Status : Starting in  

UPDATE : You can now watch 5 consecutive weeks of this series on DotA TV using the newly added KotH ticket right here.

We are glad to announce that the AbsoluteArena KotH Series is returning, and before we get started on the next match this week we'd like to explain why it took so long and ended up with different teams.

The first KotH match between M5.BenQ and NEXT.kz ended with M5.BenQ winning it and becoming the "King of the Hill". Sadly, they could not play the following week as they were pre-occupied with the Star Ladder LAN Finals, understandably. We tried to get a match going with them the next few weeks but they were pre-occupied with travelling, and now when we tried scheduling a match they are too busy practicing. We'd like to thank M5.BenQ for their participation, they will be replaced and we will start the series all over with a fresh start.

This series works in a king of the hill format where a match-up between two teams is played weekly in a best-of-5 series, the winner of this match gets $100 in prize money and becomes the "King of the Hill". This means that they continue to play in next week's match against a different team, if they succeed to win that game as well, they win a doubled prize of $200, and if they win 3rd game in a row the prize becomes $300, and so on. This means that the incentive to win games in a row is higher than simply winning yet another $100. If a team wins 5 weeks in a row (winning a total of $1500) they are replaced and we start over with new teams.

We're going to start with our own Absolute Legends going up against one of the most impressive teams as of late; PotM Bottom.

PotM Bottom will be looking to assert their recent dominance after winning the ProDota2 Final and managing to score a spot in The Defense last 6 by becoming the "King of the Hill". It will not be very easy though as Absolute Legends are getting back in form as they are preparing heavily for The International which is coming up later this month.

The match will take place on Saturday the 11th of August at 20:00 CEST. It will be casted by our very own caster  Everett "Avril" Lenberg.

 Absolute Legends

Trong "Snoopy" Truong (C)  David "r1sk" Arnous  Alex "blackshatan" Chang  Darcy "Godot" Jose  Justin "xMusiCa" Yuen  Scott "bLeek" Jensen

PotM Bottom

Ioannis "Fogged" Loucas (C) JingJun "Sneyking" Wu Kurtis "Aui_2000" Ling Drew "Tidesoftime" Biessener Peter "Waytosexy" Nguyen

Absolute Legends vs. PotM Bottom Match Coverage

*The score will be live updated and match synopsis written below.

Absolute Legends

vs.

PotM Bottom

0 : 3

Game 1: PB have taken the first game in the best of five series.

AL came out strong in the early game with plenty of pick offs coming their way. Seemingly great coordination and combination of abilities as well as TPs saw them take the gold and XP advantage, but the American's had some strong late game insurance in the form of Anti-Mage.

Said Anti-Mage had nearly untouched farm throughout the early and mid game and even though the Aussies managed to tackle the carry in his first big engagement his farm began to tell. A stray ultimate and unlucky pick off saw AL vulnerable to the split push power of the carry who took their first rax nearly uncontested around the 30 minute mark.

From then on we saw the game spiral out of control for the home side. A strong start from both teams with a mixture of highs and lows for both, but ultimately PB retain that protected Aui_2000 farm style of play they love so much and it pays off for them again. Next game coming up!

Game 2: PB succeed in taking the second game in the series over AL in a very close match.

AL again started off with a really strong early game, taking a reasonably commanding lead in a bunch of kills and solid map control. Most importantly they managed to shut down Aui_2000's farm on his signature Broodmother very effectively. Quality Queen of Pain play saw them just keep pace with the Aussies though which turned out to be rather important, giving Aui time to catch back up on that gold. Throughout the mid game AL pulled ahead overall though, bleeK's kills on the hard carry Morphling kept coming freely and he was the most farmed/levelled hero by far.

In the late game however, the teamfights turned in the American favor with all the great Brewmaster disables available to them they managed to take the fights at the critical moments. Most pivotal of all the last Roshan which ended up a disaster for the Aussies, ultimately resulting in the loss of the game.

Game 3: At the end of a fantastic series PB is crowned the AbsoluteArena King of the Hill!

AL, for the third time tonight came out swinging with impressive early game. Again they managed to find those kills, towers and most importantly of all both of those things on the right heroes. Mousesport's Black stood in as his signature Anti-Mage and was 4-0 at the fifteen or so minute mark with insane farm; while a completely left of field Pudge pick from the Aussies played by bleeK was hooking his way to victory.

This American team is very crafty though, crafty and skilled. Some excellent Tinker play saw PB really punish AL for every overextension they made. Once again, this bought the time for Aui_2000's Lone Druid to really cement his farm and start to assemble his core items. Time and time again the American's made the important trades and continously made the most out of every situation.

In the end the push was just too much for the Aussies, Tinker's March of the Machines giving the area needed for the tower damage to be dealt time and time again. The base was whittled away slowly at first, but once cracked the rax fell in rapid succession and PB claimed their third and final victory of the series.

Next week we get to find out whether a new challenger can topple PB's dominance over the AbsoluteArena Hill. Hope you enjoyed the games everyone!