Four NA teams and four EU teams came to the LAN stage at Hi-Rez Studios’ eSports Arena in Alpharetta, GA – all hoping to claim their place at this year’s World Championships in January. After many hard-fought battles in the semi-final rounds, four teams remained to face off for the regional champion title. EU teams NRG and Obey went head-to-head first, followed by NA teams Eager and Soar G2A. Here’s what you missed in these action-packed best-of-five matches. 

EU Finals Match: NRG vs. Obey

3-0, favor of NRG

Game 1

Going into this match, NRG was the clear favorite. Comprised entirely of members from last year’s world champs Epsilon, there was little doubt that NRG would come out victorious.

They took an early lead in Game 1, bulldozing over Orbit in every lane to push multiple objectives and gain nearly complete control of the map. They were able to take two Phoenixes before Obey finished taking down all of NRG’s Tier 1 towers. 

Obey did their best to mitigate the damage NRG did to their objectives by poking the Fire Giant long enough to let the Phoenixes respawn, but the distraction didn’t last long. NRG pushed hard into Obey’s base, taking the Titan and the win with more than 2 times more kills than their opponent. 

Game 2

The second game in this match didn’t go much better for Obey than the first. NRG took the first blood at three minutes in, and then farmed an early lead. Obey managed to sneak in and take the Gold Fury at seven minutes, but paid for it with a player’s life. 

It looked like things might turn around for Obey after a beautiful taunt play from Athena that caught four NRG members, but NRG was able to turn it around for a 3-2 trade in their favor. Obey tried to make up for it by moving in on the Gold Fury. Once again NRG was able to push them out, but wasn’t able to secure the Fury for themselves. 

Several minutes later, both teams clashed again at the Gold Fury, but this time NRG came out on top of the scuffle, wiping four Obey players without losing any of their own.

With a 13k experience lead and a 7k gold lead, NRG was unstoppable. They soon pushed their way into Obey’s base and secured the Titan, winning the game with nearly 4x more kills on the board than Obey. 

Game 3

This was Obey’s last chance to even out the match score and keep the regional championship dream alive. And for the first several minutes, it looked like they were going to just that. 

Obey hit the ground running, taking First Blood in a 1-1 trade with NRG. They lost three members in a scuffle at the Gold Fury, but took two NRG players with them and kept them from securing the bird. Obey returned soon after to take the Gold Fury for themselves at 12 minutes in, then took the second one immediately after respawn at 17 minutes. 

Riding on the slight lead they gained from a few advantageous team fights, Obey moved to steal the Fire Giant from NRG with a well-placed Scylla ult. But NRG’s Isis made it there just in time to pop her own ult and secure the Giant, squashing Obey’s lead and pulling out a 4k experience and 5k gold advantage. 

Through some smart farming and a few more well-executed scuffles, Obey looked like they might take another lead. But NRG wasn’t about to give in, and kept pace well through the mid and late game.

With Obey’s comp advantage in the late game starting to become more prominent, NRG knew time was ticking. Obey made a bold move for the Fire Giant and managed to secure it, but it cost them four players and a Phoenix. Still, NRG didn’t push for the win just yet. They bided their time a little more just to play it safe. 

Finally, NRG made a move on the Gold Fury that cost them two members. Another scuffle at Obey’s right Phoenix shortly after fell more in NRG’s favor, though, and they were able to take all three Phoenixes and the Fire Giant uncontested.

All it took was one last team push (and a 3-0 sweep in the ensuing fight) to take the Titan and the win. And with that, NRG walked away with the EU Champion title. 

NA Finals Match: Eager vs. Soar G2A

3-1, favor of Eager

This set of games was a wild ride. It looked like it might be another sweep, but Soar made a valiant effort to take home the championship title. But ultimately, Eager came out on top. 

Game 1

Eager started off strong, taking the First Blood and two more Soar members in a 3-2 trade that fell in their favor. Even though Soar tried to hang back and farm their lanes, Eager poked them relentlessly to gain a slight map and XP advantage. 

