MAG1 Season 5
With Season 5, MAG1 returned to a 1v1 tournament, beginning with two days of 5-round Swiss bracket. From 32 players, a top 8 was formed, which then competed in the usual GSL-style format. Though Season 4.5 saw an all-[201] semi-final, [501] stepped up once again to challenge the dominant region in this season. The top 4 saw Feng Feng and Flower Fairy joined by Cast and N_sacco. Improving season after season, Cast immediately qualified for the finals as his aggressive playstyle caught the [201] players off-guard. In the lower-bracket, mirror matches were the name of the game, as Void Eyes had taken over the meta. In the end, Flower Fairy proved victorious, qualifying for his 6th ever MAG1 finals. On finals day, Cast started off strong with a victory in the first game. However, Fairy had studied his playstyle and the adaptations showed their merit as Fairy proceeded to win this season 4-1. Meta-wise, Void Eyes saw a lot of play towards the end of this season, especially when paired with Fire Badgers. A special mention goes out to Cast, who found great success prioritizing Hound/Steel Ball openers.