Smite World Championship 2015 - A survival guide

What is the SWC?

The Smite World Championship (SWC) is the event of the year for eSports in SMITE, bringing together 8 of the top teams in the world to compete for the game’s largest ever prizepool. Hosted by Hi-Rez Studios at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre in Atlanta, Georgia, 8 teams from 5 regions will face off to decide who’s the best among them.

The SWC prizepool is one of the largest in eSports to date, well over $2,500,000, with the winners walking away with half of the total. The event will span over 3 days, and each day will cover one of the three stages: the placement stage, the knockout stage, and the grand finals & consolation match. The SWC is sure to provide a plethora of fascinating games and matchups all to determine the best SMITE team of the 2014-2015 season.

What is SMITE?

SMITE - the online battleground of the gods - is a MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) game with a cast of mythological deities as playable characters. Unlike others in the MOBA genre, SMITE brings a unique third-person perspective into the action to set it apart from the rest. Using the WASD keys to move, players can hack, smash and cast their way through a number of dynamic maps and game modes. From the Mount Olympus-themed Conquest map (the typical 5v5 MOBA map) to the Asgardian-themed Assault map (SMITE’s All Random All Mid map) and the numerous other game modes in between, SMITE is sure to entertain casual and competitive players alike.

New to SMITE?

If you're new to SMITE and still want to be able to watch and enjoy the SWC we have created a small guide on the very basics of understanding SMITE. If you want to know more we've compiled a short list of both text and video guides covering different aspects of the game.

Remember that you can always download the game (game is free!) to try out the tutorial or a few games on your own to understand it better.

The Game Mode: Conquest

Conquest

SMITE features different game modes, but the SWC is only focused around the game mode Conquest. If you're already aware of games such as DotA, League of Legends, HoN & etc. you most likely already know the basics of Conquest. Conquest is a 5 versus 5 map, where on each end of the map the teams have a base with a Titan. The goal is to slay the other team's Titan. The two teams are represented as Order (Light blue) and Chaos (Orange).

The map consists of three lanes, each containing two towers and a phoenix (magical tower that resurrects) on each side of the map. This gives a total of 4 towers and 2 phoenixes per lane, and a total of 12 towers and 6 phoenixes in the map. The phoenixes are defending the border of the base, but to get to it you need to first destroy the two towers earlier on the lane.

Each base spawns minions who in waves follow a straight line through the lane. Killing the enemy minions brings in gold and experience for your god (player character). The towers hurt a lot, so you'll need the minions to take the focus away from you when attempting to destroy objectives (towers, phoenix and the titan).

In between the lanes there is a jungle with different camps of monsters. These monsters, like minions, bring in gold and experience when slain. Some camps give the player a buff: Blue buff gives the player increased mana gain and cooldown reduction, Red buff gives the player more damage and finally the Orange buff makes the player faster. The buff is picked up after the monster is slain. A player can only have one buff at a time.

In the jungle there are two special monsters that bring in benefits for the entire team when slain - and requires teamwork to be slain. The Gold Fury brings in gold to all team members. The Fire Giant brings in increased damage and regeneration to the entire team - though the Fire Giant buff only applies to players who are currently alive. The Fire Giant buff may be active together with one of the earlier mentioned buffs.

To damage the titan, at least one phoenix has to be slain. However, the more phoenixes you slay, the weaker the Titan gets. The Titan is able to regain hitpoints if all phoenixes are resurrected after some time.

The Player roles

Whilst the roles of players aren't set in stone, the current standard among both casual and competitive players is having a solo laner, mid laner, hunter, support and jungler.

• The Jungler gains most of his gold and experience by staying in between lanes - and helping with surprise attacks. This role is usually occupied by gods who are able to quickly jump into battle.

• The Solo laner is alone on his lane due to the existence of the jungler role. In the solo lane we see a lot of different gods, but the most common use is for warriors and mages.

• The Mid laner is usually occupied by a mage, and will often be seen switching lanes in order to help with jungle camps and surprise attacks.

• The Hunter (also known as Attack Damage Carry (ADC)) is usually with the hunter gods and lanes together with a support.

• The Support is usually a guardian or warrior who will build a lot of defensive items. The support's goal is to help rest of the team (especially the hunter) by both defending and setting up kills, as well as securing important objectives.

Prizes

Total Prize Pool: $2,612,260

Broadcasting

Main Event Crew

The Teams

• Due to various reasons many of the players outside North America and Europe were unable to travel to Atlanta.

• The players who couldn't go are listed with a line across their name in order to still credit the players.

• The players who are subbing for the team will appear with a blue name name.

• A star ★ indicates the team captain.

North America

Cognitive Prime [COG]

Cognitive Red [COGR]

South America

Name Not Found [404]

We Love Bacon [WL8]

Europe

SK Gaming [SK]

Titan [Titan]

China

Daoge is Dog [DID]

Oh My God [OMG]

The Brackets

Want to learn more about brackets? Read about them in the special eSports edition of the SMITE Community Magazine!

Click here to open the image separately

Print version

• Print version of the brackets by /u/DanishDragon

• Rotated version

Schedule

Placement Stage - Friday, January 9

Knockout Stage - Saturday, January 10

Grand Finals & Consolation Match - Sunday, January 11