posted by SuperCletis,
The grand final of the third installment of NSL was a rematch of this season's Upper Bracket Final--a best-of-five match that went the distance with kr EoT Hammer prevailing 3-2 over us Team Zephyr. Did Hammer repeat the feat and win or could Zephyr get revenge and seal the $57,000 grand prize?

Read on for full recap of the series. If you don't want spoilers and would rather watch the games on demand, here you go: Game 1, Game 2, Game 3, Game 4, Game 5


Rosters




kr

EoT Hammer


Kwang 'Pyung' Pyeong
Mark 'Cast' Pillar
Ryo 'DrakeRyoN' Hasegawa
Djardel 'chrissy' Jicko b. Mampusti
Jio 'Jeyo' Madayag

us

Team Zephyr


William 'Blitz' Lee
Kevin 'Purge' Godec
Steven 'Eosin' Cheng
Alaan 'Bamboe' Faraj
'Corey' Wright



Game 1




Draft




The Match



Lanes


Top: Earthshaker, Weaver, Crystal Maiden vs. Slark, Venomancer, SandKing
Mid: Shadow Fiend vs. Doom
Bot: Windranger vs. Nyx Assassin

First Blood


EoT Hammer's CM falls in the tri-lane top right around the 9-minute mark.

Ten-Minute Gold/Exp, Kill Score


Both teams were within 500 gold and experience. Kill Score was 2-2

Twenty-Minute Gold/Exp, Kill Score


EoT had roughly 3000 lead in both gold and exp. Kill score was still 2-2.

Right after the twenty minute mark, the first big fight of the match broke out. Zephyr was attempting to sneak a Roshan kill, but right as they were about to finish it off, Radiant-side Hammer spotted them out, and won a big fight, killing off four of Zephyr's heroes. The only consolation for Zephyr was that they got the Roshan kill, the Aegis on their carry Slark and he got away safely.

As soon as Zephyr's heroes revived, they moved towards the Radiant-side Tier one mid, forcing another big team fight. This one went a little better for the American squad, but EoT still ended up winning the fight, with Team Zephyr losing four heroes and Hammer only losing two.

Zephyr soon found a reason for hope after a succesful gank on the super-farmed Shadow Fiend.

After this, the game calmed down a bit, while both sides' carries settled back to farm.

Thirty-Minute Gold/Exp, Kill Score


EoT had roughly 7000 lead in both gold and exp. Kill score was 10-5, Hammer leading.

After finishing up a surprise Eye of Skadi, Shadow Fiend went hunting and grabbed a quick kill on Bamboe's Nyx Assassin.

But a huge (read: HUGE) fight in the Direside jungle lead to the death of nine heroes, with only Zephyr's Corey, playing Slark, surviving.

The action would not die down, and the teams met for another 5v5 skirmish, this time in the Radiant jungle. Eight heroes would die in this fight, with Zephyr's Nyx and EoT's Windranger surviving.

Forty-Minute Gold/Exp, Kill Score


EoT Hammer's gold and experience leads were at approximately 6000. Kill Score: 19-15 Hammer.

The teams each had one Tier 2 tower left at this point.

The next lull only lasted for a couple minutes, and right when the Korean side was gathering to smoke up, Zephyr initiated with two heroes. The result of this fight would see Hammer take a four for three hero trade.

After this fight, the teams continued to choose aggressive team movement over passive farming, and it continued to lead to fight after fight. EoT forced the next fight in midlane out in front of Zephyr's Tier 3 tower. They initiated on Corey's Slark, killing him off quickly, but then after a buy back, Zephyr turned the fight and took down both carries of the Korean side.

They then moved towards the Tier 2 mid--Hammer's last outer tower--killed off Windranger and then razed the tower.

Fifty-Minute Gold/Exp, Kill Score


Zephyr had dwindled both of EoT's leads--gold down to 2000 and exp. down to 4000. Kill Score 26-24, advantage EoT Hammer.

For close to ten minutes at this point, it seemed like Zephyr would be the first team to get a tier 3, but at 55 minutes, EoT's SF, protected by Weaver's Linken's Sphere, sniped Zephyr's mid tier 3 tower.

Shortly before the hour-mark, Zephyr grabbed a quick Aegis and equipped it on Corey's Slark.

Sixty-Minute Gold/Exp, Kill Score


EoT's leads were sitting around 2500 in both gold and experience. Kill-Score: 27-24 EoT.
It should be noted that these 2.5k leads amounted to less than a 3% advantage for EoT over their foe. At this point, it was clearly either team's game to win (or lose).

Zephyr finally evened out the gold/exp. graphs around the 63rd minute, for the first time since before the 15th minute had elapsed. Right as those leads were being evened out, the American squad marched towards the Tier 3 bot. They killed off CM and Shadow Fiend and SF was forced to buy back.

The game's climactic fight

Zephyr continued pushing, forcing a 4 v 5 fight just underneath EoT's Radiant Side Tier 3. They lost every one of their heroes, but got a key kill when they took down Shadow Fiend a second time, putting him on a 120 second revival timer with no buy back available. Zephyr bought back (as a team) and teleported back to the lane and took the Tier 3 and Barracks down easily. With Shadow Fiend still dead for another 60 seconds, they took middle racks and EoT Hammer was resigned to concede the GG.

Zephyr takes Game 1, and a 1-0 lead.



