Round 6 match report - Protect Ya Nexus vs Run into towers

Greetings, we have just passed the halfway point of the season. Two teams that are looking to reach the playoff are division 6 teams Protect Ya Nexus and Run into Towers in their round 6 match. Can Protect Ya Nexus protect their towers against Run into towers?

   Protect Ya Nexus vs Run into towers

Match link: https://heroeslounge.gg/match/view/8517
I also recommend watching the VOD from Aviater's and Transparent's cast of the game here

Previous standings

Both teams are quite even with 3-2 in match score first 5 rounds, only difference is one map more taken by Protect Ya Nexus. This is Protect Ya Nexus 8^th season and they started this season strong with three wins against Do you even soak?, Unorganized Screaming Baboons and Team Pferdekuss. Before having now lost their last two games against Phoenix Gaming and Sloth Highlords. Run into towers have had the same combinations with 3 wins first, before losing the next two games. The wins were against Maracaibo, Les hommes de Chromie gnons and Unorganized Screaming Baboons, and the two losses was against Renai Clan and JAI PLUS DE FORCE. Run into towers is a new team, mixed of both new and old players to Heroes Lounge.

Result

Game 1 on Volskaya was fairly even, despite Run into Towers getting all three Protectors. With the third Protector Run into towers got 2 kills before the Protector died. They went for the core with their number advantage and with some struggle managed to win the map. In game 2 on Tomb of the Spider Queen Protect Ya Nexus had control of the map for a large part of the game. Later they pushed with the boss to get keep when both teams had level 20 talents, but unfortunately for them Valla overextended and got killed. Then Auriel's Resurrection got interrupted, making them fight 4 vs 5 losing the fight and the match. Making the result a very close 2-0 to Run into Towers who now climbed up to 8’th place in their division as of writing this article and are in the race of reaching playoff. While Protect Ya Nexus chance of reaching the playoff is beginning to hang on a silver thread.

MVP

Gamna on Protect Ya Nexus's side was initially getting my MVP. However, he picked a banned talent on Greymane in game 1 and got so many kills by it that i can't justify it. Therefore, it goes to my runner up Itzzaboy who is the solo laner on Run into Towers. First game on Varian, he won the early game and in large part the first Protector by always confirming kills for his team with the Taunt. While also forming in the late game a impassable wall in the front lane with Johanna for Protect Ya Nexus to get through. Game 2 on Leoric he won held lane easily against Ragnaros, surviving any kill attempt on him and therefore never losing his gems in the solo lane. Though his Entomb does need some work for next time he plays Leoric. Overall for both games he did well in the solo lane. While also rotating when needed in time, so that his team got a lot of 5 vs 4 fights. In addition Run into towers never had to dedicate much resources from the other 4 heroes to the solo lane thanks to that.

Play of the game

Gamna on Greymane was here harassing Run into Towers back lane from the flank. To such a degree that he got both Orphea and Hanzo low enough to kill them both with Go For The Throat.

Highlights

Even in more organized games, teams can get away with sneaking the boss with only one hero, which here was Nazeebo with level 20 talents.

With the well snuck boss, Protect Ya Nexus tried to push to get a keep. Unfortunately for them Valla overextended and got killed. Before the Resurrection from Auriel got interrupted and the whole team eventually got wiped.

Interview

This time i sat down to have a chat with captain of Run into towers bust3r and the MVP Itzzaboy.

First of all congratulations with the win. You are undoubtedly happy about it, but are you guys satisfied with your gameplay in the match as well?

Itzzaboy: Game 1 I thought we played fantastic, like Volskaya is our map, has been for a long time. So, we know what to do from start to finish quite well. Tomb not so much, it’s a map we don’t play all that often and I think it showed. We didn’t know the rotations as well, the timings, the camps and so on. There was a lot of strong invades by the opponent, they played it real aggressive. Most of the game we were behind and on the defensive. Not sure what else to add to that.

Bust3r: On the other end if I can add to what BW said. I think Volskaya went really well. Our playstyle kind of paid off since most of the fights was 5 vs 4 for us. We got into a spot where we could take advantage of that, because Blaze or Greymane was soaking. You do run the risk of getting ganked or whatever when performing such aggressive rotations though. But you also might get a pick so it’s a high-risk, high reward type of play.
Tomb on the other hand is not a map we play often. I understand the mechanics of the map. Basically, whoever has the best wave clear wins most of the time. Luckily Steppen got an interruption as Johanna on Auriel resurrect, because of that, I think we ended up winning that game as well.

