eUnited SMITE Nearing Undefeated Fall Split
By: Zachary Lange
This year, eUnited SMITE added midlander Woonyoung “Baskin” Kim and currently sit in the driver’s seat for a first round bye in the 2019 SMITE World Championship, 14-1 in the SMITE Pro League Fall Split.
A year ago, eUnited added midlaner Brandon “Venenu” Casale en route to a near flawless split and a championship.
It’s a bit of déjà vu for a team who, apparently, thrives off of adding a new piece to an already talented puzzle. Despite Baskin being a new addition, his old team in Spacestation Gaming regularly practiced against eUnited according to support Mike “PolarBearMike” Heiss.
“I'd say the chemistry was expected as the core of our original roster was the same and we have very experienced players on the team, and there are always going to be growing pains with a roster change,” said coach Cassidy “Cardiac” Cameron. “In this case however, Baskin fit right in with our team and we didn't seem to miss a beat.”
eUnited’s only game loss was in Week 1 against Luminosity Gaming, who currently sits last in the standings after four weeks of play. Still, eUnited was able to avoid an early upset defeating Luminosity 2-1 in a best-of-three series. Since then, the team has set sail, regularly defeating opponents in sub-25 minute games.
“The best part of my transition definitely has been the effort that everyone has put into improving as a team,” Baskin said. “Usually it’s very rare to have a team of five people who are equally motivated and dedicated to improving, but everyone has been putting in the effort to try to make the transition as seamless as possible.”
Upcoming for the team is the hunt for another championship ring. Instead of the world championship taking place in January, the 2019 SMITE World Championship will take place on Nov. 16-18 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.
Before then, it is unlikely that eUnited will be able to practice against top talent in the European division of the SPL, a fact that PolarBearMike cites as something the team will just have to overcome. In North America, the closest team to eUnited in the SPL Fall Split standings is Splyce and Spacestation, who both currently sit three games back of first place.
“Pretty much just have to trust what we think is good (against European teams) and have us all execute at a high individual level and see what happens,” PolarBearMike said.
SPL Fall Split play continues when eUnited takes on Trifecta on Sept. 26 at 1 p.m.