The final spots of the Smite Pro League Spring Split have been decided after an exciting finish to the Spring Split Relegations. In an offseason that was dubbed ‘roster apocalypse’ because of all the roster turnover turmoil, we’re here to catch you up on all the major Smite news from relegations!
The final four teams of the North America Spring Relegations were all worthy of moving on to the NA Smite Pro League, and thanks to the volatile offseason, all four teams qualified for the four open SPL spots. Denial eSports and The Randozos (formerly Team eLevate) were the bottom two teams from the NA Smite Pro League Fall Split. Meanwhile, Team Flex and Problem Solved had climbed their way out of the Open Bracket to get to this point.
Denial was the seventh seeded SPL team at the end of last year’s Fall Split, posting a pedestrian 11-17 record. During the offseason, Denial dropped BronxBombers and brought in Xenotronics. They also replaced Homiefe (and then ex-Enemy jungler, Adjust) with BennyXD.
Denial eSports put up an admirable fight, looking at times to be on the cusp of winning games. Unfortunately, Team Flex would not back down. Game one started with a five man invade by Flex, but it resulted in no kills. The first big event of the game occurred after a huge team fight in the mid lane. While Denial didn’t lose any members, the entire team was low on HP and had to back to base. This allowed for Team Flex to take the first gold fury of the game.
At 28 minutes in the game, both teams were content with the slow pace of the match. That was until Denial was able to sneak a Fire Giant right from under Team Flex’s nose. Denial looked to be in a great position, but they were too aggressive with the Fire Giant buff, getting aced by Team Flex. That ultimately cost Denial game one. Oceans was huge for Team Flex, going 10-1-7 on Rama in game one.
In game two, Team Flex was able to secure first blood three minutes into the game on a beautiful finish by Lassiz, taking down BennyXD in the mid lane. Denial responded later in the game, finding two kills on Incon and DareToCar. That advantage also parlayed into Denial taking the first Gold Fury of the game. Unfortunately, Denial was once again careless with their small gold lead.
Whalrus looking to flank the entire Flex team, only to be spotted out and then singled out. As the team members of Denial came to try and bail him out, they were all picked off one by one. Poor communication and teamwork would ultimately end the game for Denial.
Up 2-0 in a best of 5 series, Team Flex looked to play aggressively in game three. They secured first blood again in under four minutes, with Lassiz pulling Sadowq under the mid turret for the kill. A few minutes later, Team Flex again found the skirmish they were looking for, picking off multiple Denial eSports members. After a 12-minute Gold Fury, Flex had a 3,000 gold lead.
Despite Flex’s lead, Denial would not back down. They found the perfect team fight in the mid lane, resulting in BennyXD getting at triple kill on Ao Kuang. While the rest of Team Flex retreated to lick their wounds, Xenotronics was able to take down the tier one tower in the bottom lane, reducing Denial’s gold deficit to 2,000 gold.
Denial looked for another team fight in mid lane, but this time Flex was ready. After Flex picked up three kills, they were able to push down mid lane. Team Flex then secured a tier 2 tower, with the team immediately turning their attention to the first Fire Giant of the game. From there, Team Flex was able to stretch Denial out and create a ton of map pressure, ultimately winning game three and automatically qualifying for the SPL.
Game one started out slow, with both team’s sort of feeling each other out. The first big action occurred around seven minutes into the game, when Randozos’s Garz was able to secure first blood after a huge team fight. Both teams subsequently traded kills as Randozos chased the remaining members of Problem Solved to their tier 1 tower. After a strong counter engage by Problem Solved, the first Gold Fury of the game went their way. Problem Solved was able to snowball the rest of the game from there, securing a bountiful amount of objectives before Janus ulted into The Randozos base to secure a game one win.
Game two featured some interesting picks. The Randozos busted out Thor on Garz. Meanwhile, Problem Solved played Vamana as AD Carry for the first time in competitive play. Metyankey was key on Vamana, picking up first blood just 1:30 into the game. Problem Solved was in control of the entire game from there, with Homiefe’s Kali going 9-2-7.
In game three, Problem Solved looked to ramp up their aggression. They invaded The Randozos jungle, taking out ADUR0 and giving first blood to Homiefe’s Thor. Much like game two, Problem Solved was able to assert their dominance. Whenever they killed a member of The Randozos, they were able to immediately take an objective right after that. After a huge Fire Giant 22 minutes in to the game for Problem Solved, it was all but over. Problem Solved grouped and finished the game and series, moving on to the SPL.
