Written by: Tjernobyl and drouks

It has been a long and exciting day, with nine games being played. In the end, [team]ViCi Gaming[/team] managed to reach the winner bracket finals, but lost to LGD. [team]LGD[/team] secured their place in Seattle, while VG still need to prove their worth tomorrow.

      The International 3 Coverage Hub It's the holy grail of The International 3 coverage!

Bracket

       

Today's matches

[Match 1] LGD vs RisingStars

Game one

The draft is done and the game has now started. RisingStars line-up is a mix between regular Chinese drafts and Alliance's style. RisingStars kills off the Spirit Bear at the bot lane and as soon as Yao summons a new bear, Phantom Assassin dives him under his tier 2 tower and Io tethers in from the fog, getting the first blood. They take down the tier 2 aswell after that, six minutes into the game. RisingStars have taken a page from Alliance playbook and are using Phantom Assassin for hyper aggression. They continue to pressure LGD and are leading the towers with 5-0 at minute 13. Wisp finishes Mekansm a few minutes after and RisingStars are at a very good state of the game. The last outer tower goes down and LGD are forced inside their base. Sylar's Spectre picks up a Relic as RisingStars kills Roshan. First siege attempt starts at approx 24 minutes game time, Sylar gets focused and vaporized. He doesn't have buyback but uses his Haunt just as he dies to deal some clash damage with his finished Radiance. LGD manages to fend off RisingStars but it is quite costly. RisingStars regroup while LGD are licking their wounds, Aegis is gone but RisingStars opt for the bottom lane anyway. They find Sylar just outside his base and focus him down quickly. However, Spectre does what Spectres do best - buys back and turns the fight, RisingStars immediately lose two heroes and have to retreat, losing Dark Seer during it.

No mistakes next time, RisingStar gets the security of having another Aegis and walks down the mid lane once again where an extremely extended fight breaks out. RisingStars heroes are very farmed and they just starts diving, Dragon Knight gets Roared and damaged down but Wisp heals him up to almost full hp in seconds. Sylar dies and have to use his buyback (with Haunt on cooldown though). With some good entangles and fight control, LGD fends off RisingStars and kills off all of their heroes but while doing so a siege creep finishes off the melee barracks. It is eventually through the top lane where RisingStars gets the final proper high ground breaking, they kill the bear twice and with a great Wall + Vacuum into a Dragon Knight splashing on everyone brings LGD too low to be able to fight properly. They lose their heroes, lose barracks and lose the game.

Game two

Draft is done, LGD going for the infamous Phantom Lancer + Keeper duo. The game is resumed after a longer pause. RisingStars kills off the top tower uncontested since Yao is farming in the jungle and being absent on lane. Queen of Pain rotates into the midlane and assists Dragon Knight in getting the first blood on xiao8. LGD loses the bot tower but gets a few kills for it, one of them going to Sylar. Batrider buys a Dagger after the fight. RisingStars attempts Roshan by LGD with Vacuum into an Ice Path followed by an Illuminate basically demolish the whole team alone of RStars, LGD cleans up four heroes aswell as the Roshan. At the bot lane, the advantage of LGD is really showing where they can just roll over RisingStars essentially. RisingStars can't kill them off quick enough, only killing the Dark Seer and LGD can turn and fight, a prolonged fight favours them since they can land multiple Lances and multiple Illuminates, which is just what happens. After a clash just inside Rstars' base, LGD rotatoes up top and destroys the last standing outer tower and then fall back. RisingStars lacks a proper response and solution to the Phantom Lancer.

Batrider jumps in and grabs Nyx and he goes down. RisingStars can't defend in this situation and basically just watch as Sylar completely ruins the bottom melee barracks. Shortly after, LGD walks in mid lane, Vacuum into an Ice Path and the defense of RStars is completely broken, they forfeit and the series is tied at 1-1.

