Last weekend, the biggest SMITE 2 event so far took place: the finals of the Founder's Series Championships in Las Vegas. Six teams fought through a double elimination bracket for their share of a $300,000 prize pool and the opportunity to be the very first SMITE 2 world champions.
It was an incredible tournament with plenty of high-octane moments, so we asked our community of die-hard SMITE 2 enthusiasts to share their highlights. Here are the best moments from the SMITE 2 Founder's Series Championship in Las Vegas:
BennyQ's Fire Giant steal
The most popular clip, with four individual nominations from Asphyxyate, NiteDark, NotAValveGame, and Oreo-McFury00 was BennyQ's Fire Giant steal against Team Risk during the grand finals.
The Zeus player perfectly poached the Fire Giant from afar, right as it was about to fall, sending the casters wild. He followed it up with a double kill, which could be seen as the turning point in the match for 5M's, claims Oreo-McFury00. For Asphyxyate, a brilliant play was even more enjoyable because BennyQ had only just returned to the game after a brief retirement. What a comeback!
CylconeSpin's unofficial quadra kill
Sticking with 5M's, earlier in the tournament they faced off against Food Drive in the semi finals. kamiel nominates this play from CycloneSpin as his favourite because he's a huge Ullr fan himself, so he "loves seeing Ullr pop off in games like this". PBM takes down the Fire Giant for 5M's before Cyclone takes down Globe, Tegveer, and Valo, in quick succession. He then chases Hapn through the jungle to nail the fourth kill, making for an "unofficial quadra".
Food Drive's team play against Borscht
But there’s a prequel to that story. In order to face 5M's in the semis, Food Drive had to see off Borscht in the quarters. That's exactly what they did, largely thanks to this impressive team play nominated by AdySenpai. Tegveer secures the Fire Giant kill, while his teammates pick off the rest of Borscht in the surrounding areas.
Cyclone's grand final double-kill
Cyclone is the man of the moment as Soulk also nominated one of his plays, this time during the grand final against Team Risk. Scream is dueling Streak when Cyclone jumps in to lend a hand... but then, so does Lasbra on the opposing team. Scream falls, and the odds are stacked two-to-one against Cyclone. Is he bothered? Not for a minute. Cyclone produces another of the defining moments of a tense final by swiftly mopping up the double-kill.
Scream's wishful thinking becomes reality
Scream also features in our next highlight, which was submitted by both Carlysle and Inpunktion. Aladdin is the new, exciting god on the block and fans had been waiting all tournament long to see him in the hands of the game’s best players. They finally got their chance in the grand final between Team Risk and 5M's, with Scream leading the Sultan onto the battleground.
This clip, described by Inpunktion as "a good showing for the character" and Carlysle as him "being granted all three wishes", shows just how strong this never-before-seen god is. Scream takes down Genetics with help from Cyclone before, as the caster exclaims, taking Lasbra to "the thunderdome", also known as the genie's lamp. Scream wins that 1v1, then pulls Streak and Variety in alongside PBM for a 2v2 scrap, during which the 5M's duo emerge victorious despite having less health at the start of the fight. You could say Aladdin is pretty strong.
Lasbra's Fire Giant steal
Fire Giant steals are always impressive and this one from Lasbra - once again, during the grand final, but earlier on when Team Risk were looking stronger - is another strong contender for one of the best of the tournament. Submitted by @yan57436, Lasbra as Fenrir loiters just outside of the area where 5M's are fighting the boss, then attracts the attention of Cherry, who freezes him as Ymir. That doesn't stop Lasbra though, as he leaps in and secures the objective at the last second.
Theakz's Fire Giant steal
"You're joking! Not another one?!" exclaimed Brenda from Bristol at the news of a snap UK general election seven years ago, and it was also our reaction when @LouiTheExexuter nominated Theakz's Fire Giant steal as their favourite moment from the tournament. This one also took place in the grand final between Team Risk and 5M's, and it was the pivotal play that took a breathtaking close match all the way to a fifth game. Dramatic? You bet: "This is what the SMITE Pro League should be," Loui explained.
Team Risk's final play against Smoke Break
Koniko was one of the first to enter this reward, while the tournament was still taking place, and at the time their highlight was Team Risk’s stylish closure of the match against Smoke Break in the semi-final. Koniko reckoned they had what it took to win, and while that didn't quite end up being true, the way the whole team worked together to take down Smoke Break's titan here was impressive.
Mockingbird and the Obsidian Dagger
The Obsidian Dagger is a brand-new item in SMITE 2, which drops from the Fire Giant upon death. It deals 500 damage to the wielder, but grants 20% higher damage and attack speed for six seconds. If that initial use kills the god holding it, they are revived on the spot with those buffs doubled.
Mockingbird managed to use it not once, but twice during their game against Smoke Break, and even though they went on to lose the game 2-1 overall, MasterMind has nominated Calvin's play as Ymir with the dagger, which enabled his teammate, Herox, to secure a triple-kill and win the game.
Variety's poor decision-making
This clip comes from ForMol, who has analysed and highlighted a poor play from Variety, again during the match between Team Risk and 5M's. For ForMol, the ‘best’ moments in SMITE 2 can actually be mistakes, as even small lapses have the potential to decide the game when you’re playing at the top levels - and you can’t say that’s not exciting. I'll let ForMol take it away:
"If Variety gives up this camp, or dashes the wall by using his ultimate, he would survive. Small margins of error and decision-making is what I love the most about competitive SMITE 2; you never know how or when a team will get an edge over the other!"
Smoke Break finish off Mockingbird
It was a slog, but Smoke Break eventually emerged victorious over Mockingbird in the first round of the losers’ bracket. JHenckes identifies the decisive play of that game as his play of the tournament, thanks to how the eventual victors "hunted down all the opposing gods, even with them spread out across the map, and none managed to escape".
Genetics puts his body on the line
TheMortonMan, a SMITE 2 streamer and caster, nominates a unique clip as his favourite: a quick-thinking, self-sacrificial move from Genetics, who Morty says is his "favourite player in SMITE history". In this clip, Genetics’s teammate Streak - playing as Ymir - is just one or two hits away from dying in his lane. Genetics manages to put his body between the incoming attack from Scream and save Streak's life. Now that’s how you play support.
Streak and Genetics don't give up
This one’s another impressive play from a game between Team Risk and 5M's, and once again comes from the deadly duo of Genetics and Streak. mypets is in awe at both players’ resilience after 5M's disengaged from a team fight:
"Genetics and Streak seemed hungry for a kill... they didn't give up and went for it! They showed that they were hungry for victory, and with all that willpower they ended up securing the Pyromancer! Very good to watch!"
A compilation of highlights
Finally, we have Inters3ct, who has nominated not just one single moment, but an entire compilation of the best highlights from the whole tournament. Plenty of these are featured in this list already, alongside some extra clips and context so you can fully appreciate just how entertaining SMITE 2's very first professional tournament was. As Inters3ct explained in his comment: "holy s***!".
What was your favourite moment from the SMITE 2 Founder's Series Championship in Las Vegas? Let us know in the comments if you think we missed any, or pick your favourite from this list and tell us why.
Some text has been edited for brevity, clarity, or spelling, punctuation, and grammar. You can find the original wordinghere. Image credit: Titan Forge Games.
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