posted by Vekus,
world Cloud 9 managed to take down cn LGD to just have an even tougher opponent awaiting them already. They will face cn DK in a best of three for one of the two remaining seeds in the Main events upper bracket. Who will advance to take the precious slot? Will it be the Chinese Juggernaut or the International hopes? Tune in!


Game 1Game 2Game 3
Pregameworld Cloud90:0DK cnDK once more pickup their Skywrath+Juggernaut combination, together with a teamfight orientated Naga Siren+Enigma combination. Storm Spirit will be their last pick, trying to pick off heroes during the midgame and getting DK a seizable lead.Cloud9 once more go for a teamfight approach, picking up Meepo, Invoker and Puck as cores, getting supported by Doom and Mirana. As nearly every game, C9's draft looks incredibly greedy, but might pay off, as DK needs some time to come online as well.
3:20world Cloud91:0DK cnFIRST BLOOD! C9 manages to bring down Storm Spirit, with a well executed Earthbind+Sunstrike combo, as well as Doom rotating in with a Satyr blast.9:00world Cloud95:6DK cnBoth teams go aggressive in the early game once again, with Cloud9 getting a slight advantage, as they get a lot of kills on Mushi's Storm Spirit, setting him back quite aa bit. With a lot of levels on their supports, they will come online soon in the midgame.However, DK is able to push hard, with Naga illusions as well as Eidolons and become a threat to C9's towers.11:00world Cloud97:7DK cnDK tries to push down the Tier 1 bottom tower of C9, but with a well placed Doom and Dream Coil, the Chinese get fended off, losing two but getting a kill on SingSing.
15:00world Cloud98:7DK cnNaga Siren picks up an incredibly early Radiance just a little bit delayed by one death, however C9 manage to get their greed through, as their "support" Doom picks up a Hand of Midas as well, eventually transitioning into a fourth core.18:00world Cloud98:7DK cnDK smokes into the Radiant jungle, but can't catch any of C9's heroes, so they head towards the Roshpit and take the Aegis shortly after for Storm Spirit.24:00world Cloud98:10DK cnCloud 9 take the game a bit too passively and get punished heavily for it, as DK manages to pick off Meepo twice and get Boots of Travel as well as a Yasha on their Naga Siren. C9 won't be able to splitpush this game as they did in the previous ones, and if they don't take a teamfight now, they will back themselves into a corner.25:30world Cloud99:11DK cnJuggernaut gets caught out at the Tier 2 midtower and quickly brought down after a smoke by C9. As DK doesn't react, they bring down the tower as well, however it is only a minor victory against the Naga.27:00world Cloud99:11DK cnC9 manage to sneak a Roshan under the eyes of DK and can back out before the Chinese are able to react. Aegis goes to Meepo.33:00world Cloud911:13DK cnBoth teams clash at the bottom Tier 2 tower. While C9 manages to take out two, they lose the Puck as well as the Aegis in return. DK's BKBs are getting shorter, but at the same time, Naga gets more and more farm, sitiing 5k ahead of SingSing.DK's farm is unevenly distributed, but maybe the Naga can 1v5 it soon.
37:00world Cloud911:13DK cnDK manage to get the third Roshan of the game completely uncontested with the Aegis on Mushi as well as a cheese on Burning.44:00world Cloud911:13DK cnDK continue their splitpush game, with Bruning maxed out already as well as 6k gold in his bag. Cloud9 has dropped all of their outer towers and can't seem to find the initiation on DK, despite their 4 farmed cores. 49:00world Cloud911:13DK cnAlso the fourth Roshan goes the way of DK, as they control the entire map, splitpushing with Naga Siren illusions, locking Cloud9 inside their own base. Three hexes are up on C9, and a Refresher is coming up on Doom, but if DK continues the game on their pace, C9 will slowly but steadily get starved out.53:00world Cloud912:14DK cnDK initiate on to the highground on the bottom lane, willingly fighting 4v5 to create space for Burning to take down the Tier 3 tower on the top lane. C9 take the fight and return in time to save their barracks.