Game three

The game starts out rather passive. LGD getting the better trade with solid laning, getting the higher amount of farm aswell as some tower kills. The game is already snowballing heavily in favour of LGD, they get their core items while preventing RisingStars from getting their items up and restricting their options on the map. LGD can use their support Nyx to hunt down the enemy jungle, Rstars are too far behind to be able to sentry and counter-ward properly. With all the big heroes of LGD, they try to muscle down the mid lane. RisingStars do what they can to defend, with their high amount of armor reduction, manages to fend LGD off. They do lose the melee barracks though. Good shackles and great crowd control by xiao8 causes Rstars to get severly outplayed in clashes. With the farmed Lone Druid, LGD can force down another set of barracks and the game is over. LGD advances to the winner bracket final and will be facing the winner of next match, Vici vs RattleSnake.

[Match 2] ViCi vs RattleSnake

Game one

The game starts with Vici going offensive trilane and Rattlesnake having Dark Seer in the enemy jungle. Clockwerk rotates top and finds the first blood on Dark Seer but gets punished for it as Lanm moves up and grabs a double kill on Clock aswell as the Druid. A bit later ViCi trades Spectre for a Queen of Pain on bot. A few skirmishes going on around the map, such as Rattlesnake finding a kill on Spectre plus a support on top, followed by Vici rebottling by taking down Jugger. The game is sort of even at this point but there's a gold advantage going Rattlesnake's way due to two towers being taken down aswell as them having a jungler. Vici takes a passive stance, trying to farm up, still not getting any towers while Rattlesnake roaming the enemy jungle trying to find kills. ZSMJ picks up a Diffusal Blade but fails to have a proper impact in clashes, he constantly gets focused by Storm and QoP and lacks the hp to survive the engages. Pushes and ganks keeps snowballing Vici further and further, starting to build a rather massive advantage. Skywrath can only Silence one hero so either Queen of Pain or Storm will be free to fight. And both heroes get Black King Bars, nullifying the full effect of the Skywrath. RattleSnake with great usage of their speed and mobility manage to outplay Vici in most of the fights even though Cty especially is trying to keep up. Eventually RattleSnake breach the base and take the first game.

Game two

A Spectre once again picked up despite not having much success so far today at all. Rattlesnake once again picking up an aggressive line-up without an obvious hard carry, whereas Vici picks up two hard carries and a semi carry. Mid lane is won heavily by Cty since he's supported by SD throughout all the lane. The DK of RattleSnake is obviously struggling. Lone Druid is having a really hard time against Queen of Pain but does what he can do farm up when QoP starts teleporting and rotating into the mid lane. Kunkka is the force of Vici at this stage of the game, dealing the most amount of damage and having the big skills to throw. The play maker of RattleSnake is the QoP since both DK and Clock are underfarmed. At minute 20, the tri-core of Vici are all at higher networth than the most farmed of Rattlesnake, even the Lone Druid who struggled early on. The Clockwerk is pretty much neglected, as soon as he uses Cog on anyone, Skywrath throws down a Mystic Flare in his face, eating throw his life in two seconds unless he gets Repelled.

A big clash approaches at the top lane where Dire rotatoes in to backstab the Radiant, but they spot it and throws down a Haunt to disrupt the initiation of RattleSnake, causing Clockwerk to wift the Hook completely. Vici manages to split the opponents up during the fight and pick them off one by one. Even though Rattlesnake gets a perfect Vacuum four heroes into wall and Sonic Wave and the boat from Vici completely misses, Vici still wins the fight with their farm advantage and massive area damage. Rattlesnake calls good game as soon as the fight ends. Radiant goes 5-0 today as of yet.

Game three

ViCi Gaming continued with their three carry/semi-carry strategy, selecting Spectre and Kunkka again, with Juggernaut instead of Lone Druid this time. On the other hand, RattleSnake opted for the extra teamfight control, with Silencer, Clockwerk and Dark Seer, using Doom and Gyrocopter as their carries.

VThe Snakes used a surprising bottom lane strategy, using Ion Shell and Flack Cannon to completely steal the pulls of enemy supports, denying an important experience boost.Nevertheless, the first blood was drawn by CTY's Kunkka, landing an impressive torrent two minutes in.

The fighting kept going for the entirety of the early game. The lack of kill potential by RattleSnake's bottom trilane forced Kabuto's Clockwerk to pay them a visit quite often. The result was constant trades between the teams, with Rattlesnake being slightly in favor, with Gyrocopter getting five kills by minute 12.

