By Fantasy
This match has been building up quite a bit of steam throughout the season, with ups and downs from Cats Gaming and consistently stellar performances from Meka. The rise of Meka would be the main storyline of the entire season thus far, if Cats wouldn’t have interfered and rained on their parade. Meka started out in the first cycle as confirmed underdogs. A professional team in the CIS region that has always been around, but could never leap up the leaderboard and tackle the big teams like SWAG or Cats - not even iTS or GA.ru at their times. That history of being the second fiddle shows you how long the squad has been lurking around on the top of the CIS scene. Their breakthrough moment creeped up on the observers of the first cycle, when they were in the Upper Bracket Finals against QaM and claimed a Top 3 position, ahead of former flagship team, Cats.
The eyes of everyone watching the CIS scene were widened, and the storyline of the young guns against the old veterans picked up quickly. QaM and Meka were fighting for the new and emerging teams, trying to upset and dethrone the old champs of SWAG and Cats. That obviously hasn’t happened yet, although the numbers have changed. SWAG disbanded and is completely out of the pictures and teams like Meka, QaM and even Jk are driving to the top. That top though is still occupied and defended by Cats Gaming with their standout players like the star carry FF, standout mid Fluff’N’Stuff as well as the ultimate veteran in GuessWho.
With determination they’ve been able to weather every storm, and stuck together through several reported rumours of disbandment after a failed DreamHack qualifier. On so many occasions it looked like the Cats Gaming team would falter, would finally give in, but they’ve always came out on top. That led to a one-sided season in the CIS scene last year with all cycles going towards the team. Now new challengers are rising up.
Meka already punched through once, QaM came close several times and Jk is getting there as well. Just being there isn’t quite enough though, as the veterans have plenty of tricks up their sleeves and can out battle everyone.
The last Grand Finals against Meka showed just that, when Cats Gaming brought their A-game for the first and second game, ending those in a spectacular, landslide fashion within the 20 minute range. The only game Meka could actually claim in that one was a slugfest of 50 minutes, only to get wiped off the face of Caldavar once more in Game 5.
So what might be in store for the spectators this time? Well, for most of the last cycles the outcome could was projected in Meka’s favor - all based on the cycle results.
In Cycle 3, the one Meka finally put the demons behind themselves and walked out victorious, they couldn’t be touched by anyone. In the matches against Cats they just marched over them, even translating into the Grand Finals game. They beat them handily in the group stage, they obliterated them in the Upper Bracket and they toyed around with them for two games in the Grand Finals. That was the big storyline heading into the fourth cycle, in which Cats evened the odds a tiny bit.
In the group stage Cats Gaming won against their new blood rivals, only to come up short in the Upper Bracket Finals. Once more the proud veteran team had to take the detour through the Lower Bracket, a thing that they’ve never really experienced throughout their time in the CIS region. Usually it was them sitting, scouting, and waiting in the Grand Finals, watching how the rest of the division was weakening themselves in grueling battles for the honor of challenging Cats. Now it was Cats that had to go through the tough matches on the battleground, while Meka was watching like the new emperor.
Just like it’s said, the emperor always has targets on his back, so everyone was now gunning for Meka, a situation that Cats Gaming was familiar with. After two failed DreamHack qualifiers and the SWAG chapter just a few months ago, Cats has always had a “king killer” side, mostly to ensure their own reign - George R.R. Martin would be proud.
Now they are the king of the castle again and Meka is in the position to overtake them. Coming from the Lower Bracket they are one game behind, a situation in which Cats Gaming is still undefeated in CIS HoN Tour. The only time they gave up a win in the Grand Finals was with them coming from the Lower Bracket and having to climb that hill. Will history be made by Meka this Sunday or can Cats Gaming remain the most dominant team in the region and take full control of the top spot in the rankings?
Tune in to the cast to find out all the answers as Cats Gaming and Meka engage in the fourth big rivalry match. The rumble is on.
Fantasy is a journalist with four years of experience working in various eSports. He is currently the HoN Tour correspondent for the CIS and SEA regions, as well as an editor for both ESL Gaming and compLexity Gaming. In addition to his online endeavors, he studies Publicity and Communication, plays American football, and loves movies.
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