posted by Smyke,
Keen and NiP already faced each other earlier today in the first round of the group stage. The Chinese squad took advantage of Marcus 'Ace' Hoelgaard picking Terrorblade in two of the three games and advanced to the Upper Bracket.
However, Keen couldn't keep up the good performance from match one and got surprised by the CIS squad of AS Monaco Gambit. The new captain Artem 'fng' Barshack had the perfect strategy to take Hu 'Kaka' Liangzhi and Co. off guard. Gambit advanced and Keen had to face NiP another time after the Europeans beat beastcoast.
Keen Gaming starts perfectly
Although NiP didn't pick Terrorblade in the first game, Keen had the advantage from the beginning. Especially Zhai 'Ying' Jingkai's Weaver was too farmed in a short time and NiP couldn't kill him anymore - he finished the game with the impressive stats of 8/0/6.
🇨🇳 @Keen_GamingCN wins the first game in the Decider Match against #NiP#pgldota2 #bucharestminor #esports
— PGL (@pglesports) 9. Januar 2019
Tune in for game2
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Game two was more even - NiP tried another game with Ace on Terrorblade and had good chances throughout the whole match. 45 minutes in the game both teams had lost a set of barracks and were searching for the one team fight that could take the match into the right way.
A bad positioning around the Rosh Pit had a bad outcome for NiP: except for Adrian 'Fata' Trinks all four of his teammates died and Keen had a 10k gold lead for the first time in this game - but Roshan was still alive.
So the teams were looking out for another Rosh fight - and it happened after 51 minutes. Keen lost all the advantage at first, but NiP overextended and had a tough price to pay - all five players died and Keen won 2-0. Two losses against Keen ended in a third place for Peter 'ppd' Dager's team.
This means the European team will start in the Lower Bracket. A hard way in the playoffs is waiting for them, if they want to win the Minor and get the last ticket for The Chongqing Major.
What is NiP missing right now? How can they fight back?
Photo credit: Valve
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