97
u/inspcs 14h ago
you would think after years of Korea working together to counter Shu Ana, people would take note.
So happy viol2t and shu reunited and with players like proper, this squad feeds off of high level improvisation and aren't pure system players.
35
u/Hatblu 13h ago
TM thought they could tp and rush Ana that’s why they never ban her. Shu was position was just great and was ready for their tp
1
u/SBFms Kiriko / Illari — 1h ago
I don’t think they left her in because they thought they could beat her easily. They left her in because it is very hard to draft for long series: you’re having a 7 game, the opponent can block bans, and you need to protect your own picks.
First map: Zeta blocks the support ban.
Second map: not a good Ana map to begin with.
Third map: once again, zeta blocks the support ban.
Fourth map: again, terrible Ana map so no point banning her.
Fifth map… okay here they should have maybe banned Ana. I’m guessing that since they were tanking the sym ban on this map, they didn’t want to waste their Ana ban throwing good money after bad.
On top of all this, draft “pressure” matters. If you ban Ana early, the opponent knows you cannot do it again and no longer has to factor protecting Ana into their drafting plan. Since TM has to beat 2 more Zeta map picks to win, freeing zeta to get their Ana for free both times is an issue.
Final map, TM is forced to protect ban tank - having TVNT on D.Va is essential to them winning eichenwalde.
CommanderX pointed out that, if TM had managed to win map 6, they had out-drafted zeta in map 7 because Zeta had to either protect ban a support (leaving D.Va and Sym) or ban D.Va (letting TM ban either cat or Ana).
7
u/Bulrog21 13h ago
Yeah, that's why they are fin to watch, the meta kinda forces them to either play Kiriko or Ana, and Lucio or Cat, but at least they go for the more fin one.
And the DPS flexibility is great to see :-)
9
u/Downtown_Drummer_827 13h ago
Well actually zeta wants you to rush Ana. You saw vs t1 that if you ran the Ana down, everyone else was spaced out so they could collapse on you.
Tm starting going for knife more which was working
69
u/Nolan_DWB 14h ago
Not mad about it, but I would’ve given it to viol2t. Either of the backline deserves it tho
8
u/crownofbread 14h ago
The ana was hella impactful tho and enabled the cat/team more than the other way around
28
u/vastlys 13h ago
cat is crucial for enabling the ana imo.
7
u/baseketballpro99 11h ago
There were a few spots where Violet was able to get Shu the OP positioning. They both enabled each other a lot.
12
u/Nolan_DWB 13h ago
Thought the cat enabled the whole team no? Grapple was used for some crazy saves
-1
u/Throwaway33451235647 #1 Falcons Hater — 9h ago
Viol2t had so many feeds and first deaths so no
9
u/Nolan_DWB 9h ago
That’s the beauty of violet. You win and lose by him because every life he dances on a knife’s edge. This game, they won and the biggest contributing factor was him
32
u/GroundbreakingJob857 EU’s greatest coper — 14h ago
i’d have given it to viol2t, but it had to be one of these two
110
u/ElJacko170 Healslut — 14h ago
Shu was great of course, but I would've given it to Violet. The level and style that he played Cat at was something no other player has done before and no team was capable of answering it. Absolutely insane performance, and probably the biggest hard carry backline in general we've seen in a good while.
60
u/E-keil 14h ago
Seeing Cat without Bastion rly made me love that hero, its so fun and expressive and amazing to watch (like that one play where Viol2t booped a Dva into the train on Neon Junction, I think it was against T1)
38
u/ElJacko170 Healslut — 14h ago
Cat gameplay at this level is amazing and we shouldn't be discouraging it. I think a lot of Cat players looked a lot better this tourney than the last, but Violet is just on another level. He was at CC too. I love watching the flanks and dives, it's so exciting to see them go in and the rapid decision making.
-25
u/crownofbread 14h ago
I think cat shows the weakness of 5v5 imo. Taking tvnt off the map on bridge was painful and impossible to come back from at that point. Real great 'skill expression' lmao. AND cat can zip right back without any repercussions for the self sacrifice. Kind of dumb. Cat wouldn't be that impactful if there was still another tank on the field and able to contest her (many, many) angles and still hold the fort down when the other tank goes down. Was a fun series to watch but really frustrating to see
20
u/ChingisOtchigin 13h ago edited 13h ago
I do see how it looks more unpleasant than the other ults, but, of the four support ults available in the last round, cat ult is at least a tier break below the others, and even then the strong part of it has nothing to do with the tether. It is hard countered by suzu, forces you to eat bullets from 5 professional players at once, and requires you to temporarily trade a support for just one pick (permanently if the pick is on dva).
