Melee Creeps reclaims the NA crown for DLNS #52

Facing Poppers Pupils once again, MLC takes it to a three game series where they close it out with impressive performances from Birdee and Saiah.

Melee Creeps once again found themselves in the finals of #52 after beating Vanguard in the qualifiers.

Game 1: Poppers Pupils wins in sub 30 minutes

Hidden King: Poppers Pupils Archmother: Melee Creeps

Bans: Lash, The Doorman, Apollo, Venator

Poppers Pupils shows why they have been the reigning champions in NA, even with zirbzy substituting for Zeno for the night. While Melee Creeps should have been warmed up from their match with Vanguard, they came into this series looking rather cold and disjointed. The frag count wasn't too far off, with PP getting 32 kills and MLC getting 25. The two biggest issues was LOMEIN's Celeste (5-0) and PP's map control, allowing them to secure and take the lead in soul count by an increasing margin throughout the game.

MLC's lack of control and fragmented team fighting left them vulnerable, allowing PP to close this game out in a rather quick and explosive fashion.

Game 2: Melee Creeps pulls a reverse UNO card on Poppers Pupils

Hidden King: Poppers Pupils Archmother: Melee Creeps

Bans: Lash, The Doorman, Mirage, Viscous

Melee Creeps gave up their first pick position in game two, allowing them to secure top heroes for their team, which would be Abrams played by Saiah (10-1) and McGinnis played by JonJon (5-4). More interestingly however, MLC brought Paige back into tournament play for the first time in recent history. With birdee playing Paige (5-1), he would gain an early soul advantage ahead of every player in the lobby, allowing him to become a menace with large shields. This would also work in MLC's favor, as teams like Poppers Pupils do not have a lot of experience in playing against Paige in the competitive scene.

While the first game was technically faster, this game only lingered a few seconds longer, with a much more distant frag count between teams. PP would only manage to secure 11 kills against MLC, who secured over triple that amount at 36.

Game 3: A clash of titans, but Melee Creeps comes out on top

Hidden King: Melee Creeps Archmother: Poppers Pupils

Bans: Celeste, Bebop, The Doorman, Viscous

While the first two games in this series ended up being more or less one sided in favor of the winning team, game three would be an explosive back and forth where both teams had a chance to win it if their opponent made a single mistake at any point.

The game was relatively even until around the 25 min mark, where MLC managed a 5 man wipe against PP. Building off that momentum, they took Mid Boss and wiped PP again. With rejuvs in hand, they sieged a significant amount of PP's base but slipped up, losing 4 team members shortly after. PP took advantage of this, securing Mid Boss and attempting a base siege on MLC that would sadly end in a total team wipe for PP. That misplay was all it took for MLC to finish this game out at 38:03.

Saiah on Abrams (16-3) would be declared MVP of the series, playing an impressive and oppressive frontline that should be feared by all in NA.