Epic Cup Group Stage Review

After some exciting games in the groups of the Epic Cup, we finally know which teams will be competing in the knockout stage.

Speaking of which if you are ready for a weekend of Heroes Lounge action make sure you tune in on the 22nd of June for the finals of the Rare Cup and on the 23rd of June for the finals of the Epic Cup. Games will be streamed over at https://www.twitch.tv/heroes_lounge and https://www.twitch.tv/heroes_lounge2 by our team of fantastic casters. 

The first games will start at 13:00 CEST each day, please check the calendar for the current schedule https://heroeslounge.gg/calendar (times subject to change depending on length of matches, please check the Heroes Lounge Discord for updates)

Here in this blog we take a look at some of the results, upsets and good plays that have occurred so far in this years cup

Group A  

First up in Group A we saw Asgard Support clash with CoB Antimeta. The Division 5 side CoB put up a strong fight on the first map, but were unable to put up as much of a stand on the second, possibly due to allowing meta favourites Anub'arak and Maiev to be drafted on the side of Asgard Support

Next up CLN SpacePhungi crossed paths with Asgard Support. The first map went the way of Asgard Support with a Void Prison Ring of Frost combo that helped them to victory. They continued their good form with a win on the second map, putting them in a strong position to make it through to the knockout stage. See a clip from the first map from this game below

The following match was the all Division 5 game of this group seeing CoB Antimeta fight it out with CLN SpacePhungi. The first game was a somewhat low kill game ending up at 7-6 in favour of SpacePhungi, but it was enough to win them the first map. CoB pulled the series back in the second map with an impressive victory on Towers of Doom, utilising Anub'arak as he slipped his way through the banning phase and into the draft. SpacePhungi recovered from this and pulled out a solid win on the third map, earning their first win of the Cup.

Later that night CLN SpacePhungi went on to play their final game against a fresh Team Moon Moon. TMM's Cup campaign got off to a good start as they were able to control both maps in their first match of the Cup, picking up victories on Tomb of the Spider Queen and Volskaya Industries

In a pivotal match Team Moon Moon came up against CoB Antimeta. If TMM lose this and their remaining game both 0-2, CoB would go through to the knockout stage due to map score, but a win for Moon Moon would be sufficient for qualification. The Division 4 side TMM managed to defeat their Division 5 counterparts with a 2-0 victory, confirming their place in the knockout stage. CoB put up a strong fight early on in the first map, but were unable to snowball it into a victory. 

The final match in the group pitted Asgard Support against Team Moon Moon, a fixture that in round 6 of the regular season went 2-0 in favour of Asgard. With both teams qualified for the knockout stage this match would only decide each teams seed going into the final day. In the end it was a somewhat lighthearted fixture, both teams appearing to use this as an opportunity to try out new comps. In the end Moon Moon managed to take the series 2-0, with a close first map and a more one sided second map.

Winners: Team Moon Moon

Runner Up: Asgard Support

Group B

Early cup favourites Broes before heroes started their quest for glory with a 2-1 victory over Division 5 team Jammed Comms. In the first map the Broes drafted one of their secret weapon in Valeera, who spent the majority of the game farming their opponents as they went on to confirm 26 kills in total. This prompted her to be banned out for the remaining 2 maps, along with the Stukov which was also pivotal in the first map.

Next up Team Simple Geography came up against Jaina The Frost Mage in an inter division clash, and despite getting their core falling to 3% (see clip below), JTFM managed to claw their way back to victory. In the second map Simple Geography appeared to dominate early proceedings once again, but JTFM showed tremendous spirit to fight there way to victory and confirm an impressive 2-0 victory over a team in the division above.

Jammed Comms bounced back from their first defeat with a good 2-0 win over Jaina The Frost Mage. This is the same result as when the two teams met in the regular season in round 7, showing that Jammed Comms definitely have Jaina The Frost Mage's number this season. JTFM drafted a Nazeebo comp on the first map, but the game only lasted just under 13 minutes, preventing the witch doctor from reaching his full damage potential.

