Pandemic posted a 3-1 record during group stage, advancing to the relegation round where they'll battle the third team to emerge from Group B after their matches later today.
Suffering a loss in their first match, Pandemic opted to drop their traditional double healer setup for a Retribution Paladin and reaped the rewards of arguably 3.0's most powerful class.
In the relegation match, though, Pandemic ran into arguably the most buffed class composition - Rogue, Mage, Priest. The classic RMP received considerable help in 3.0 with Mage damage off the charts. Nothig Pandemic could do could stop the onslaught as three of the four teams who advanced to bracket play run the RMP comp.
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Box Score |
ESL Montreal Relegation |
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 Pandemic
Kintt - Caal - Ohnoes |
0 |
 aAa Nawak
Hiss - Anelit - Phoenix |
3 |
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Relegation will be played later tonight once Group B is complete. You can find full brackets on ESL's tournament page.
In their first game, Pandemic battled Europe's premiere Rogue, Mage, Priest, SK Gaming, with their previous top comp - Rogue, Priest, Druid. After a quick three-game loss, it became apparent that the metagame had passed up the team's bread and butter of yesteryear.
With the Blizzcon champions Nihilum next, confident after beating GotGame East, that meant something needed to change. Moving off his classic Priest, Kintt switched to the day's hottest class, Retribution Paladin, and the rest, so to speak, was history. Nihilum came out with three different comps - Warrior, Warrior, Druid first, Warrior, Warlock, Druid second, and Warrior, Mage, Druid third, but failed to beat Pandemic's new look.
Pandemic faced GotGame East next, the team that impressed two weeks ago at ESL Los Angeles with a 3rd place finish. The recent 3.0 changes have improved their Rogue, Mage, Druid composition immensely, but would it be enough to challenge a Retribution Paladin? GGE opened with a 2-1 lead as teams traded rounds, bursting down foes in seconds with the massive DPS available in the new patch. After a quick rushdown on Sodah, GGE's Druid, in game four, Pandemic was primed to pull out the victory, once again attacking the Druid heavily and taking him down first. However, seconds later Pandemic found themselves without a healer of their own as Caal dropped to GGE's zerg.
The following 2v2 looked like a sure win for Pandemic, considering the Retribution Paladin's ability to heal, but the team couldn't control GGE's Mage Venruki as he set up a combo on Kintt just as Pandemic downed the Rogue Happiminti, setting up a 1v1 situation, Rogue vs. Mage. Pandemic's Ohnoes kept his cool, escaping to stealth as Venruki ran to evocate. A sap allowed him to bandage and restore health before a second sap gave him a chance for an opener and the rest was history.
The final game of the group, against EG on Saturday morning, meant little as Panemic already had a spot in the relegation round secured. Even so, they came out strong, blistering EG's double Rogue lineup with the Paladin group that won them two matches the day before.
Stay tuned to the Pandemic site for updates as the tournament progresses!
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SK Gaming EU
Nihilum
