We have reached the end of Round 2, with all results entered in the standings. In case you are tired to watch all replays, read the weekly summary of all past happenings!
Groupstage I, Round 2 Battle Report
Group A: Replays
TeamGWDLPts
VT31205
BP21104
paiN21104
ROCCAT.Tr30030
With team ROCCAT withdrawing from the cup, only vT and paiN had to play this weekend. As a loss in this match would equal the dropout from the cup, the series was played extremely cautiously.
In game one, the Brazilians called all the shots, showing solid DotA with little to no mistakes. While vT's Syllabear was only able to farm off his own creep pulls against the dominating WD, WR and VS, the Alchemist from paiN managed to obtain a core set of items on bottom. Having obtained an advantage in the side lanes over the US boys already, KINDRD's Doom Bringer started to run riot at mid as well. Most parts of the game were spent with farming and tower pushing though. While this was done equally well, paiN didnt allow any comeback attempts, won all important fights and took the game in little more than 30 minutes.
The secont game will probably make history as one of the dryest ever played. Viewers had to wait for 22 minutes until the first blood fell. In the meantime, we saw an evenly laned early phase with paiN's main carry playing solo, whereas vT's carry was protected in a tri lane. TT Medusa vs. PowerNet Sniper; a duel which should dominate the discussions about the game later. It was 38 minutes of evasion with a tiring 6/2 scoreboard, when paiN decided to diverge from the textbook and pushed with a Divine Rapier on Medusa. Suddenly the game gathered pace. paiN, on the immediate push, waited for good moment to initiate and sent the Enigma in. The Black Hole caught three heroes, which TT picked off fastly. One barracks has already been taken when the vT heroes revived and pushed the opponents back. It was in the following fight on Scourge's mid, when Medusa got caught and killed in Batrider's lasso. Winner of the manouver was PowerNet, who shaved the opposing heroes afterwards and tied the series with his team.
With a default win for vT, this outcome brings us a thrilling showdown between BP and paiN in round three; the winner will join the US boys in the second groupstage. In case of a draw, tiebreaker games will decide about the advancing teams.
Group B: Replays
TeamGWDLPts
Na`Vi32107
MYM21104
Virus21013
inF30030
It was the match, that brought us the best replay in the last few weeks. MYM vs Na`Vi started out with a short first game. While the Slardar from ArtStyle fought an even battle versus Lacoste's Clockwerk at top, MYM's tri lane with MiSeRy as Luna took control mercilessly on bottom. Another special mentioning goes to MaNia, who was involved in 75% of the kills in game. Na`Vi, already focusing on the rematch shortly after this game, gg'd out after 19 minutes.
The real stunner of the weekend was MYM vs Na`Vi 2, featuring amazing performances from both sides. The team effort reached higher dimensions than usual, given the countless clashes, which were played with maximum micro management. If you havent watched this game yet, download it now!
To the laning phase: MYM as one of the first teams in Europe, is popularizing the side lane Shadow Fiend, guarded by one or two supporters. This time executed by MiSeRy and MaNia (again as ES), the Puck from Na`Vi had nothing to laugh, despite being up against just two heroes. As Maelk on his very own Prophet was lurking in the jungle, XBOCT was outlaned and not able to take a lot of risks. The life of Lacoste's Clockwerk on bottom was not easier however, as he had to face a mostly freefarming Razor, guarded by the Vengeful Spirit from Axypa. With an Enigma in their own woods, Na`Vi played with a jungler as well and left the duel in mid between Invoker and Lion. A match up, which is slightly favouring the Invoker, due to his higher damage output; if a Lion can make something happen, then only with the help of runes.
The early phase didn't give any advantage to either of the teams, as both long lanes tore down the opponents' towers without much resistance. Towards the midgame, kills were rare, yet a lot of pushing and small skirmishes were going on. Even minor mistakes turned out to be deadly as for instance Lion and Puck bit the dust quite a few times.
