Day 2: Vainglory
Vainglory was the center of attention on the second day of Mobile Masters and for that reason, it definitely felt like the headlining act of a big concert. Vainglory doesn’t quite have the luxury of quick, bite-sized matches like in World of Tanks Blitz or Power Rangers: Legacy Wars but it was just as entertaining to watch. There’s a lot more complexity to Vainglory, and as any MOBA fan would know, team communication is key to winning. There were two types of tournaments that day, one in a gauntlet-style and the other in a best-of-one round robin. Having previously won the Mobile Masters New York Gauntlet, a lot of eyes were on Cloud9 to take this year’s gauntlet as well.
The gauntlet tournament was a blast to watch but it was Team SoloMid (TSM) that came out on top. They were unstoppable in this tournament, forcing their way through five matches undefeated, demolishing the other teams in style (although ACE Gaming definitely gave them a run for the money at the end). Lead by FlashX (Captain), VONC (Jungler), and BestChuckNA (Carry), TSM kept a cool head taking down their opponents using various offensive tactics and, of course, the Kraken to their advantage. Each match was worth a decent $2,000 and TSM took it all for a cool $10,000.
In the round robin tournament, team Rogue scored first blood against Cloud9 in a match that started slow but ended in a tremendous finish. A particular standout moment was when Rogue summoned the Kraken to destroy the enemy base. Cloud9 was able to kill the Kraken with a sliver of HP left on their base. While it was certainly a valiant effort, it still wasn’t enough to make a comeback. Rogue took Game 1 and moved to the next match against TSM. But it was TSM that kept the pressure on in the next game, gradually and smartly taking down Rogue’s turrets and racking up Hero kills. While they were able to secure the Kraken at the end, it didn’t have much to do as Rogue’s crystal base became instant rubble.
That was the story all night long. TSM wasn’t just undefeated in the gauntlet tournament, but also in the round robin. It was impressive to watch them play without showing an ounce of fatigue. They were unwavering in their skillset and made every match look effortless. In fact, halfway through the gauntlet I took out my iPhone and downloaded Vainglory for the first time because of how cool they made it look. I’m not saying I have what it takes to be a Mobile Master, but their effort was definitely inspiring.
Mobile Masters was another successful hit that proves that mobile games are here to stay and that they, too, can be played competitively. While it may not be enough to completely convince the majority of eSports fans out there, it’s just a matter of time before word starts to spread. I give kudos to Amazon for supporting the mobile gaming scene and taking a risk. If you’d like to check the entire Mobile Masters competition, it’s all archived in the videos section of the Amazon AppStore Twitch channel. I’m now keeping an eye on the next Mobile Master event and I think, you should too.