Yesterday we saw Tt eSports face off against the reigning champions Trademark eSports in another episode of the $1000 1v1 Showmatch hosted by S2 Games.

zai` gained attention for getting an annihilation versus compLexityGaming in the last Showmatch, and a lot of people tuned in to see if he could repeat that success.

Game #1: Soulstealer


sLiCKz vs. noobG

Right out of the gate noobG had a strong enough creep kill lead where he was able to play aggressively versus the Australian sLiCKz, treading up onto his side of the river, landing some good harassment and receiving some as well.

sLiCKz managed to catch up in creep farm after a minute and pushed noobG back to his tower to ferry himself some health regeneration as well as his boots. The creeps however had a different plan; as noobG's courier came in front of the tower, the creeps and sLiCKz approached and managed to kill noobG's courier and items before killing noobG.

1-0 TteS takes the first point over tDm.


sLiCKz drawing first blood rather early due to a misplay by noobG with his courier.

Game#2: Nymphora


sLiCKz vs. zai`

After taking out noobG, sLiCKz was set to face zai` as the quirky Nymphora in the second match of the day. Early on zai` put out some amazing harass with a great zeal stun, forcing sLiCKz to use his health potion almost immediately.

Both players went for different builds, with zai` choosing Volatile Pod while sLiCKz chose Grace of the Nymph for the ability to spam his zeal stun. After a few exchanges zai` walked up the legion ramp and managed to sidestep the zeal stun from sLiCKz and follow up with his own. The auto attack damage was just enough as zai` got one last projectile off to take out sLiCKz before he retreated too far under his tower.

tDm ties it up 1-1.


The taunt is on sLiCKz as he can do nothing but watch the last attack from zai` kill his Nymphora as the series is tied at one apiece.

Game #3: Monkey King


Riser_ vs. zai`

With zai` already taking out the prominent sLiCKz, he had taken one step to repeating his Zaihilation. But game 3 had him facing Riser_ with one of Riser_'s best heroes: Monkey King.
Around a minute in with about 3 creep waves under his tower zai` got a quick level 3 but missed an opportunity to jump onto Riser_, opting instead to go for more creep kills. The creeps soon pushed back to Riser_'s tower. zai` played aggressive and went under the tower to deny a creep, which proved to be a fatal choice as Riser_ would not let the opportunity slip through his hands.

He vaulted zai` towards the tower and then into the trees, following up with a dash combined with a tower attack that quickly put zai` out of the running.

TteS over tDm 2 - 1.


zai` trapped in the trees as Riser_ jumps onto him, drawing first blood and taking out the compLexity killer early on in the match.

Game #4: Prophet


Riser_ vs. Mynuts

Next up to face Riser_ for Trademark eSports was Mynuts as Prophet, a new hero that was let into tournament mode in the latest patch. Without seeing players play this hero much, most spectators were unsure as to what would happen with variations in builds and item choices.

Mynuts went for a passive build with Ring of the Teacher and Invigorate while Riser_ went aggressive, getting Mark of the Novices and Debilitate. Both heroes could put out amazing harass but Riser_'s build seemed to have that extra oomph needed to get the first blood as he used his combo and managed to get the kill as Mynuts tried to retreat to safety.

Riser_ was on his way to carrying his team through the Showmatch, putting them up 3-1 over tDm.


As strong as Invigorate is, it didn't help Mynuts from Riser_'s relentless attacks.

Game #5: Martyr


Riser_ vs. iNsania

With Riser_ on a hot streak he faced iNsania as Martyr, an intelligence hero with the ability to do more damage as his health decreases.

Tralfamadore was eagerly looking forward to this match-up because of the standoff it created with both players having to decide when to use their nuke—if the strike didn't result in a kill, the opponent could counter with an even stronger spell.

Riser_ remained relentless in this match, putting pressure on iNsania as he stopped both his health potions and forced him to play defensive at low health. After an exchange which left both players under 1/4 HP, iNsania stayed in the river almost trying to bait Riser_ to come to him, which he took all too eagerly, firing a retribution at him and killing him before he could even react.

This put TteS up 4 - 1 over the reigning champions tDm.


iNsania didn't know what hit him; it would have been interesting to see a double kill, but the spell wasn't ready to go.

Game #6: Midas


Riser_ vs. Limmp

Up next was Midas being played by Limmp, the last hope for tDm in this 1v1 Showmatch. It seemed to be a passive game as both players tried to harass each other with Golden Salvo. Limmp had a better time landing them and harassed Riser_ back to his tower several times in the first five minutes. Overall Limmp just sat back and focused on last hitting and getting more tanky so he wouldn't die easily to a combo from Riser_.