Featuring Puck, Earthshaker, Enigma, Shadow Fiend and Invoker, the AoE element in both lineups was more than distinct. All the better that viewers got to see was a lot of clashes from the 25th minute onwards. Outstanding plays came from ArtStyle- on Enigma, hitting close to all Black Holes and laying the base for Dendi and XBOCT (also great later on) to follow up.
Despite MYM fighting back bravely, the game was won by Na`Vi after a game breaking seven-minute-fight and the following push attempts. The series ended in a tie, which brings Na`Vi into the second groupstage, as they have already played their third game against the Poles from inF; MYM will play Virus on thursday for the second slot. The Frenchmen need three points, whereas a draw would be enough for MYM. Bet on these deciding games here!
Other matches from group B were Na`Vi vs inF and Virus vs inF. The Poles lost two times, although the series against Virus showed their potential. Despite being out with three losses, we can expect a lot of positive surprises from this team in the future.
Group C: Replays
TeamGWDLPts
DTS22006
GoD20202
TR20111
NE20111
With DTS's win over TR this week, the top seed of the group justifies its invite and advances to the second round after a series of draws in the other matches. Due to a reload, only the first replay of the confrontation is up for watching.
The game showcases a rather onesided affair. Utility player Dread hit an amazing start on Visage, winning the lane for God's Drow Ranger. TR, well known for their offensive lineups, went for it again and tried an aggressive draft with Prophet and Tiny. The whole TR play seemed a bit messy and was stamped by overextensions. While their style brought them several kills and lead to fast victories against lesser experienced teams in the past, it was not enough against this opponent. The game was taken by DTS after 33 minutes, bringing them their second win and a secure spot in the next groupstage.
The first game of the other match NE vs GoD ended as quickly as it started. Having faced a CM-ES-Morphling trilane, the Enigma from Deadmage on bottom was unable to do anything. The idea of converting domestic range creeps for antipushing lead to several deaths and an overrun of the first tower. Most of the action happened at the mid river, leaving the entire bottom lane to harvest for Balsam. While Muga (Sniper) grabbed a substantial amount of farm as well, the early damage resulting from NE's better laning was too severe to recover from. A battle for top lane's first Scourge tower marked the ending point of game one; the follow up match however, turned into one of the best replays of the tournament thus far.
And GoD picked a highly ambitious tactic for it. The unorthodox TA-VS-CM tri lane primarily lacks range, though a lot of training must have been behind it; otherwise we wouldn't have seen it in an important match like this. Their opponents were the high caliber heroes Lich, Witch Doctor and Razor, who let the Sentinel's forces feel pain right from the start. Despite picking up the helpless supporters several times, the TA by Muga left the lane with CS stats, similar to Razor's. What the Dutch bottom lane gave away, the Shadow Fiend on mid earned back, dominating his lane against the opposing POTM completely. The duel between Clockwerk Goblin and Windrunner on top was fairly even.
Out of the balanced early phase resulted a fast paced game including a lot of skirmishes and kills thereafter. NE distributed the kills equally on their heroes, while the SF from Deadmage took everything for his team. The beaten up PotM from Calculus improved further and further as clashes and time went by. It was the line up with the higher end game potential which won the long battle in the end, yet NE presented itself in top shape and will give TR a hard fight for the points.
Looking at the chart before the last round, GoD can make it in their own right with a win and a win only against DTS. A possible victor of TR vs NE, has to hope for DTS to achieve a draw at least.
Group D: Replays
TeamGWDLPts
EnDs21104
FEARZ11003
GGnet10101
Kw.rs20020
As for the last group, no matches have been played since the last report. With Kw passing a default win to EnDs, the Greeks took the lead in the group before the final showdown. GGnet might benefit from the Serbs difficult situation as well, though concrete news have not been released. The confirmed games of the last week before Groupstage II are FEARZ versus EnDs and GGnet versus FEARZ (bet here. With so few games yet to be played, any conclusion would be too vague; the next report will bring clarification.
So far so good for the second round, but dont forget to tune in again, for the deciding games of Groupstage I.