57:00world Cloud915:15DK cnWith multiple heroes of DK dead, C9 attempt to break free and find kills. THey spot the Naga Siren and bring her down once, but DK uses enough of their time in small skirmishes to allow the Naga Siren to respawn without having to use buyback.59:00world Cloud915:15DK cnDK get the fifth Roshan of the game uncontested, ready to fight C9.60:00world Cloud917:15DK cnC9 manages to catch out both Enigma and Skywrath taking out both in just a second, but they lose their top ranged barracks in return, as Naga continues her splitpush.63:00world Cloud922:18DK cnDK initiates on C9's Mirana who is out of position but get punished dearly, as C9 manages to bring down 4 of them as well as Naga and rush down the middle lane to force DK's buybacks, picking up a courier on the way as well. DK buys back on two heroes and fend C9 off, bringing down Doom and Puck.66:00world Cloud925:23DK cnC9 initiates on DK as they push down the middle lane, catching the Naga inside the Doom, but the fight gets turned against them as Enigma holds them with a double Blackhole but bring down three of DK as well.
66:00world Cloud926:23DK cnDK comes in once again, holding C9 in position with a double song, taking down all the barracks and forcing C9 to Hail mary down the middle lane.69:00world Cloud928:27DK cnC9 try to take down DK's base with a Rapier on EternalEnvy, but get fended off once again, and as they lose three they finally call the 'GG'.
Pregamecn DK0:0Cloud 9 worldCloud 9 drafts a composition that is heavily pickoff and teamfight prientated, while focused on the early to midgame. With Axe+Treant+Enigma, especially the early midgame will be theirs to take.With both a Clockwerk and a Storm Spirit, even long initiations are no problem anymore.DK answer with a lineup with strong lanes as well as huge sustainability to survive the midgame and win late. Both Lycan and Ember are hard to catch, while Dazzle, Witch Doctor and Undying will provide sustain for the entire team.
1:30cn DK2:0Cloud 9 worldDOUBLE FIRST BLOOD! DK's Undying manage to bring down both Storm Spirit and Treant Protector at the top lane, after getting stacks of Decay.9:00cn DK6:3Cloud 9 worldDK bring out the aggression, as they manage to win the dual offlane, bringing down the Treant Protector twice and denying farm to EternalEnvy. C9 tries to get some space with Clockwerk and Enigma rotations, but give Lycan room to breathe, who now has a Vladimirs Offering up and running. With farm on their cores as well as a lot oif heal to back them up, DK starts pushing heavily and take down both the bottom towers of C9.10:30cn DK7:3Cloud 9 worldDK continue to push as they take down the Tier 1 then the Tier 2 tower in the middle lane. Cloud 9 initiates, but can't bring down a single hero, but losing the Axe.
11:30cn DK9:3Cloud 9 worldThe Chinese go on and push the highground, taking out Treant and Storm in the process, and as the bring down the Tier 3 tower, C9 calls the 'GG' What a stomp!
Pregameworld Cloud90:0DK cnThere is no Game 3 in this series.


world Cloud 9 drops 2-0 against cn DK in a clean sweep. While the first game could have gone either way after a 70 min battle between the teams, the second one was completed quicker, as DK figured Cloud 9 out and absolutely stomped them in the draft already.

With the draft not going your way, you have to win the lanes, but as Cloud9 was unable to do even that, they had to call an early 'GG'. Congratulations to DK, who now advance to the Upper Bracket of the International 2014 Main Event, where they will join us Evil Geniuses and cn Vici Gaming.




This article was written by de Markus Fischer, joinDOTA's Senior Writer. Vekus started to follow Dota rather late, as he joined the community in 2012. From then on he tried to get a job in Esports and found it later at joinDOTA. Reallife is mostly spend at university trying to understand physics and running. Avid wearer of Bandanas.Location: Chemnitz, GermanyFollow him on @VekusDota.

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