The Official SMITE Magazine Issue #19 | Page 15

while other events (such as determining 3rd or 5th place) are often done via “Best Of 3” or “Best Of 1. Single games can range anywhere between 15mins - 60mins, however on average tend to last around 30mins. Beforehand though, there is a “Picks & Bans” phase - lovingly called “Ps & Bs” by most casters - during which a total of 3 Gods can be eliminated by each of the teams, thus excluding a total of 6 characters that can’t be chosen for the duration of the match. The Ps & Bs are a critical stage that can heavily influence the outcome of an encounter, since this is where mind-games are played (e.g. baiting the enemies into a specific god selection). Depending on the end composition, groups can either make the event harder or easier for the opponents and themselves. The team that gets to ban 2 Gods first is called “Team Order” or “Blue Team”. It has the from each team, both get the chance to remove an chance to make their first pick, once the enemies additional God from the roster, making it harder (“Team Chaos” or “Team Red”) selected their 2 for the opponents to complete their dream comp bans. The advantage of “going first” is, that the and albeit Blue chooses the last deity, it also gives potentially strongest, or at the very least most- them the opportunity to counterpick Red. ■ desired, character can be picked. After 3 picks The Official SMITE Magazine Issue #19 By Grace “Fayakitteh” & Brandon Harding The GameOn Magazine 15