Star Series week 3 wrap-up

The third week of the SLTV Star Series has ended and the fourth is well on its way. There are only a handful of rounds left to be played in the league phase of this tournament, and the cream has finally begun to separate itself from the crop.

Na'Vi are once again at the very top of the standings, having gone undefeated in all matches once again, and are currently far ahead of the pack, with fewer games played than many of their rivals. A massive victory over Evil Geniuses helped Na'Vi keep daylight between themselves and second place, though the finally-performing Darer squad seem to be on their heels with a great deal of momentum. Dignitas are no slouches either.

Earlier last week, something of a shuffle occurred in the CIS Dota 2 scene, as DTS reformed with a mostly Ukrainian squad and PGG and his TR team were picked up by Moscow 5, the current Darer squad's former sponsor. The new M5 kept the spot they earned in the Star Series standings as TR while the new DTS have taken the e-Sahara slot.


While there were hardly upsets this week, there were several noteworthy results. Dignitas's take-down of Mouz earlier in the week pushed the rising Germans back to the third tier in standings and put themselves in position for a Kiev LAN invite; and much to the delight of the second place teams, DTS's upset over CLG kept the the rising Swedes at a safe distance. Meanwhile, Darer's triumph over M5 allows Darer.G to keep his public promise for now.






















EG vs. Na'Vi was our spotlight match for the week, a contest between the top two teams in the Dota 2 scene. There was much uncertainty about the EG squad going into the week, as rumours of internal turmoil and a potential roster shuffle were in the air. In contrast, the fan-favourite Na'Vi seemed to be their usual monolithic selves, coming into the match with a perfect league record and a seemingly unshakable grasp of first place.



Evil Geniuses drafted perhaps the mother of all push lineups, one which appeared to have been specifically practiced a least once or twice by the team. One would venture to say that EG were attempting to 'cheese' Na'Vi in order to force their playstyle on the TI champions -- although the technical prowess required to pull off this strategy at this level of play should not be downplayed. Na'Vi drafted Antimage and Queen of Pain as their first heroes, and used their reactive picks to round out the team's teamfight and anti-push potential. A central theme of Na'Vi's picks seemed to be blink heroes, which turned out to be an incredibly punishing team fight strategy.

Dendi's solo Puck competed for last-hits and levels against It's Gosu captain Bulba (standing in for EG's Misery) with support from Maelk's Vengeful Spirit, while Xboct's top lane Antimage and EG's bottom lane Leshrac, played by Fear, were given the run of things in their respective lanes. Demon's Prophet and LightofHeaven's Queen of Pain played the hard lanes, and Puppey and Lacoste occupied in their jungles. Sand King took on an almost pure support and ganking role for the Dire.

The first 10 minutes was something of a teaser for the rest of the game, as the two most prominent heroes in the match began their domination early. A smoke gank from SK and Enchantress landed AM first blood, but shortly after, a three man gank on Tinker failed and gifted Bulba a (level 3) March of Machines double-kill at the expense of Dendi's Puck and Ars-Art's SK. Na'Vi scored their first tower kill at the 7 minute mark, but EG quickly regained the lead at the 10 minute mark, as a quadruple-stacked ancients camp earned Tinker his Boots of Travel and a quick level 8. VS got an extremely quick level 6 for her efforts.

At the 13 minute mark, EG decided it was time to show off the incredible power of a quickly maxed March of Machines-BoT Tinker combined with an Edict Leshrac and the summons of Enigma and Prophet. By the 15th minute (!), EG had made their way through both tier 1 and 2 towers top lane, and were pushing into Na'Vi's tier 3 tower and barracks. Na'Vi forced a fight as EG came up the ramp, but great play from Leshrac and Prophet won EG the tower and both top barracks, as AM and Puck chased and killed the fleeing supports through the forest; Na'Vi salvaged the situation somewhat by scoring a fantastic double-kill on the duo as they attempted to retreat shortly after.

Superb play from Xboct and Dendi

EG immediately began their push through the middle upon respawning, and by the 18th minute, found themselves once again at their opponent's base. Na'Vi engaged on Tinker just outside their ramp, and traded two heroes for it, but an immediate rebuy from Tinker allowed EG to continue their push and take the tier 3 tower as Na'Vi tried to regroup. Over-aggressive play from AM gifted EG an important kill, but an immediate buyback from Xboct forced EG to retreat. Na'Vi scored kills on Tinker, Enigma, and Leshrac as they routed their opponents, showing off the incredible chasing power of their line-up, and their ability to severely punish a retreating team.

Na'Vi continued to force and win teamfights throughout midgame with their extreme mobility, but found it impossible to push effectively against Tinker and Prophet. The XP graph eventually started to show a huge advantage for the Dire, but they remained behind in gold due to their towers lost (a deficit of 6, including 2 barracks). And yet, despite having lost every team fight since the 18-minute mark, EG made their way back to Na'Vi's middle ramp by the 27 minute mark with a completed Scythe of Vyse on Tinker. A messy fight saw the international squad overwhelmed once again, but smart play allowed them to score both middle barracks, with the help of some Radiant creeps.

Na'Vi found themselves in a position where they could no longer make even minor mistakes, and from this point onward caution was the hallmark of their play. Xboct's Antimage was beginning to become unkillable for the Radiant side, and Na'Vi finally managed to find enough room to turn their superior team fight power into complete map control. Na'Vi got their first Roshan kill at the 30 minute mark, after forcing EG to fight near the pit and once again routing them. Aegis on Antimage gave Na'Vi complete control of the game, and they took the time to focus on keeping their lanes pushed out while Xboct farmed -- so long as aegis remained, EG had no chance in a straightforward push.

The final 10 minutes of the game saw EG attempt multiple smoke ganks, but Na'Vi closed out the game confidently, making sure to keep their lanes pushed at all times and aegis on AM whenever possible. EG continued to look worse as their window for victory rapidly reached its end. A failed engagement on Antimage outside of Radiant's top ramp ended the game for the International powerhouse, and Na'Vi took their 9th straight win in the Star Ladder Star Series.

EG vs. Na'Vi and all Star Series VoDs can be found on Star Ladder's Twitch.tv page, here.







































The Round 9 and 10 matches that have yet to be played have been scheduled for this week. Keep in mind that most of rounds 11-14 will be completed by this time next week as well. We suggest you keep an eye on our matchticker to keep up the hectic schedule.

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