Game Two



Draft




The Match



Lanes


Top: Slark, Sand King, Shadow Demon vs. Mirana, Crystal Maiden, Rubick
Mid: Death Prophet vs. Naga Siren
Bot: Nyx Assassin vs. Elder Titan

First Blood


Hammer's Mirana fell to the top tri-lane of Zephyr fifty seconds into the match.

Ten-Minute Gold/Exp, Kill Score


Zephyr played a near-perfect laning phase, giving them a 2k exp lead and 3k gold lead at the ten-minute mark, as well as a 3-1 kill score advantage. In addition, all three of their core heroes were winning their lanes.

EoT's Jeyo picked up a 16-minute Radiance on Naga Siren. They had watched their safe-lane Mirana get hardly any farm, and switched their hopes towards the split push capabilities of their newly acquired player.

Twenty-Minute Gold/Exp, Kill Score


Zephyr's gold lead had ballooned to over 10,000 and their experience lead wasn't far behind. They also lead in kills 7-1.

Just before the twenty-minute mark had passed, Zephyr moved into the Rosh pit and snagged an easy Aegis, placing it on Corey's Slark.

With that aegis in hand, they began a siege of EoT's Direside bottom tier 3 tower that would last close to ten minutes. During that Jeyo's Naga pushed continuously, nabbing a tier two on the opposite side of the map.

After the aegis was long gone, and the siege was 7 or 8 minutes old, Zephyr finally razed the tier 3 tower bot as well as the melee barracks. The ranged barracks was on its last legs, with only twenty HP remaining.

Thirty-Minute Gold/Exp, Kill Score


Zephyr's leads plateaued around the 29 minute mark or so and were still sitting just over 10k. They were ahead 12-4 in kills as well as one melee barracks ahead.

No less than five minutes later, Zephyr put themselves in position to go uphill in the top lane. With Death Prophet's max-level ultimate swarming about, a bkb-protected Slark lunging around and their supports dishing out massive magic damage, they won a huge fight, killing four of EoT Hammer's heroes, and drew the GG call just before the 37th minute had elapsed.

Zephyr takes game two, and a 2-0 lead.




Game 3




Draft




The Match



Lanes


Top: Mirana vs. IO, Tiny
Mid: Shadow Shaman vs. Storm Spirit
Bot: Lone Druid, Crystal Maiden vs. Lich, Nyx Assassin

First Blood


Blitz, playing his signature hero, Storm Spirit, grabbed an early first blood in the mid lane on Jeyo's Shadow Shaman.

Ten-Minute Gold/Exp, Kill Score


It wasn't as commanding as their lead in game two, but Zephyr had built a comfortable lead in both experience and gold at the seven minute mark. However, over the next few minutes, EoT grabbed three straight kills, and for the first time since early in game two, they had the gold lead (500). Zephyr had maintained their experience lead and even extended it a bit, to 2000, by the time the 10th minute rolled around. EoT was ahead in kills 4-3.

The teams exchanged blows afterward, with neither team ever gaining a definite advantage in kills or farm rate. EoT's gold advantage increased slightly, while Zephyr added a little to their experience advantage. Both teams made good plays as well as mistakes as the laning phase ended and the teams began implementing mid-game strategies.

At the nineteenth minute, both teams met in a tremendous 5v5 skirmish in a game that had yet been filled with only minor ganks and fights. Zephyr had the early advantage in the fight after quickly neutralizing Jeyo's SS. But after he bought back, the Radiant-side EoT Hammer team turned the fight in their favor, wiping all five heroes of Zephyr.

Twenyty-Minute Gold/Exp, Kill Score


The 20th minute mark passed, and EoT was feeling good for the first time since the middle of game one. Their gold lead had increased to over 2000, and they had a kill score advantage of 13-12. Zephyr still had the experience lead at 2000 (approx).

Any advantage that the Korean side had gained would quickly be squashed, however, with the Americans grabbing a Roshan kill, an Aegis on their Storm Spirit and a three-for-nil teamfight. They then moved towards the bottom tier one, taking it down and EoT's Shadow Shaman with it.

This succession had turned the tides tremendously. Their experience lead was closing in on 10k and they had repossessed the gold advantage as well.

EoT's hopes were quickly waning.

If that wasn't enough, Zephyr took down the tier 2 in EoT's bottom lane, and then even moved uphill in a fight that seemed much more lopsided than it actually was. EoT was on their heels for the fight's entire duration, but somehow they managed to take down Storm's Aegis, both supports for Zephyr, as well as substantially weaken all three cores of the American side. They lost alot in the fight, and their Lone Druid had to buy back, but they held ground and didn't suffer any damage to their tier three tower.

Thirty-Minute Gold/Exp, Kill Score


This semi-succesful defense is even more impressive when you notice that EoT Hammer were fighting from a 15k experience disadvantage as well as being down over 10k in gold. Zephyr held a 26-20 kill advantage at the time.

A few minutes passed without much action before Zephyr transitioned into the land of Roshan, killing him quickly and once again passing his Aegis over to Storm Spirit.

The speed with which they subsequently headed towards the Radiant side bottom tier 3 cannot be overstated. They were there immediately, pressuring Hammer's defense with the fortitude of six lives and a wealth of resources.

Zephyr blew through Hammer's defenses in a manner which befitted their teamname, causing Hammer to relinquish the match, the series and the Season Three Championship to their American foe.

Team Zephyr takes Nexon Sponsorship League Season Three, with a 3-0 series win in the Grand Final.



Congrats to both teams on the success of their NSL Season 3 Campaigns!!

Zephyr is honored.

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