Match of the series: Game 1
The game opened with a first blood by Fenrir's Visage just over a minute into the game after he hid behind the tree line on the Radiant bottom lane. Fenrir along with Rubick then kitted themselves out with Boots and started roaming four minutes in. Likewise DDC (Wisp) and DD (Maiden) smoked up a couple of minutes later but failed to make the money pay off as they did not take any kills and wasted time that could have been spent stacking or pulling in the bottom lane. A quick reaction by Yao saw him teleport to top tower to come to the aid of Doom. Popping the six minute haste rune Yao along with Doom got a clinical kill on Visage to even the hero kills to one a piece.
For a large remainder of the game most of the action went down in the mid-lane, with the first major team fight commencing after VG tried to dispose of Wisp just below the ramp. A nice tether to the Dragon Knight allowed the wisp to escape out of range of danger and allowed Rabbit's Tiny to toss Doom right on top of rOtk's Bristleback who fell under the attacks of all four of LGD's heroes, and his two companions Kunkka and Rubick also tasted the LGD coup de grace, meaning VG lost three heroes in exchange for none. While this was going on LGD allowed VG's Lone Druid to kill the top tower uncontested.
The next major exchange came quick with VG smoking up Visage, Rubick and Kunkka with the aim of trying to kill off the Wisp near bottom tier 1. Hesitation by Fy on Rubick gave LGD the milliseconds they needed to get Wisp to safety and the hunters became the hunted as VG's Visage fell. During the exchange VG's Kunkka had caught crystal maiden near bottom rune but Wisp was quick to react following the battle just seconds before and relocated to the Maiden, bringing Doom along for the ride with the three heroes beating down Super's Kunkka for the second time.
Twelve minutes in and Rabbit's Tiny falls for the first time as VG push en masse. Yao makes a bold decision to not cancel his teleport despite Tiny having died during the process. Yao ducked behind the tower and into the treeline, cleverly buying time to allow his team-mates to tp in. VG were punished for playing too aggressive and diving with low mana on Bristleback along with other heroes, and were forced to fall back.
Eighteen minutes in saw VG start to make a little headway killing bottom tier 1 followed by bottom tier 2, with LGD exchanging them for VG's top tier 1. With an apparent advantage VG then hesitated on Roshan, not once but twice and their third attempt, where they decided to stick with it and try to get aegis, their gamble paid off. LGD charged into the pit and were greeted with a ghost ship and a shipload of other damage from VG. LGD lost four heroes as well as their gold advantage which dropped to almost 0 following the battle.
Rabbit's Tiny played a crucial part in his team's performance in game oneFollowing this the encounters once again returned to the mid lane with a back-and-forth between each teams' tier 2 towers. VG looked like they were continuing to turn the tides when they killed Doom and Tiny forcing both to buy back. However, Doom and Tiny went straight back into battle with Rabbit's Tiny having anger issues killing Bristle and Visage. A chase followed towards VG's tier 2 and an incredible creep toss by Rabbit managed to kill Kunkka from what seemed like a mile away. LGD then got back into shape killing VG's mid and top tier2 and had an advantage of 7,000 gold and 12,000 experience 31 minutes into the game.
VG's Super was sidelined for almost the entire game at this point, with low damage and bkb on both Dragon Knight and Doom, Super remained a spectator in team battles. LGD continued to grow exponentially with time running out for VG. VG seemed well aware of their predicament and went for an entire-team smoke and went top hoping to get some kills but it turned sour as LGD were nowhere near. Time that could have been spent on smoking and going for Roshan was essentially wasted. Their next effort was more lucrative as LGD over-extended themselves near VG's tier 3 and picked a poor location for a fight. VG struck down four players, forced a buy back, forced CDs on Doom and DK's BKB and VG topped it all of with a kill on Roshan. It was the perfect opportunity for VG to make a comeback.
As they entered the last quarter of the game VG got LGD's tier 2 top and then hesitated to go for the tier 3. This hesitation proved fatal as it allowed LGD an opportunity to let buybacks cooldown for LGD. The highlight of the game was the cool and composed nature of LGD in the huge clash in 39 minutes. VG tried to pummel down Doom but were unsuccessful and instead focused their attention on Death Knight. LGD's patience was remarkable with Doom Bringer holding back on casting Doom and waiting for the perfect moment to strike, and when they did it all hell was let loose. VG fell one by one with four of their heroes biting the dust as well as the loss of the aegis, with only Fenrir escaping. The game was as good as over at this point, Rabbit's Tiny had a BKB, sceptre, Assault Cuirass and Manta Style. LGD smoked up and dove bottom lane, killing tier 2 and charging past VG's tier 3 with no regard for their own safety. Rubick got smacked, Bristle got obliterated and VG called GG. The game was defined by LGD's ability to take Super and rOtk out of the game with both players having no impact on the game.
