posted by NanaKrustofski,
The Chinese Qualifiers suffered many issues, but now their representative for StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor #3 has been determined: Team Aster take the final series against Newbee 3-0. First, the qualifiers had to be postponed due to safety measures against the coronavirus. Then, match fixing accusations took the spotlight away from the teams competing.

It was not the first encounter of Aster and Newbee. The teams already met in the Upper Bracket Finals were Newbee forced Aster to take a detour by defeating them 2-1. Aster then prevailed 2-1 over Keen Gaming in the Lower Bracket Finals.

They entered their revenge match against Newbee in the Grand Finals. This time, they showed no mercy. With three clean victories, Aster take the final series against Newbee 3-0 and claim their ticket to the Minor.

Game one: A narrow victory for Aster



One fight is all it takes to turn a match around. Newbee held the networth advantage and kill lead throughout the entire game. However 40 minutes into the match, Aster came out on top of a team fight with four kills and no casualties. This gave them leverage to close out the match and take their first victory.

One of the highlights in game one: Xu 'Moogy' Han displayed how useful Clumsy Net can be on Troll Warlord.



Game two: Spoinking to victory



The second match proceeded in a more balanced fashion. Aster started with a solid lead but gave it away by losing a team fight. They did not let loose of their control over the game for too long, however, and quickly regained the cutting edge by winning a fight in return.

Wen 'Wizard' Lipeng learned the hard way that Timber Chain is not very useful to escape from Enchantress and died an early death.



Ye 'BoBoKa' Zhibiao continued his deadly Enchantress plays and in one final battle, he obtained a double kill against Newbee. After a 6 for 3 trade, Newbee could no longer hold up their defense and had to surrender again. Aster expanded their lead 2-0.



Game three: Aster dominate



Aster further accelerated their performance and quickly secured their third victory. After 29 minutes, a 23-8 score and 22k networth lead for Aster, Newbee had to surrender and accept their elimination from the qualifiers.

Song 'Sccc' Chun had a convincing performance on Lifestealer and finished the match 10/0/8. For Aster, their participation at the Minor also means a possible road to advance to ESL One Los Angeles 2020.





Photo credit: Adela Sznajder DreamHack

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