Manta Cup IV - VIII - Manta Cup Recap (English)
Manta Cup Recap
The Tournament Structure
During the first Manta Cup, we lacked experience in hosting tournaments, making our primary goal to create an exciting and entertaining event where even the underdogs could find joy in the competition. To ensure that each team could play a significant number of games regardless of their tournament progress, we opted for large groups. In this regard, we chose to form two groups of five teams each.
In Group 1, the teams SFD-Gaming: Snek Pack, Extraordinarii, JUST1LIFE GAMING E.V. ACADEMY, Stoneheart, and Play With Fun competed. Snek Pack entered the tournament as the favorite, while Extraordinarii and Just1Life were considered promising contenders. Stoneheart and Play With Fun were regarded as underdogs in the group.
The top two teams from each group secured direct qualification for the semifinals. On the other hand, teams placed 2nd and 3rd in each group faced off in a play-off round, with a Best-of-Three (Bo3) determining which team advanced to the semifinals.
In the first round of Group 1, Stoneheart faced Snek Pack, and Play With Fun took on Just1Life. Surprisingly, there were no upsets, and both favorites secured convincing victories.
Moving on to the second round, Stoneheart triumphed in an intense duel against Play With Fun, resulting in the latter exiting the tournament. The other match between Snek Pack and Extraordinarii was particularly intriguing, serving as a litmus test for both teams. The question was: Is SFD as formidable as expected, or can Extraordinarii spring a surprise? In the end, SFD emerged victorious in a dominant fashion, largely thanks to an impressive performance from Snek Pack's bot laner, Cupcake.
In the third round, only the game between Just1Life and Extraordinarii took place, as Play With Fun had withdrawn from the competition. Extraordinarii secured a hard-fought victory in a nail-biting 45-minute match, earning them the second spot in the group and the choice of sides in the upcoming play-off game.
Stoneheart faced defeats against both Extraordinarii and Just1Life. In the final match of the group, Snek Pack decisively defeated Just1Life, securing an undefeated entry into the semifinals.
Group 2
The Group 2 of the Manta Cup kicked off with the opening match between Black Manta and The Skumbags. The Skumbags impressed with a strong draft and an impressive execution of the game. Particularly, Jungler "Harryyyy" stood out and later deservedly received the Tournament MVP with a significant lead. In the other match, Bloodmoon Kingdom won against Team Trombo.
In the second round, The Skumbags dominated Boomers United with the biggest stomp in the history of the Manta Cup. With an impressive result of 18-1 in kills and a nearly 15,000 gold difference, they won the game in just 20 minutes. Black Manta won as expected against Team Trombo.
In the third round, The Skumbags again secured a victory, this time against Team Trombo. At the same time, Bloodmoon Kingdom defeated Boomers United, leaving the Boomer with a 0-2 standing. In the fourth round, although Boomers United managed to defeat Team Trombo, since Black Manta won against Bloodmoon Kingdom, the Boomer found themselves in a difficult situation.
Before the fifth round, The Skumbags led the group with 3 points, followed by Black Manta and Bloodmoon Kingdom with 2 points each. Boomers United had one point. The Boomers had to face Black Manta, against whom they had never won in seven matches (0-7) and were trailing 5-14 in games until that point. However, with an unconventional Darius Jungle, they actually secured their first victory against the Mantas.
The game between The Skumbags and Bloodmoon Kingdom was still ongoing, and if the latter had won, the Mantas would have been eliminated, while Bloodmoon Kingdom and the Boomers would have advanced to the playoffs. However, The Skumbags won, leading to tie-breakers. First, Boomers United faced Black Manta, with the Boomer quickly securing a lead and winning. A second tie-breaker was not necessary as Bloodmoon Kingdom was disqualified from the tournament after the demand, "Either let us directly into the semifinals or we withdraw."
In the play-off game of Group 1, Extraordinarii and Just1Life faced each other. The first game once again evolved into a 40-minute thriller, which Extraordinarii won. Extraordinarii's support, Vamarox, delivered an impressive performance on Rakan. The second game extended for almost 30 minutes, and this time Scrabinator with his Leona made the difference. The last game was the most decisive, as Just1Life never quite found their footing and thus exited the tournament. Vamarox deservedly received the MVP award, particularly for his dominant performance on Nami.
In the second play-off game, the Mantas faced Boomers United after losing twice in a row. Megumids Yone completely dominated the first game, finishing with an impressive score of 15-2. The Boomers had dominated three games against the Mantas within two hours. Only one more victory was needed for the perfect story. In Game 2, they secured a 5,000 gold lead. However, Black Manta's midlaner, on his signature champion Katarina, managed to turn the game in favor of the Mantas. Game 3 evolved into a 40-minute thriller, going back and forth. In the end, LRAT with an impressive Taric performance secured the crucial team fights for the Mantas. The question remained open whether he would continue to impress with Taric throughout the rest of the tournament.
Semi-Finals
The semi-final matchups were contested between SFD Gaming: Snek Pack and Black Manta, as well as The Skumbags and Extraordinarii. Both The Skumbags and Snek Pack were undefeated until this point, with Snek Pack leaving a stronger impression. While The Skumbags had difficulties against Bloodmoon Kingdom, the players of Snek Pack seemed unbeatable.
The Skumbags continued their impressive performance. The first game against Extraordinarii was a dominant and controlled victory, and this did not change in Game 2.
However, Snek Pack faced a twist of fate. Jungler Evoh had to choose between the semi-final and his mother's birthday. Surprisingly, he chose his mother, and thus, Wisis had to step in. The result was two weak games for the Sneks, where Sushikiller delivered the best performance. In Game 2, BLM Toplaner Linus blind-picked Nasus after announcing that he would do so if the song "Fury of the Sand" by Plentakill was played on the livestream - a nostalgic League of Legends song from the good old days.
Finale
The encounter between the Mantas and the Skumbags repeated itself in the opening game and in the final. The Skumbags entered the final as clear favorites. Inspired by his Nasus performance in the previous game, BLM Linus once again picked Nasus in Game 1 and dominated the top lane, especially with Harryyyy and Zoe dominating the bottom side. For the commentators, it was clear: "The Skumbags win the tournament."
In Game 2, the Mantas then picked three champions with which they intended to play the entire final: Warwick in the jungle, Kled in the top lane, and Taric as support. Initially, this didn't seem to have an effect, as the Skumbags continued to dominate. They had an 8000 gold lead, and it seemed like nothing would change that. However, Black Manta managed to win team fights with Kled and Taric in repeated engagements. In a massive comeback, the Mantas secured Game 2.
After this game, the Skumbags decided to ban Kled and Taric. No, just kidding; they left the champions open, and in Game 3, Linus and LRAT dominated once again. The Mantas secured the title in a dominant fashion.
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