Game 2: Complete domination by VG
The second game was a blitzkrieg by VG. Just as they did after their first map loss to Alliance yesterday, they went for an aggressive draft the second game, aiming to end it quick. The first five minutes past by uneventfully but once the game hit the 5 minute mark, it was VG all the way.
A nice combo of Vengeful's stun with Soul assumption from Fenrir's Visage gave VG a 2-1 kill lead taking out Super's DK in the process. The duo struck again a minute later killing Elder Titan. It was bad news for Yao on Elder Titan as Vengeful Spirit and Visage jumped him yet again sending him back to the graveyard as well his brothers in arms, the Dark Seer and the Dragon Knight. Just as LGD had shutdown rOtk and Super in the previous match, VG were all over Yao who failed to get farm, failed to get kills and failed to have any impact.
The early game was terrible for LGD with their smoking ganks failing, Elder Titan failing in the bottom lane and trailing by three levels, not to mention XIao8's Dragon Knight dying three times in the middle lane. At this point VG had already got Mekanism. LGD continued their downward spiral in the mid-game as VG took their mid tier 1 and knocked their tier 2 down to 50%. VG were in pole position now and LGD seemed unable to respond to the incessant aggression. As VG backed up from LGD's tier 2 they had the game in the palm of their hand and opted for an easy Roshan. The match never entered the late game as VG jabbed away at LGD, knocking hero after hero into the depths of despair. VG then finished up all of LGD's tier 2. While four of their team pushed bot, Sylar on the Lone Druid was split pushing top and did enough damage to attract the attention of LGD. Sylar's team-mates rotated to support him top and the final team fight was feeble by LGD. A 24-minute domination. No chance for LGD.
Game 3: Slow and steady wins the race
LGD started optimistically in game 3 with a 5-man smoke top lane but the play seemed to be expected from SUper's Dragon Knight who was perfectly positioned to escape unscathed. LGD opted for a ranged tri-lane with Luna, Crystal Maiden and Visage on the top lane versus a Rubick, Lone Druid and a jungling Chen. The ranged tri-lane proved high effective with an early kill on the Lone Druid bear securing 300 gold. Meanwhile bottom lane was a contest between rOtk's Nature's Prophet and xiao8's Doom Bringer. Xiao8 started off extremely well leading 8-1 to 2-0 on CS, despite being a melee hero versus a ranged hero.
The first five minutes were silent, with no kills and no notable action. The first blood was a delicious combination of Crystal Maiden's frost nova, Doom Bringer's stun and a perfect Sunstrike from Yao's Invoker to kill the Lone Druid, a crucial kill in the early stage of the game. A nice surprise 4-man push by VG managed to open some space for Lone Druid to farm top however, as VG managed to take down a mid tower in exchange for one hero each. A 4-man smoke followed as roTk baited their enemies - who were also 3-man smoked - to attack him. Poor coordination from VG turned what should have been the perfect murders into an awful failure as VG lose two players despite a 1-man advantage and the element of surprise.
By the mid game LGD were looking solid, especially xiao8's Doom Bringer with a Vanguard and Mekanism at 16 mins in, along with 1600hp. The team then broke into a sprint as Invoker continue to combine well with Crystal Maiden, immobilizing heroes with cold snap and frostbite while their team-mates went for the kill. LGD then charged into VG's base but rOtk's Prophet teleported to top tier 3 of LGD forcing Luna to TP back and giving VG some breathing space and bought time for a quick roshan 22:00 as a 5-man. LGD were still ahead on experience and gold but with VG roaming as a pack, it was clear they were going for a quick finish.
A 5-on-5 fight bottom for LGD looked perfect as XIao8 was caught out of position and LGD's Luna Eclipse tore through VG. Fenrir made a great play to turn the tables when he stole Eclipse to turn around the fight and the survivors of LGD fled. Unfortunately it was perhaps Fenrir's only major contribution to the match. LGD's Invoker then became a key piece on the table when he bought refresher orb given that he already had Aghanim's sceptre. VG tried to rinse and repeat their strat from earlier letting prophet push as they went Roshan. However, this time LGD leave Prophet to his own devices and went to stop Roshan, with a double meteor from Invoker tearing through two of VG. Technical issues followed with a ten minute pause with VG looking unsure of themselves on the live stream, and once the game resumed it was a swift death for VG.
Straight after the pause LGD down mid tier 2, meaning they had wiped out all tier 1 and tier 2 towers of VG. At this point in the game LGD were sitting comfortably with the only threat being rOtk's pushing top ranged rax. After several Prophet chases by LGD they eventually gave up and just went all in top lane with all 5 heroes. but the glyph and mekanism soaked up their damage and they failed to do any damage top lane and lost a tier 2 bot. However, Prophet met his match when LGD tped back, as Yao pulled of an incredible combo of spells to eliminate him giving them more than 60 seconds until he would respawn. The Prophet kill led to a free bottom rax. Rabbit's Luna with Satanic and Manta Style ripped through top rax in what would prove to be the final push with Rabbit getting a triple kill to finish off VG.
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