In the following match, Jaina The Frost Mage  put up a good fight going 1-0 up against Broes before Heroes, but were unable to seal the win as the Broes recovered and showcased the form that put them at the top of Division 4 with two convincing map wins to take the series.

A pivotal game saw Team Simple Geography clash against Jammed Comms. Simple Geography needed a win to stay in contention for the playoffs, and they managed to get with an exciting 2-1 victory. The first game was closely contested, but Simple Geography were able to come out on top. The second match was certainly not boring, a whopping 42 kills over 34 minutes ended with Jammed Comms equalizing the series. Map 3 took us to Dragon Shire where Simple Geography were able to regain control and cruise to victory, 

The final game of the group sees Broes before Heroes vs Team Simple Geography. Under pressure with their Cup status on the line, Simple Geography started off the series on the back foot, falling to defeat on a well contested game on Tomb of the Spider Queen. 1 map loss away from elimination, then they proceeding to pull out a Medivac cheese comp on Cursed Hollow, which was executed perfectly earning them the win in just under 9 minutes. Moving onto the third map, Simple Geography were motivated by the previous map and went on to a dominant win

Winners: Team Simple Geography

Runner Up: Broes before Heroes

Group C

With the disbanding of Lobster Revenge, the other 3 teams in the group all received one free win.

Game 1 saw Fridry Hunter coming up against Only Fools and Heroes, and here we saw a repeat of the result from the game between these two in the regular season with FH confidently strolling to victory with 32 kills compared to 7 over the two maps.

The penultimate game saw another win for Fridry Hunter as they confirmed their place in the knockout stage. Treehouse Gaming certainly put up a fight in the second game but were unable to claim a map.

The final bout had a simple story, the winner goes through to the knockout stages. Treehouse Gaming eased to victory on the first map, a controlled performance netting them 18 kills to their opponents 2. The second map was anything but a kill-fest for a 26 minute game, Only Fools and Heroes had 9 kills to Treehouse Gaming's 5, but were unable to capitalise on this as Treehouse Gaming managed to play the map effectively and qualify for the knockout stage.

Winners: Fridry Hunter

Runner Up: Treehouse Gaming

Group D

The first game of Group D pitted JustFriends against LGhouseoffail, a game which in round 2 went in favour of the Friends. This time round the fixture resulted in the same outcome, including a close first match and a more one sided second.

The second game of this group brought Magical Liopleurodon up against The Art of Warfare. On the first map Magical Liopleurodon managed to have a flawless victory, not dying once in the entire game. The second map was more contested but with the same end result with the kills going 15-10 in the Liopleurodon's favour.

Then we had an exciting tussle between JustFriends and Magical Liopleurodon. In the first map JustFriends looked as though they may just cause an upset against the Division 4 side with an impressive victory on Alterac Pass. The second game proved to be a close one, with a lengthy game just going the way of the Liopleurodons. The final map saw Magical Liopleurodon clutch out the win, putting them in a great position for progressing to the knockout stage.

Later that night we saw The Art of Warfare clash against JustFriends. Playing two games in a matter of hours proved to be no problem for JustFriends as they cruised to a commendable 2-0 victory against the Division 4 side.

The following game involved Magical Liopleurodon and LGhouseoffail. The first game was tight, the Liopleurodons getting 8 kills to their opponents 9, but despite the inferior number of kills they managed to macro their way to a victory on Tomb of the Spider Queen. The second game was also fairly close, the first Chen appearance in the Epic Cup since his rework proved to be a successful one as the Liopleurodons continued their good for in Group D winning their third match.

The final game of the group brought together The Art of Warfare and LGhouseoffail, with neither team able to qualify for the knockout stage. The matches were closely contested, but The Art of Warfare were able to asert their dominance as the higher Division side, despite falling behind after the first map they made a comeback with a little help from the freshly reworked Chen.

Winners: Magical Liopleurodon

Runner Up: JustFriends

That's all for now folks, as mentioned earlier make sure you tune in for an exciting knockout stage over at https://www.twitch.tv/heroes_lounge and https://www.twitch.tv/heroes_lounge2. Please check the Heroes Lounge discord this weekend for all the latest updates