In game 2 the opponent went for a special draft. Were you guys surprised by the Nazeebo and Ragnaros pick?

Itzzaboy: Surprising, yes, but we weren’t going into it with “omg easy win”. I think a lot of people see Nazeebo as a bit of a troll character, and then to underestimate what he brings to the table. If he is given enough time on a map like Tomb. Though I was kind of surprised, cause usually when you pick Nazeebo on Tomb you want something like Johanna with that. Still, we were on the back foot and Nazeebo got a lot of stacks. Mid 19 I saw Nazeebo was already at 250 stacks or something.
As for Ragnaros I play a lot of him myself. I think he is really undervalued hero, especially when he hits 20 and has that lava surge you just can’t push. You can’t make any aggressive movements on the map. Cause all of a sudden everything on the map is dead, thanks to Lava Wave.

Bust3r: From my opinion when I saw the Nazeebo pick I was kind of cautious of it. Because even with the Nazeebo changes he still got a lot of spell power with level 1 talent. When Vile infection the quest went off, they really brought the pain and we felt it. Nazeebo just nukes the waves and everything at that point.

The past two rounds have been rough for your team after the great start you guys had with 3 wins. How did you guys go into the match?

Itzzaboy: We were focused and ready to play with very much with an attitude like this is a new game separate for everything else. Taking every game as it’s own new thing and try not to let previous matches affect how you play. So, I’ll be honest the comms before the games they were jolly people were laughing.
Our record is still pretty damn good though. If you look at both the opponents we lost to, I kind of feel on a personal level feel we weren’t prepared at all. We knew they were strong and there was more we could do to prepare against that. It’s still fine though, we’ve learned a hell of a lot more from watching those two losses than our wins. So in a way I think it’s actually bad we lost a couple of games early, but it’s going to be better for us in the long run maybe, when thinking about matchups for the future. I would probably not be surprised if Renai Clan that we lost to wins the cup to be honest.

Bust3r: They are an amazing team. They will capitalize on a mistake faster than you can breathe. The same goes for JAI PLUS DE FORCE who was the second opponent we lost against. It kind of breaks moral losing that hard, but you know you learn from it. Also from the beginning of the season we’ve kind of been having roster issues. However, now that Draeger has joined the team, we are kind of settling into a groove again.

Now Run into Towers is a unique name how did you guys come up with it. Is it representative of what your players do?

Bust3r: Yeah, as you know Twinkle our DPS player is a Orphea main. And basically, she wanted the name to be something like Orphea goddesses Potato squad. I am pretty sure most people don’t like being called a potato. So, we tried to settle for another team name. Then we thought about going for living, but we later settled for Run into towers. Since most of us can feed properly. She, Twinkle, is not that good at doing that however.

How do you find time to play HOTS? Is it time consuming to play Heroes Lounge.

Itzzaboy : We make it work. Like practice is maybe once a week. Then we will play a game about once a week, I will say that’s about the average. We’ve all got commitments out of the game we can’t play constantly. Twinkle however, anytime she doesn’t have school or isn’t sleeping, she is literally only playing HoTS. I have been in Lounge for years now, since season 4 I think.
Still, we have people that haven’t played in a competitive environment before. Bringing them in and teaching them that the game should be played as a coordinated group. Instead of mindlessly getting into QM and then being sour if you lose a game. It’s always better to have people to play with instead of playing on your own. I have myself played in Lounge for years now, since season 4 I think. Lounge is a great community, it brings a common purpose to a lot of people who still play this game.

Thank you for your time, anything you would like to add before the interview ends? 

Bust3r: I would give it one word and that would be a fiesta. But for real I just want to thank my team cause I know I can be quite a pain in the ass to deal with to be honest.

Itzzaboy: Cough, cough, Dictator.

Bust3r: Yes a dictator is a good word. But yeah, I agree. But the only reason why I am the way I am is to try and bring out the best in a team. Cause nobody wants to lose you know. Also, just want to say thanks to people like you who takes time to write, cast or coordinate games in Heroes Lounge to make the experience better for us. Lounge has a great community.

That's all for today, many thanks to Itzzaboy and bust3r for the interview.