Alliance takes their second consecutive cup title and now dethrones Evil Geniuses from first place. Once again Alliance turns a 0-1 into a 2-1, in the final match vs Virtus.pro.
The Alliance started off facing their old friend, now foe, EternalEnvy in Kaipi, a game where Kaipi used three stand-ins. Alliance handled the match according to routine, and won it rather convincingly. Next they went up against Quantic, a rematch of the recent Dreamhack final and a repeat of the outcome. Virtus.pro started off versus fellow Russians in Rox.Kis, also using something three stand-ins followed by facing Evil Geniuses in the semi final where they kept playing an all-round stable game. Vengeance was dealt by the Russians since EG recently eliminated VP from further competition at Dreamhack Summer.
Virtus.pro carried their co-ordination, determination and aggression into the finals vs Alliance, where the perfect utilization of Windrunner and Gyrocopter scored them a lot of pick-offs. Mostly it was NS' Rubick doing the bigger plays though, stealing Overgrowth and always executing with great positioning and timing. Alliance did not seem as focused as their Russian opponents and dropped the first game. In the second game, Alliance got the deadly Wisp + CK combo, not something they are known for playing but is feared nomatter who is playing it. The game started out well for Alliance but a series of questionable over-extensions gave away lots of of experience and gold as well as two gems. VP's Gyro finished a Rapier at minute 33 and they looked to go finish the series, capitalizing on the period of sloppy play from Alliance. But a poorly chosen fight by VP lost them the Rapier to Loda's Chaos Knight and Alliance managed to secure game 2.
The third and final game was of a more passive character, both teams playing it safe despite some suicial teleports, mostly from s4. Loda farming up the Mirana as a hard carry, getting a higher networth in the midgame than the farming Alchemist of VP. A lucky arrow latching on Leshrac inside VP's own base spirals into a chaotic team fight for VP, causing them to lose two sets of barracks. After that the game is pretty much over and once again Alliance turns a 0-1 into a 2-1
Alliance, with their second consecutive cup title, takes the lead in Premier League's rankings, followed by Evil Geniuses and mousesports. More than half the cups are now played and Alliance are looking in a good position to enter the playoffs at the end of the season.
Current standings:
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