I didn't the see 3 first games, but judging from the last 2 and yesterday series, the addition of Abed brought balance to the team, he has a large heroes pool, can play different role (farming mid,tempo control, ganging), and allowed EE to play his regular (throwing) style.

PS: If someone is kind enough to explain why EE went for "Heaven's halberd" in game 5, than went back to echo sabre followed by desolator. because i sure don't understand his reasoning.

goody153

44282 Posts

November 12 2017 15:47 GMT

#383

After the armlet i presume he went for heaven's halberd for the tankiness(cause him and omni was practically unkillable for around 10 minutes that time). Mineski didn't have the physical damage with VS being insanely underfarmed(afaik he only has drums + boots+aquila) and dusa not having enough items. They were the two damage dealers from the team so the pickup was reasonable.

The echo sabre+deso is fine it increases his damage output in short period of time(cause they're cheap) which is what they needed.

spudde123

4814 Posts

November 12 2017 16:25 GMT

#384

Halberd against a lineup that ended up being basically a solo carry Medusa is quite standard, but not sure if he needed to get it as 2nd item. I think when he bought it it was already clear that Mushi is pretty farmed and the rest are not, so having the disarm is very useful. I wasn't watching so closely so not sure how much he ended up using it

VvvV1251

Algeria142 Posts

November 12 2017 16:56 GMT

#385

Well by the time he got the it, Dusa virtually had no item, considering how they crushed the early game, there was absolutely no reason to pick as a second item.

Not only that, there was multiple instance where Mineski had blown up everything and failed to score a kill, even killing a support WW was hard, especially in the early mid game, let alone killing a LS with armlet.

In my opinion, going HH as a second item was a mistake, there was better items to pick, especially in the position they were in.

Also They didn't push when SK and brewmaster ult's was on CD, while dusa and veng were virtually hitting like kittens.

Overall, Fnatic looks better with Abed, however they still need a lot of work, as their "team call" is still lacking.

Hope they can improve.

GOHF

United States1864 Posts

November 12 2017 17:08 GMT

#386

I hope everyone is giving a little consideration for their new coach. Adam is a very intelligent player, he wasn’t the drafter for Fnatic’s Ti6 run. Hopefully, this will be the team that can actually benefit from him.

spudde123

4814 Posts

November 12 2017 17:54 GMT

#387

On November 13 2017 01:56 VvvV1251 wrote:
Well by the time he got the it, Dusa virtually had no item, considering how they crushed the early game, there was absolutely no reason to pick as a second item.

The rest of Mineski was crushed, Medusa was still tied for #1 on net worth and he has Venge aura on his side. But ofc killing people was hard for Mineski anyway if Omni and WW were around, but "absolutely no reason" is still a bit of a stretch. Halberd isn't all that bad damage wise for strength heroes anyway. One may disagree with the choice, but you are framing it as if there is no clear reasoning for it at all

VvvV1251

Algeria142 Posts

November 12 2017 18:27 GMT

#388

On November 13 2017 02:54 spudde123 wrote:

Show nested quote +

EE got the hallberd at 19m while dusa got her manta style at 21m, on top of that, they had tinker's laser, WW's cold embrace and Omni's ult, LS is a team-fight oriented hero same apply to the two others, while Tinker can join at any-time, the Odd of them being together is pretty high, not only that but Medusa generally doesn't want to join team fight without 2 big items. on top of that, they were way ahead in net-worth.

This is the reason why i said there is no reason, although i agree that "absolutely" was unnecessary.

FuzzyJAM

Scotland9300 Posts

November 12 2017 18:49 GMT

#389

Fnatic look like a different team. Trying to build around Xcalibur just wasn't working, whereas building around Abed is definitely doable.

Could still be the honeymoon stage, of course.

Kelefei2016

Papua New Guinea504 Posts

November 13 2017 07:59 GMT

#390

Mineski too concentrated on Abed in game 5 and they kind of Medusa better than tinker and somehow let Ohaiyo Omni has alot of farm. See the Ohaiyo Damage and Item, is a carry in the game. And i think they last minute change of hero pick let Nana has no option and he has to play the hero he not used to. I guess the initiate idea is Mushi will take VS, but somehow they need medusa at last pick, and they sacrifice Nana. Nana heroes were basically banned or picked (Tinker, Mirana, Puck)

DucK-

Singapore11447 Posts

November 13 2017 11:49 GMT

#391

Ohaiyo stepped up so much since abed joined. He had been playing really poorly prior.

Abed is definitely a huge upgrade over xcalibur. The 2 cheesy mid heroes (visage Meepo) that xcalibur is known for, abed is more renowned for it. Add in that unlike xcalibur, abed can comfortably play tempo heroes like invoker qop puck storm etc. What can xcalibur actually do that abed can't?

MasterBayShawn

Philippines12 Posts

November 14 2017 05:37 GMT

#392

On November 13 2017 20:49 DucK- wrote:
Ohaiyo stepped up so much since abed joined. He had been playing really poorly prior.

I think he is just not used to babysitting their mid

FuzzyJAM

Scotland9300 Posts

November 17 2017 09:46 GMT

#393

Still early days, but the team is looking super good. Everyone on the team seems much more comfortable (Abed included) because they can trust everyone else to actually do something if given the opportunity.

hunter_x

Germany2762 Posts

November 17 2017 11:26 GMT

#394

On November 17 2017 18:46 FuzzyJAM wrote:
Still early days, but the team is looking super good. Everyone on the team seems much more comfortable (Abed included) because they can trust everyone else to actually do something if given the opportunity.

They only played qualifiers in sea, against the same teams all the time. And dont forget its still a EE team, everything can happen. Yeah they look much better now, but the fnatic with xcalibur was a total disaster, so thats not too surprising. The first lan tournament will be the real test for this team.

VvvV1251

Algeria142 Posts

November 18 2017 09:50 GMT

#395

Despite all his years in competitive scene, EE still randomly go yolo mode and die in late game, instead of backing off immediately, he back track, run to the ancient to infest, pop off and rage TP right in front of VG (tough for his defense she was under shadow blade). but shrine was up and Mineski where hunting for backing heroes.

Abed saved the game by stealing aegis, cheese and refresher shard at the same time.

Let's see how G3 will turn out.

Jisira

470 Posts

November 18 2017 17:26 GMT

#396

Fnatic making it to a major over Mineski feels like the result of Abed coming in and making sense of the meta. Suddenly, the star player is in a position where you can easily play around him and he in turn can help the rest of the team overcome the hurdles of handling mid/lategame. My only wish is that they can continue to play like this on the big stage... We'll see at Dreamhack.

Alpino

Brazil4390 Posts

November 18 2017 18:25 GMT

#397

On November 19 2017 02:26 Jisira wrote:
Fnatic making it to a major over Mineski feels like the result of Abed coming in and making sense of the meta. Suddenly, the star player is in a position where you can easily play around him and he in turn can help the rest of the team overcome the hurdles of handling mid/lategame. My only wish is that they can continue to play like this on the big stage... We'll see at Dreamhack.

sound analysis but I'm not sure if Abed was the one that made sense of the meta draftwise in this lineup

goody153

44282 Posts

November 19 2017 02:06 GMT

#398

Abed certainly made it possible for Fnatic to function as one now that they have an "engine". Apparently they just need somebody who can actually have an impact as a midplayer since the other 4 work together well.