Dignitas and Fnatic are the teams that will face Liquid and NoTidehunter in the semi-finals of the Dreamhack Dota 2 Invitational. QPandas and Empire are eliminated. The tournament will conclude on April 13th.

Qpandas vs Fnatic
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QPandas used their renowned Alchemist for the first game, utilizing their line-up to let him free farm for almost half an hour. Wagamama abused this advantage, turning into a front-line beast. However, Fnatic's AOE-based heroes seemed too formidable, managing to grab many teamfights. Nevertheless, they were unable to stop QPandas pushing, forcing Gyrocopter to pick-up a Divine Rapier to protect his remaining barracks. This choice only delayed the inevitable, as QPandas eventually took down the Gyrocopter, resulting in a win for SingSing's team.

The second game was an absolute disaster for the Pandas. Their middle lane did not work out at all, with Mini's Jakiro succumbing many times to the Chaos Knight-Wisp combination Fnatic deployed. The situation got worse when the free-farming Storm Spirit joined the fight with his Orchid Malevolence, making the score 20-4 in the first quarter. QPandas did not show any resistance at all, and called the gg quite early as they saw no way of coming back.

For the last game, Fnatic used a solid rotation quite capable of winning fights during the entirety of the game. It allowed them to apply a lot of pressure to QPandas, destroying all the tier-two towers by minute 23, also leading the score. They entered the base three minutes later, and a rampage by Trixi sealed the deal for Fnatic, and Qpandas conceded.

Empire vs Dignitas
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Dignitas picked Templar Assassin for Sneyking, based on his amazing recent performance. Empire responded with a Naga Siren, who managed to get an early Radiance, giving Dignitas a hard time. Empire's continuous pushing and successful teamfights helped them get an early lead. Dignitas tried to respond in form of split-pushing with Nature's Prophet, but they could not force the Russians to get defensive. A 4-1 fight 35 minutes into the game, and another one four minutes later were all Empire needed to penetrate Dignitas defenses, winning the first game.

In the next game, Empire selected heroes who can initiate really effectively, and can work well both individually and as a team. Dignitas, on the other hand, chose the Wisp-Tiny combo, with Nature's Prophet to boost their global presence. Early mistakes and bad decision making by Empire aided Dignitas significantly, and the North-American team controlled the map throughout the early-mid game. Empire, not giving up, attempted to recuperate, and they reached a point where they fully wiped Dignitas. The disadvantage proved to be too difficult to turn around. Winning a 5-1 fight, Dignitas entered Empire's base, snatching game two.

For the last game of the night, both teams had really strong line-ups with nice initiation and teamfight potential. Empire's line-up was slightly push-oriented, and this fact was probably the reason Empire lost many early-game clashes. The lack of a hard carry and Empire's inability to control the game when they wanted to, came to an utter disappointment for the Russians. They called the gg by minute 27, when the score was 16-27.




The play-offs continue on Saturday, 13th of April. NoTidehunter will face Fnatic at 15:00 CEST, while Liquid will face Dignitas at 18:00 CEST. NoTidehunter and Liquid advanced automatically to the semi-finals, because they managed to finish first in their groups.

The grand final will take place at 21:00 CEST on the same day. The winner of the tournament will automatically gain a spot for the Dreamhack Summer '13.

Live broadcasting is provided by The GD Studio.

DHI prizes
PlacingsPrizes
1st place$2,500
2nd place$1,500
3rd-4th place$1,000


More information on Dreamhack Summer can be found here.

DH Invitational Coverage HubCheck link for brackets, and VODs