Rattlesnake decided to start the five-man DotA pretty early, forcing fights out of VG. The strategy was valid, since Spectre clearly is at a disadvantage in these early clashes. 12 minutes into the game, RattleSnake attempted to get their first tier-one - but could only get two deaths out of VG, killing Kunkka and Juggernaut. The Dire knew that the bottom lane was their way into VG's defenses, and rushed to take down the tower there which was severely wounded by the lane phase. The clash that took place started as 3-1 in favor of Rattlesnake, but an impressive two-man Torrent by CTY evened the results.

The clock was ticking in favor of ViCi Gaming. With ZSMJ's Spectre finishing the Diffusal Blade, and CTY picking up his Shadow Blade, the line-up started getting more and more dangerous. RattleSnake realised the threat, after losing a 4-0 fight under the middle-tier-two tower. Icy's Gyrocopter seemed unable to deal enough damage to take down VG in time, and his Butterfly seemed severely late. To get back their advantage, RS took down the first Roshan by minute 24.

The following teamfights went to ViCi Gaming, increasing their momentum enough to force RattleSnake to hide in their base. Minute 34 was the crucial moment for both teams, as VG entered the Dire base. Despite a valiant defense by the Snakes, VG were able to win a 4-1 fight, taking down the top barracks. RattleSnake decided not to contest the game further, and called the GG.

Fun Fact : For about quite some time, Juggernaut, Spectre, Doom and Kunkka ran around with the same inventory - Phase Boots, Drums of Endurance and Magic Wand.

?

[Match 3] ViCi vs LGD.cn

Game one

'

It seems Kunkka has become an important part of both VG's and LGD's strategies. This time, the first-pick favored LGD, and the G-1 finalists grabbed the admiral for xiao8. The early game started with a lot of action, mostly because of the continuous ganks by Cty's Clockwerk all around the map. The first blood was grabbed by ZSMJ's Gyrocopter against Yao's Seer by minute 8, and many kills followed in every lane.

CTY decided to impress the viewers 7 minutes in,as he launched a Hookshot on xiao8's Kunkka, taking him down under his tower. DD's Keeper of the Light rushed to assist his mate, only to watch him die. CTY, trying to avoid being killed by the creeps, turned around and entered the Roshan pit, surviving the last Illuminate and denying himself using Roshan. VG seemed to be having the time of their lives. The score was pretty even by minute 15 (8-6) but ZSMJ and XTT surely had a lot more farm than Sylar and xiao8, a difference boosted by the destruction of the first tier-one by VG.

After a small farming ceasefire, VG decided to go as five and continue pressuring LGD. By minute 24, they caught Nyx and Dark seer off-position, taking them down along with the mid tier-two. Then they proceeded to do the same bottom, adding more gold to their Net Worth. The two towers went down uncontested, showing that LGD did not have the confidence to fight just yet. The situation got worse for the Dire, as a sloppy gank on XTT's Alchemist resulted in an impressive Ultra Kill by ZSMJ's Gyrocopter, with Sylar barely preventing him from getting his Rampage.

It took a couple of attempts for VG to penetrate LGD's base defenses. Eventually, the inevitable happened - 35 minutes in, VG won a 3-0 fight against LGD inside the Dire base, taking down the middle barracks. An impressive Hookshot+Cog combo by CTY sealed the deal, with ZSMJ destroying LGD once again, demolishing the top barracks to force out the GG.

Game two

Another Kunkka pick-up, this time by VG, with CTY attempting to take xiao8's crown away. The clashes started early, with LGD and VG trading blows contesting the top lane dominance. LGD seemed to be getting more kills and higher lane pressure compared to VG, with the first blood going to Visage, who managed to take down ZSMJ's Gyrocopter twice before minute 10.

On the bottom lane, Sylar's Lone Druid was completely free-farming, driving off his competitors one by one. He even managed to take down both the towers, boosting the budget of his teammates as well. VG, in an attempt to stop the continuous pushing by LGD, went as five in a fight against LGD by minute 12. The first two victims of this clash were Rubick and Lina, but VG completely turned the fight around into a 4-2 exchange in their favor. Their decision to overextend and chase the remaining heroes proved to be a big mistake though, with Clockwerk and Rubick dying to ddc's Visage abilities.

