Atlantis Leviathans won the Smite World Championship after beating the Tartarus Titans. The grand finals were held yesterday with concurrent Twitch and YouTube viewers peaking at more than 120,000. With the win, the Atlantis Leviathans take home $300,000.
The Tartarus Titans, with Captain Paul “Paul” Berger at the helm, were in perfect form as they entered the competition. The Titans were able to qualify to the semi-finals by winning the latest two playoffs. Despite previously beating the Leviathans, they would be unable to claim the victory.
The Leviathans had strong support from the Latin American community, the region where most of the roster comes from. Voted as MVP was solo laner Libardo “Jarcorrr” López. Meanwhile, Steven “Zapman” Zapas was able to cement his status as a Smite legend as he secured his third straight World Champion title.
Changes in 2022
The Smite World Championship serves as the conclusion to this year’s Pro League. Even with the success, it seems that Hi-Rez Studios is planning to refine the format further for 2022. In particular, the studio revealed structural changes coming to Season 9 of the Pro League.
One of the affected is the qualification phase for the 2022 SPL. There will be teams that are selected by a council. The other teams meanwhile need to battle their way to earn the remaining spots through a special SPL play-in tournament.
Season 9 also sees the return of the Smite Masters, a competition that brings the Pro League and the Challenger Circuit together during playoffs at the end of each SPL phase. Hopefully, this should make the playoffs both refreshing and more meaningful, especially for fans.
Then, there is the planned revamp for the coach role. For teams that choose to have a revamp, the coach gets a pay increase along with more designated managing duties. This should allow coaches to help players develop career skills that can help them in the long run.
Smite is a free-to-play and third-person multiplayer online battle arena game where players control a mythological figure in team-based combat. The game is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
