The Hangzhou Spark eliminated the Toronto Defiant with Shy and Teru stealing the show in the map five playoff victory
In the battle of talented teams that underperformed in the regular season, the Hangzhou Spark, fresh off the heels of a sweep at the hands of the Dallas Fuel, pulled out a map five victory over the Toronto Defiant. The win avoided a quick elimination and sent the eleventh seeded Defiant home with an 0-2 playoff record.
To start, the Spark benched star DPS Kim "AlphaYi" Jun in favor of Li "Pineapple" Zhou after a lackluster effort against the Fuel. The move was shocking considering AlphaYi has played an overwhelmingly majority of the maps on the projectile and Reaper role for the Spark this season. Luckily for Hangzhou, it didn't end up costing them, with Pineapple playing a serviceable backup. But, with AlphaYi entering the series in the pivotal map five, elimination map, questions were raised about the move.
The Hangzhou Spark Hero: AlphaYi
In a post-match interview, Minki "Teru" Kim, who has become a fearsome Kiriko main for the Spark, commented on coach Chang-geun "Changgong" Park's decision.
"We had to make some sort of switch after our first loss in the playoffs against the Dallas Fuel," said Teru. "Of course, there's a huge difference between how Pineapple and AlphaYi play. So, those are some of the considerations the team had thought of and more importantly, we did see AlphaYi towards the end. Mainly, because the main character in any sort of story appears towards the end"
"And more importantly, we did see AlphaYi towards the end. Mainly, because the main character in any sort of story appears towards the end"
Teru likened the map five switch to the hero in an action film stopping the bullet and saving the day. It was a gutsy move that paid off in the end. However, thrusting AlphaYi in for the final map, after Pineapple played the previous four maps, is not something the Spark can do against the better teams.
Besides, AlphaYi's struggles were more tied to the Dallas Fuel's ability to push pace and seperate the DPS from their support players with smart dive timings. For an up-and-down season, where Zheng "Shy" Yangjie has been the one constant, AlphaYi's play hasn't warranted a benching as a sidekick to one of the best hitscan players in the game. The two have chemistry and if the Spark are looking to make a deep run, AlphaYi will have to be a centerpiece.
Shy and Teru asserting their dominance
As for the series as a whole, Shy imposed his dominance on the Sojourn. He dominated in final blows, damage, and opening kills in team fights. He ended up as player of the game, outplaying his Defiant counterpart Jung-woo "Finale" Lim, but not by much.
The real story, outside of Shy's damage numbers, were the Spark utilizing double support ultimates to perfection. Futhermore, Teru threw out many multifaceted looks on Kiriko to keep the Defiant off balance.
Even in the loss to the Fuel, Teru showed innovation on the one hero dominating the meta. The Spark found great success with him pushing her Kitsune Rush.
They found ways to balance her strong offense with the ability to heal in large quantities. She's clearly a step above other Support Heroes. And, Teru's proving to be one of the better players early in this meta cycle.
"There's no one better when it comes to Kiriko. I am the best Kiriko, so it's too early for me to leave Anaheim just yet"
Between Shy and Teru, Spark has two of the better players at their respective roles. Qiulin "guxue" Xu is also in the conversation for best Winston. However, his game saving plays often get overlooked by mindless aggression. Nonetheless, this is a well built team that the favorites should be wary of moving forward.
The Hangzhou Spark will play the battle of the pink teams tomorrow against the Florida Mayhem. It's another elimination match, with five wins needed to take home the OWL trophy.