The score was 9-7 in favor of LGD, and one could consider that the teams were fighting on equal terms. Nevertheless, a look at the map could easily prove them wrong, as LGD had managed to take down every outer tower, and had also taken a big chunk out of the middle and bottom tier-three as well. VG seemed to be trapped inside their base, with Xtt's Clockwerk completely unable to turn the tides with his unsuccessful Hookshots.

Catching Kunkka and Clockwerk out of position, LGD rushed to take down the middle barracks by minute 21. Despite losing Lina, VG pulled off an amazing defense, saving their barracks and winning a 3-0 fight as well, with the help of a double Hookshot-Torrent combination. Visage bought back, thinking that the fight was still going on, but in the end he just wasted his surplus cash.

With the game balance being static for some time, VG decided to surprise their enemies with a Smoke gank. A miscommunication between VG's squad resulted in bad target focus, with a cost for VG, as the gank ended in a 2-1 ambush in favor of LGD. The Radiant decided to give VG a taste of their own medicine, using Smoke of Deceit as well to catch and kill ZSMJ, who also bought back to stop the upcoming barracks assault.

The 31st minute was critical for the outcome of the match, as LGD attempted to kill Roshan to solidify their advantage. Xtt hooked inside the pit, closing LGD outside of the Rosh pit, trapping Sylar inside the cogs. A ship by CTY caught many, taking Roshan as well. The resulting 5-2 fight in favor of VG seemed to be enough to turn the tides of the game.

LGD seemed to be unable to take down VG despite having a super farmed bear on their side. The breakthrough, however, came through a mistake by VG when they decided to fight too far out of their base, leading in a 3-0 fight in favor of LGD with both carries going down. LGD proceeded to take down two sets of barracks. Nonetheless, VG kept on fighting, even winning a 4-1 fight inside their base, rebuilding their defense, 42 minutes on the clock.

It was now or never for LGD. The Chinese superstars took down the final Roshan of the game 48 minutes in, and ran straight to the top lane to finish the job. VG fought persistently, but the bear was just too strong to be pushed back. LGD took down the top barracks, forcing out the gg a little over 50 minutes into the game.

?

Game three

LGD ended up taking this game's Kunkka, and VG looked for another solution to support their ganks. The solution came from deep inside the sea, with a Slark pick. LGD, knowing the strength of the hero from the G-1 play-offs, decided to respond with a Weaver. The first blood was drawn by VG, as Yao's Dark Seer went too far away from his tower, without having a Surge to escape a potential ambush.

The early game strength of both squads was high, and what followed was inevitable: The teams started fighting like maniacs all around the map, diving towers to grab kills. Slark and Visage vs Weaver and Kunkka, both teams went in a rampage trying to find as many early kills as possible. The score was 8-8 by the tenth minute, when the teams decided to take a small break to farm.

?

With the game hitting the 15th minute mark, it became obvious that VG was asking too much from ZSMJ, whose Gyrocopter needed some minutes of tranquility and farm. A clash under LGD's bottom tier-one ended up 3-1 in favor of LGD, encouraging Vici to get some farm before they got in another brawl again.

LGD, knowing that VG could not afford to keep fighting, started looking for more and more fights. Another seconds before the 20th minute ended up 4-0 in favor of LGD, who were clearly in front in terms of gold and experience. VG was paying the price of their early game insolence - the kills in the last ten minutes were 8-1 for LGD, and all the tier-one towers of VG were gone. On top of all things, Sylar's Weaver had double the net worth of ZSMJ's Gyrocopter.

VG were trapped inside their base, and LGD farmed the whole map to create a huge gold gap between the teams. With Sylar topping every gold-related list, the G-1 finalists proceeded to claim their ticket to Seattle by taking down the middle barracks 40 minutes into the game. With a teamwipe inside their base, VG knew they had no chance of getting back on their feet. They called the GG, showing the LGD players to their airplane seats.