Links
GosuGamers - All Groupstage I Replays
Groupstage I, Round 2 Battle Report
Group A: Replays
TeamGWDLPts
VT31205
BP21104
paiN21104
ROCCAT.Tr30030
With team ROCCAT withdrawing from the cup, only vT and paiN had to play this weekend. As a loss in this match would equal the dropout from the cup, the series was played extremely cautiously.
In game one, the Brazilians called all the shots, showing solid DotA with little to no mistakes. While vT's Syllabear was only able to farm off his own creep pulls against the dominating WD, WR and VS, the Alchemist from paiN managed to obtain a core set of items on bottom. Having obtained an advantage in the side lanes over the US boys already, KINDRD's Doom Bringer started to run riot at mid as well. Most parts of the game were spent with farming and tower pushing though. While this was done equally well, paiN didnt allow any comeback attempts, won all important fights and took the game in little more than 30 minutes.
The secont game will probably make history as one of the dryest ever played. Viewers had to wait for 22 minutes until the first blood fell. In the meantime, we saw an evenly laned early phase with paiN's main carry playing solo, whereas vT's carry was protected in a tri lane. TT Medusa vs. PowerNet Sniper; a duel which should dominate the discussions about the game later. It was 38 minutes of evasion with a tiring 6/2 scoreboard, when paiN decided to diverge from the textbook and pushed with a Divine Rapier on Medusa. Suddenly the game gathered pace. paiN, on the immediate push, waited for good moment to initiate and sent the Enigma in. The Black Hole caught three heroes, which TT picked off fastly. One barracks has already been taken when the vT heroes revived and pushed the opponents back. It was in the following fight on Scourge's mid, when Medusa got caught and killed in Batrider's lasso. Winner of the manouver was PowerNet, who shaved the opposing heroes afterwards and tied the series with his team.
With a default win for vT, this outcome brings us a thrilling showdown between BP and paiN in round three; the winner will join the US boys in the second groupstage. In case of a draw, tiebreaker games will decide about the advancing teams.
Group B: Replays
TeamGWDLPts
Na`Vi32107
MYM21104
Virus21013
inF30030
It was the match, that brought us the best replay in the last few weeks. MYM vs Na`Vi started out with a short first game. While the Slardar from ArtStyle fought an even battle versus Lacoste's Clockwerk at top, MYM's tri lane with MiSeRy as Luna took control mercilessly on bottom. Another special mentioning goes to MaNia, who was involved in 75% of the kills in game. Na`Vi, already focusing on the rematch shortly after this game, gg'd out after 19 minutes.
The real stunner of the weekend was MYM vs Na`Vi 2, featuring amazing performances from both sides. The team effort reached higher dimensions than usual, given the countless clashes, which were played with maximum micro management. If you havent watched this game yet, download it now!
To the laning phase: MYM as one of the first teams in Europe, is popularizing the side lane Shadow Fiend, guarded by one or two supporters. This time executed by MiSeRy and MaNia (again as ES), the Puck from Na`Vi had nothing to laugh, despite being up against just two heroes. As Maelk on his very own Prophet was lurking in the jungle, XBOCT was outlaned and not able to take a lot of risks. The life of Lacoste's Clockwerk on bottom was not easier however, as he had to face a mostly freefarming Razor, guarded by the Vengeful Spirit from Axypa. With an Enigma in their own woods, Na`Vi played with a jungler as well and left the duel in mid between Invoker and Lion. A match up, which is slightly favouring the Invoker, due to his higher damage output; if a Lion can make something happen, then only with the help of runes.
The early phase didn't give any advantage to either of the teams, as both long lanes tore down the opponents' towers without much resistance. Towards the midgame, kills were rare, yet a lot of pushing and small skirmishes were going on. Even minor mistakes turned out to be deadly as for instance Lion and Puck bit the dust quite a few times.
