Star Series round 1 wrap-up

The first round of the SLTV Star Series has concluded with few surprises. The favourites generally won, though upsets included Western Wolves defeating Asian dark horses NEXT.kz, and the rising American squad It's Gosu taking out the well-established Evil Geniuses.

Due to the league's staggered schedule, much of the second round has already been played. Concurrent with the round 1 matches were 6 of 8 matches from round 2. Noteworthy results from the second round include Team Infused's upset over mTw, and Quantic's loss to NEXT.kz, considering Quantic's recent success in other tournaments.

The teams have been duking it out for the top four spots in the league, for a chance to compete in the Grand Finals in Kiev. Na'Vi currently sits at the top of the table, though not all teams have caught up in games played. Third place is an eleven-way tie with teams Dignitas, It's Gosu, and CLG off to great starts, while Quantic, DTS, and Darer have performed below expectations.






















Our pick for the noteworthy game of the week is Na'Vi vs Darer, which was undoubtedly the most anticipated match of rounds 1 and 2. Na'Vi once again showed why many consider them the best team in Dota 2, at the expense of Darer, who have continued to perform below the expectations set by their pedigree.



The Ukrainian team relied on their classic map-control and push-oriented style with a Stealth Assassin in place of their famous Antimage, while Darer opted for a fearsome teamfight lineup with Weaver to provide lategame right-click power.

After a standard early game, Na'Vi's slick midgame style managed to shine through as it always does, and they claimed themselves both bottom lane barracks by the 24th minute of the game. Though Darer eventually pushed Na'Vi out of their base, and punished their opponents for a slight over-extension, Na'Vi managed to maintain their total map control, which allowed them to keep the Aegis on Xboct's Riki at all times and continually increase the item gap between him and Santa's Weaver.

While losing bottom barracks was the beginning of the end for the Russian superstars, Darer's chances were snuffed out entirely after a failed smoke gank through middle lane gave Riki his BKB; from then on the game was a methodical march toward victory for the world champions Na'Vi. Artstyle and Dread were eventually caught out in the middle lane -- an inevitable occurrence given Na'Vi's complete map control -- and Na'Vi promptly took the cue to push all the way to the throne.

Na'Vi vs Darer and all Star Series VoDs can be found on Star Ladder's website, here.






































*Table rankings are based on round 1 and round 2 (so far) results only.

Darer vs CLG and Dignitas vs It's Gosu have been scheduled for the upcoming week, and their conclusion will wrap up the second round.

Most of the round 3 matches will play out next week as well. A schedule is provided below, though we suggest you keep an eye on our matchticker to keep up with any last-minute changes.

Ayesee and Draskyll will be providing the official English cast for next week. Make sure to tune in!

Round 3
The full schedule and standings can be found on Star Ladder's official site.