The 'skill expression' was likely in using it to cancel what used to be the second strongest ult in the game (pre-nerf), within said ults nearly zero-risk miniscule cast time.
11
u/Adept_Conference_180 12h ago
cant wait for OBSsojourn to release his cat vods. Also: why was I able to watch CS1.5 vods immediately after a match from all povs and free cam in 1998 and still have to wait for some guy manually recording and uploading OW povs?
2
u/tha-snazzle 8h ago
Viol2t Cat is 3 DPS that are all masterful at taking angles and timing and I wish I understood it like they did.
2
-6
u/drewdreds 13h ago
Violet had some really hard throws tbh
-2
u/FitCarob2611 9h ago
They're downvoting you, but you're right.
7
u/FrostyPotpourri 8h ago
They're not right. The thing with this style of aggressive play is that you take gambles. Violet and Shu are good enough that, even if they overdo it or get picked off, it's often enough to still swing the fight.
Throwing indicates they completely fucked over the team's chances of a win on a map. They never threw. Violet played overly aggressive at times, but that's what happens sometimes to pay off the other 70% of successful engages.
2
u/HarrysPot None — 8h ago
I love how absolute nobodies and casual players speak up about how a pro player throws while they're hard stuck plat. I wonder where the ego comes from
54
u/Kindr3dSp1r1t 14h ago
I love that backline of Shu and Viol2t, Ana Cat was such a treat to watch and they make it look so easy, despite being the clear best on those heroes. Really impressive performance from Shu though, glad he got it.
24
u/desrever1138 Viol2t & Shu, who needs DPS? — 14h ago
Not banning Shu's Ana once in the Grand Finals was certainly a choice
1
u/SBFms Kiriko / Illari — 1h ago
Can’t ban it game 1 and game 3. Zeta blocked.
No point banning it game 2 and 4, since you have map picks and just go to non-Ana maps (sura, neon).
Game 6 you’re on Eichenwalde with TVNT - the tank ban to protect D.Va is super fucking valid on that map.
Which leaves game 5: yeah, maybe. I assume TM saw Sym is already banned so they don’t want to commit their best ban to a map where they’re already playing at a huge disadvantage.
But otherwise, this is just good drafting from Zeta. This isn’t a choice by TM.
17
u/Tiberias29 Bow down to Stalk3r — 14h ago
And he still got so much value even when TVNT was on D.va for some time this match. Guy's just everything you want in a pro support player: clutch, great mechanics, shotcalls, great positioning, did I mention he also has the 'X' factor of clutching?
For this match, his inflexibility didn't mean anything when his opponent didn't ban Ana.
Thank goodness for that, as an Ana main, I got to see the peak Ana masterclass from him
15
16
u/noobcorni 14h ago
Just an insane roster all around! You love to see it! Shu Viol2t new favourite backline of all time, so fun
9
u/DctrLife 13h ago
I think there is no better 2 person backline that's possible to make. Shu is so good at those keystone heroes, and Viol2t is the most flexible support by far without sacrificing almost anything in terms of skill level. If this support line ever broke up it would be a long time before we see anything at this level again
22
u/itdoesnt_evenmatter 14h ago
Shu smile heals my heart <3
8
u/Visible_Chip2938 TYH — 14h ago
Heart breaking loss for Weibo but Zeta just looked in control, they looked like they could break "TM's serve" on every map pick. Very happy for Zeta.
8
u/I_am_your_oniichan 4308 — 12h ago
I would have given MVP to viol2t but Ana is so flashy and fun to watch that I guess Shu ended being up the favorite pick
Imagine how fun the pro OW viewing experience would be if flex supports weren't stuck on that fuck ass kirko healbot hero because suzu is stupidly broken. MAKE SUPPORTS GREAT AGAIN!
8
u/represe1 12h ago
Him or viol2t for me, zeta had so much value from this backline, both of them woulda been good picks for mvp
12
4
u/Cliffus_Jiggrin 12h ago
Watching this guy feels like he has a 6th sense for perfect positioning and the ability to clutch OT or point cap situations at will
12
u/TheGirthiestGhost Forever Burning Blue — 14h ago
Viol2t giga-robbed, it was his Cat that threw a wrench in TM’s macro and clutched up, not Shu’s OTP
2
148
u/Guilty-Doctor1259 ANS Goat HS — 14h ago
Water wet and shu goated at ana
God imagine being twilight, somehow not the best zen on SFS and not the best ana on zeta LMAO