Featuring Puck, Earthshaker, Enigma, Shadow Fiend and Invoker, the AoE element in both lineups was more than distinct. All the better that viewers got to see was a lot of clashes from the 25th minute onwards. Outstanding plays came from ArtStyle- on Enigma, hitting close to all Black Holes and laying the base for Dendi and XBOCT (also great later on) to follow up.
Despite MYM fighting back bravely, the game was won by Na`Vi after a game breaking seven-minute-fight and the following push attempts. The series ended in a tie, which brings Na`Vi into the second groupstage, as they have already played their third game against the Poles from inF; MYM will play Virus on thursday for the second slot. The Frenchmen need three points, whereas a draw would be enough for MYM. Bet on these deciding games here!
Other matches from group B were Na`Vi vs inF and Virus vs inF. The Poles lost two times, although the series against Virus showed their potential. Despite being out with three losses, we can expect a lot of positive surprises from this team in the future.
Group C: Replays
TeamGWDLPts
DTS22006
GoD20202
TR20111
NE20111
With DTS's win over TR this week, the top seed of the group justifies its invite and advances to the second round after a series of draws in the other matches. Due to a reload, only the first replay of the confrontation is up for watching.
The game showcases a rather onesided affair. Utility player Dread hit an amazing start on Visage, winning the lane for God's Drow Ranger. TR, well known for their offensive lineups, went for it again and tried an aggressive draft with Prophet and Tiny. The whole TR play seemed a bit messy and was stamped by overextensions. While their style brought them several kills and lead to fast victories against lesser experienced teams in the past, it was not enough against this opponent. The game was taken by DTS after 33 minutes, bringing them their second win and a secure spot in the next groupstage.
The first game of the other match NE vs GoD ended as quickly as it started. Having faced a CM-ES-Morphling trilane, the Enigma from Deadmage on bottom was unable to do anything. The idea of converting domestic range creeps for antipushing lead to several deaths and an overrun of the first tower. Most of the action happened at the mid river, leaving the entire bottom lane to harvest for Balsam. While Muga (Sniper) grabbed a substantial amount of farm as well, the early damage resulting from NE's better laning was too severe to recover from. A battle for top lane's first Scourge tower marked the ending point of game one; the follow up match however, turned into one of the best replays of the tournament thus far.
And GoD picked a highly ambitious tactic for it. The unorthodox TA-VS-CM tri lane primarily lacks range, though a lot of training must have been behind it; otherwise we wouldn't have seen it in an important match like this. Their opponents were the high caliber heroes Lich, Witch Doctor and Razor, who let the Sentinel's forces feel pain right from the start. Despite picking up the helpless supporters several times, the TA by Muga left the lane with CS stats, similar to Razor's. What the Dutch bottom lane gave away, the Shadow Fiend on mid earned back, dominating his lane against the opposing POTM completely. The duel between Clockwerk Goblin and Windrunner on top was fairly even.
Out of the balanced early phase resulted a fast paced game including a lot of skirmishes and kills thereafter. NE distributed the kills equally on their heroes, while the SF from Deadmage took everything for his team. The beaten up PotM from Calculus improved further and further as clashes and time went by. It was the line up with the higher end game potential which won the long battle in the end, yet NE presented itself in top shape and will give TR a hard fight for the points.
Looking at the chart before the last round, GoD can make it in their own right with a win and a win only against DTS. A possible victor of TR vs NE, has to hope for DTS to achieve a draw at least.
Group D: Replays
TeamGWDLPts
EnDs21104
FEARZ11003
GGnet10101
Kw.rs20020
As for the last group, no matches have been played since the last report. With Kw passing a default win to EnDs, the Greeks took the lead in the group before the final showdown. GGnet might benefit from the Serbs difficult situation as well, though concrete news have not been released. The confirmed games of the last week before Groupstage II are FEARZ versus EnDs and GGnet versus FEARZ (bet here. With so few games yet to be played, any conclusion would be too vague; the next report will bring clarification.
So far so good for the second round, but dont forget to tune in again, for the deciding games of Groupstage I.
Links
GosuGamers - All Groupstage I Replays
