immortals to easily secure the Dark Slayer and then begin a siege on the highground. The Dark Slayer side tower was first to fall, followed by mid. Immortals didn’t bother with the Abyssal Dragon lane, instead rushing the core to finish the game with a kill score of 21-6.

Round 2

Both teams started the match even more cautiously than before, setting up ganks in their jungle in order to protect against any would-be invaders. First blood was this time drawn by means of a gank rather than a team fight, Immortals diving under mid tower to pick off a helpless Preyta. They set the pace for the match, scoring another gank on the helpless mage just a few minutes later and then securing the first Abyssal Dragon of the game. Unlike the previous game where Pain Gaming showed flashes of life in between moments of oppression by Immortals, Pain Gaming seeming completely helpless this go around. This is nowhere better illustrated than when Pain tried to secure the Dark Slayer at 6:40. A wandering Ryoma and Alice caught them out, however, and the rest of Immortals were seeon to follow into creature’s den. Immortals managed not only to snag the Dark Slyer, but also pick up four kills in the process. If that wasn’t enough, Immortals next stared marching down mid, destroying both the tier 2 and 3 towers in the process.

Now that a path to their core had opened up, Immortals swarmed towards it the final objective like bees to a flower field. Now with an open path to their core and facing a dive-heavy team, Pain Gaming had little choice but to hole up in their base and hope for the best. It proved to be too much, however, The Flash easily able to initiate upon them. A3s the game reached the 11-minute mark, he did just that under the dark slayer lane high ground tower. This opened up a team fight that would result in Pain Gaming getting routed and Immortals winning the game with a final kill score of 3-19.

Winner: Immortals

More Arena of Valor World Cup (AWC) Resources

• AWC Update: MSP and Taiwan Teams Decided (May 30, 2018)
• Road to AWC: SEA Representative Determined This Weekend (May 25, 2018)
• Valor Series Playoff Teams Set For E3 (Week 6 Recap) (May 21, 2018)
• Valor Series Week 5 Recap (May 14, 2018)
• Valor Series Week 4 Recap (May 7, 2018)
• Samurai Gamers Advances to Next Stage of AWC Qualifiers (May 7, 2018)
• Valor Series Week 3 Recap (April 30, 2018)
• Valor Series Weeks 1 and 2 Recap (April 23, 2018)
• Arena of Valor World Cup Breaks Record with Prize Pool (April 17, 2018)
• AoV (MSP) Valor Cup Season 1 Grand Finals Recap (April 12, 2018)
• Valor Series Launch + AWC Wild Cards Named (March 27, 2018)
• $19,000 First Regional Valor Cup Announced (AWC Qualifier) (February 18, 2018)
• $500,000+ USD Arena of Valor World Cup (AWC) Announced (February 6, 2018)

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