MOBA Monday: A Weekend of Events .

This was clearly the weekend for MOBAs as two major eSports events concluded on Sunday, a new game launched and a fan-favorite hero was finally released for Heroes of the Storm. The Dota 2 Red Bull Battle Grounds ended Sunday after a month long event that placed the top teams from around the world in heated battle. Even more exciting was the League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational, which also ended Sunday in a true best of 5 matchup. Additionally, Ironclad games officially released their free-to-play MOBA, Sins of a Dark Age, and Heroes of the Storm received Kael’thas in a major content update.

ESPORTS SHOWDOWN

Having two major events take place on the same day and end in 3-2 victories is an exciting time for MOBA fans. In the Red Bull Battle Grounds, Team Secret came back from a 1-2 deficit after seizing momentum and never looked back. Invictus Gaming had a strong draft in game four with Visage and Drow Ranger, but a late-game pickoff on Drow led to a devastating push and victory for Team Secret. In the finals, Team Secret went with the powerful Io/Tiny combo and took control from the beginning in order to secure a 3-2 finish. All of the details can be read in an earlier article by Jacob Crawford.

The larger of the two events, with a $200,000 prize pool, was the League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational, which began last Thursday. League winners from around the world were invited to play live at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center in Tallahassee, Florida and battle for both cash and bragging rights. The teams included: Team SoloMid, SK Telecom T1, EDward Gaming, ahq e-Sports Club, Fnatic, and Besiktas e-Sports Club. In the grouping stage both SKT and EDG showed dominance and came out on top with 5-0 and 4-1 records. In the semi-finals on Saturday, EDG swept ahq and SKT pulled off a close 3-2 victory over Fnatic. The finals between EDG and SKT went back and forth, but despite it all EDG believed that they had the edge. Instead of banning SKT Faker’s preferred choice of LeBlanc, who he had a 12-0 record with at the time, they decided to build a team composition to counter her. The gamble paid off and EDG walked away with the $100,000 first prize.

A DARK NEW MOBA

It’s been more than three years since Ironclad Games, known for hit RTS Sins of a Solar Empire, first announced their upcoming MOBA, but Sins of a Dark Age has finally released. The game is much darker than we’re usually used to in the MOBA genre and it also incorporates a deep RPG element. Even before a match begins players can customize their heroes’ loadouts and attributes in order to tailor their specific play style. During a match random quests can appear and the team that completes enough of them will gain a powerful buff.

The real kicker is that everything in Sins of a Dark Age is free, with no strings attached. All current and future heroes are already unlocked, skins are rewarded through playing the game, and there are additional perks for streaming the game. There’s even a Vice and Virtue system that rewards friendly players while punishing the toxic parts of the community. Let’s just hope that this lack of monetization can keep the game afloat.

FOR QUEL’THALAS

Blizzard has been teasing the release of Kael’thas for quite some time, but he’s finally been introduced in the latest Heroes of the Storm patch. Kael’thas is a ranged assassin that focuses on high burst damage, but he also brings a decent amount of utility to the table as well. His skill include Flamestrike, Living Bomb, Gravity Lapse, Phoenix and Pyroblast. Flamestrike is a ground-targeted AOE spell that explodes after a short delay, Living Bomb does damage over time and eventually explodes for additional AOE damage, Gravity Lapse is a skillshot stun, Phoenix is a large AOE ability that lasts for 7 seconds, and Pyroblast is a slow-moving projectile that does massive AOE damage. His passive is Verdant Spheres, which can be activated to augment one of his basic abilities.

In similar fashion to Jaina Proudmoore, Kael’thas is a glass cannon without any true escapes. Furthermore, he doesn’t even have the option to talent into a movement ability until level 20 with Bolt of the Storm. Instead he relies on solid positioning and making good use of long-distance abilities. With massive burst, and decent sustained, damage he should be able to hold his own against most other heroes in the game, and if left alone in team fights he can be absolutely devastating.

Both of his heroic abilities seem viable and offer very different gameplay choices. Pyroblast requires a 2-second cast time, but can kill many enemies under half health. The biggest issue is that it’s easily interrupted and moves at a grueling pace. This allows for extensive counterplay from a coordinated enemy team, however, it can be great for picking off fleeing heroes. The Phoenix ability does significantly less initial damage but can still do a solid amount over time. Once casted, the Phoenix will target enemies within its range and deal moderate AOE damage to them. This includes buildings, making Phoenix a great choice for zoning or pushing keeps.

Other updates in this latest patch include a rework for both E.T.C. and Diablo. Since Mosh Pit hasn’t seen much action in the competitive scene recently, Blizzard decided to retool E.T.C.’s talents in order to make it a more viable option. Powerslide now has a wide range of upgrades that make the combo easier to land. There are also two new Storm talents that allow E.T.C. to either Powerslide during Mosh Pit or cast it upon death. Diablo’s tankiness has been shifted to include much more self-sustain. He now has immense passive regeneration, a self-heal and an AOE lifesteal at level 20. This rework allows Diablo to be much more efficient even after the healer’s been taken out of the fight and in the early laning phases.