At just seven minutes in, Eager made a move on the first Gold Fury and took it without any issue. After a few more team fights, the Fury respawned and Eager took it a second time. While Soar tried to recover from the advantage and map control that Eager had taken, Eager went for a third Gold Fury at the 21-minute mark. This left them with a 10K experience and 8K gold leads. Shortly after the respawn at 26 minutes, Eager took their fourth and final Gold Fury of the game. 

With a clear advantage from all their captured objectives, Eager widened their lead by pulling a 3-2 trade on Soar and taking the Fire Giant as well. With such a strong lead, they managed to take all Tier 1 and Tier 2 objectives before Soar was able to push a single tower. 

After one final team-fight that ended with a 5-0 wipe in Eager’s favor, the path was clear to take the mid-Phoenix and push to the Titan for the first win. 

Game 2

Soar didn’t take kindly to such an overwhelming defeat, and came out swinging in the next game. They took First Blood at less than one minute in, but this didn’t seem to intimidate Eager at all. After this initial loss, Eager poked Soar relentlessly until they regained their advantage, then took the Gold Fury shortly after at 11 minutes in. 

Soar retaliated with a 2-0 team fight in their favor, and came out on top in another 2-2 trade shortly after. Eager tried to poke them and avenge the 4 deaths Soar gained on them, but their timing just wasn’t there and they couldn’t seem to make a cooperative effort in team scuffles. 

Despite their scattered timing, Eager took the second Gold Fury at 18 minutes, then took the advantage in a 2-1 scuffle in the jungle. Shortly after, they took another Gold Fury to take the lead once again. 

Both teams danced around each other until around the 26-minute mark, when Eager made a move on the Fire Giant and secured it. With the buff in hand and Soar at a serious disadvantage, Eager took their fourth Gold Fury at 30 minutes in. 

Less than a minute later, Eager managed to wipe out all five Soar members, then stormed their base to take the Titan and the Game 2 win. 

Game 3

It looked like it might be the end of the road for Soar, but they pulled out a solid win in Game 3. 

Eager took the First Blood in a 2-0 trade less than two minutes in, and then came out on top of another scuffle with Soar just a few minutes later. But it was the last time Eager had the advantage in this game. 

Soar managed to make a 2-4 trade in their favor during the next team fight, then secured the Gold Fury at 11 minutes in. Another 2-0 fight in their favor (and an impressive 6/0 KD record on Andinster’s Thor) gave Soar a healthy lead. They snowballed this into another 2-0 trade that widened their advantage and gave them a few Tier 2 objectives as well. 

Soon after, Soar dominated in a team fight that left four Eager members dead, then pushed the enemy’s mid-Phoenix to take their first win at 26 minutes. 

Game 4

This was a tense game, as Soar’s fate hung in the balance. But ultimately, Eager regained their footing and came out victorious. 

First Blood went to Eager at four minutes in, and soon after a 2-2 jungle fight put Eager at even more of an advantage. Soar tried to poke them out in lane and grab some key jungle objectives, but Eager was too aggressive and had too much map presence for them to make much progress. 

At 10 minutes in, Eager took their first Gold Fury. Shortly after the fury respawned, the teams clashed again and Eager came out on top with a 4-0 wipe, thanks to a fantastic quadra-kill from Zapman’s Rama. At 16 minutes, the second Gold Fury fell to Eager as well. 

At the 21-minute mark, Eager had a serious lead – up 20k experience and 15k gold over Soar. They took the third Gold Fury at 22 minutes, but Soar retaliated by wiping three of their members a minute later. 

Seemingly undaunted, Eager took the Fire Giant as soon as they respawned, then pushed all of Soar’s objectives to gain total control of the map. Soon, Soar had no towers and no Phoenixes, while Eager still had five towers and all birds up.

This clear advantage encouraged Eager to end the game quickly, easily taking Soar’s Titan at the 26-minute mark. They walked away with a top seed for the World Championships and the title of NA Champions. 

What’s Next for Eager and NRG? 

After a series of long-fought and hard-won battles, Eager and NRG have earned themselves automatic spots on the Worlds Stage in January at the SMITE World Championships in Atlanta, Ga. The other Super Regional participants will have to battle their way through the brackets to have a shot at the ultimate championship title – which will definitely be fun to watch in the coming weeks. 

Stay tuned to GameSkinny for more SPL action and coverage of the biggest SMITE event of the year.