After forcing Riser_ back to well to regenerate his health and mana, Limmp had the lead in creep farm and the game was reaching ten minutes without a kill in sight. Riser_'s combo barely took 1/3 of Limmp's health just after returning back to lane, so the match was looking more in Limmp's favor as the match went on.

When time was just about up Riser_ tried to combo Limmp but was chased back to his tower—it likely would have been a kill had Limmp followed through. The match ended at 15 minutes with a creep score of 96-65 for Limmp as he kept tDm's hopes alive, scoring a point for them and ending Riser_'s streak.

4 - 2 with TteS still in the lead.


Just before the 15-minute mark both players go for a kill. Limmp is puts pressure on Riser_ but is unable to finish him off.

Game #7: Gauntlet


LeonBlack` vs. Limmp

LeonBlack` steps up to try and win the game for his team by taking out Limmp in this Gauntlet match, There was speculation about whether this would be an early kill bout—as we saw with MoonMeander versus zai`—or would this be a level 6 battle?

Early on with both players missing grapples, it took until level 6 for the first encounter when Limmp landed a combo on LeonBlack`, pulling him barely into tower range, yet it wasn't enough to stop the last-second Mana Battery from LeonBlack` to keep himself alive. This forced him to go to well to regenerate while Limmp had free farm of the lane with his ferried regeneration sitting in the tree line near his tower.

Overall neither player made any daring plays, relying on attempted grapples. LeonBlack`'s first chance came late in the game mid-way through the 14-minute mark. Unable to finish off Limmp, he retreated to his creep line where the game finished and went to creep count, 87-74 for Limmp as he went onto the next round.

4 - 3 for TteS.


The first engagement between Limmp and LeonBlack, who barely escapes thanks to his trusty Mana Battery.

Game #8: Bubbles


Moiravus vs. Limmp

It was fairly obvious that Moiravus would be playing this round, as the hero was Bubbles, one of his signature heroes. Limmp was criticized for not getting a health potion but instead went for a Pretender's Crown for the extra stats.

Moiravus harassed Limmp to under half health a few times before the first two minutes had passed. This forced Limmp to use all of his HP regeneration very early and Moiravus used this to his benefit as he kept up the pressure.

Moiravus initiated on Limmp, who was a level higher than him, a tactic that turned on Moiravus. Limmp survived with about 7 health, so clearly the strength gained from the Pretenders Crown saved him. Moiravus may have benefited from waiting until he leveled up to 4 before going in; the extra damage from his Song of the Seas would have netted him the kill, but I'm sure he saw an opening and thought he could get the kill.

This put's the game tied at 4 - 4 with Limmp tying the series and forcing a final Game 9 using Soulstealer.


It happened in the blink of an eye. This certainly was a moment of pure luck for Limmp; one extra auto attack would have made the difference before the Shell Surf engagement by Moiravus.

Game: Soulstealer


wyt` vs. Limmp

wyt` was the final member of TteS to face Limmp in the ultimate match of the series, coming back to Soulstealer where sLiCKz defeated noobG and MoonMeander defeated iNsania previously. Taking a page out of Limmp's book, wyt` dropped regen behind his tower for extra stats. This proved to be helpful as he took a max range Demon Hand from a level 3 Limmp that knocked him down to just above 30 HP.

After forcing Limmp back to his tower with harass, both players courier themselves boots and regen. Limmp, with superior creep kills and a higher level, strode up the Hellbourne ramp to harass wyt` and use a Demon Hand to cancel wyt`'s boots and mana potion, which forced wyt` to use another mana potion.

Without any health regen wyt` was very close to death as he approached the creep line. Limmp saw this as his opportunity and landed two max range Demon Hands, which netted him the kill and a Quad Kill for the books.


The final Demon Hand, which barely hit wyt` and secured the 5-4 win for tDm as they keep the title of the 1v1 Showmatch winner for themselves.

A big congratulations goes out to Limmp and tDm for their 2nd win in this $1000 1v1 Showmatch series presented by S2 Games and hosted by the HoNCast staff, casted by BreakyCPK and Tralfamadore.

Final Breakdown
sLiCKz > noobG
sLiCKz < zai`
Riser_ > zai`
Riser_ > Mynuts
Riser_ > iNsania
Riser_ < Limmp
LeonBlack` < Limmp
Moiravus < Limmp
wyt` < Limmp

This is quickly turning into an event that is meant to be fun and not as serious as normal 5v5 tournaments, and it seems other teams want their shot at this event. Recently QsQ Captain NoVa made a post on his Facebook page stating he wanted to face the winner of tDm versus TteS, and urged people to support the request.

This could make for an interesting match and I am interested to see Jonassomfan and NoX in particular in a 1v1 environment facing off against the new 1v1 legends zai` and Limmp.

- Crowslaw
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