posted by SohNata,
Alliance returning to the stage after an impressive Day 1 to take on 
Team Empire in a clash of European titans.
Game 1Game 2Game 3
Team Empire vs Alliance Best of 3 - Live ReportGame One FinishedPREGAME Team Empire0:0Alliance Team Empire are here! The last team to take the stage at Dreamhack Summer, there's going to be a lot of curiosity around how they perform - last time we saw them in a major LAN they made the finals of Starladder, truly announcing themselves as once of the teams to watch on the professional scene. Alliance are their opponent today, the TI3 champions looking impressive as they dispatached both EG and Fnatic yesterday. Who will come out on top today?DRAFT Team Empire0:0Alliance After the introductions, the draft is underway! We have Empire on Radiant vs. Alliance on Dire. The first bans bring nothing too unexpecred, with Empire removing Enchantress and Lycan as the Swedes ban out Batrider and Brewmaster. Empire go straight for the first pick Mirana, with Alliance going full forest-strat, going for Treant Protector and Nature's Prophet. Empire, who we've not seen much of in 6.81b now go for a Dark Seer to round out the first set of picks. The second set of bands see the removal of two signature Alliance heroes, Chen and Silencer. They respond by banning out Doom and Enigma, before securing themselves Wisp and...wow! It's a Sven pick by the Swedish team! Empire respond with a bit of fire and ice with Lich and Ember Spirit. Empire remove Magnus from the pool now, although s4 won't be too fussed as he gets Puck instead. Empire finish off the draft with Bane and we are ready to go! Who do you think got the best draft?01:00 Team Empire0:0Alliance Looks like it might be a rough lane for Silent on his Mirana - even though he's got a Bane to help, a Wisp/Sven/Treant lane has a high kill potential. Meanwhile, Lich and Ember are dual-laning mid up against s4's Puck.03:00 Team Empire0:1Alliance The Swedish crowd erupts into loud cheers as Alliance secure first blood, Treant smacking down Vanskor on the Bane, with Leech Seed also doing a ton of damage.04:42 Team Empire1:2Alliance Empire look to have redressed the balance a little as Silent helps grab a kill mid on s4's Puck, but ALWAYSWANNAFLY's Lich takes a fall on the bottom lane, with the kill going to Wisp.06:63 Team Empire1:2Alliance Skirmishes and TP rotations all over the place here, on both top and bottom lane, with amazingly no kills in either, with Mag in particular making a smart decision to go for a TP out to avoid a certain death. Empire beginning to step up the roaming game, but Alliance are showing no hesitation in rotating in at a moment's notice.08:45 Team Empire1:2Alliance Empire do not like s4's Puck as they converge on the middle lane to kill him yet again, despite a well timed phase shift to dodge the Chain Frost. Gold and XP are still relatively even, and we're yet to lose a tower on either side.11:58 Team Empire6:3Alliance A chaotic team-fight breaks out on the toplane, with ultimates popped everywhere as Empire's smoke gank kills off Sven, but secures three other kills in the process while only losing one of their own. Empire follow it up by securing the top tier one tower.14:51 Team Empire9:3Alliance Disaster for Alliance! They go too deep trying to kill off Silent's Mirana and Empire rotate in en masse and turn the fight around completly, killing off Sven, Treant and Wisp, while saving Silent in the process. That will be a bitter blow for the Swedes, although Bulldog secures a T1 bottom admist the chaos.17:14 Team Empire11:4Alliance A skirmish around the radiant jungle leads to a death trade, Bulldog's Prophet and Vanskor's Bane both dying. s4 lingers too long though and gets uneccessarily picked off. Empire leading the kills, but not so much in the towers - always a dangerous position against a Bulldog Prophet.21:21 Team Empire11:4Alliance The gold situation is slightly favouring Empire, but they are 4,000k ahead in Experience. Sven is farming up well and Empire haven't been able to secure that many towers - the power of Treant Protector on show. Ember Spirit manages to get Battle Fury #1 as Empire begin to pressure the middle tier one - but Treant just keeps healing it back up...21:21 Team Empire11:4Alliance The gold situation is slightly favouring Empire, but they are 4,000k ahead in Experience. Sven is farming up well and Empire haven't been able to secure that many towers - the power of Treant Protector on show. Ember Spirit manages to get Battle Fury #1 as Empire begin to pressure the middle tier one - but Treant just keeps healing it back up...23:29 Team Empire11:7Alliance Both teams are exchanging unsuccessful smoke ganks before Alliance gather and use all five and a 10sec BKB to kill Mirana. Empire chase it though, they get one but s4 use relocate to get Sven out just in time, before some classic s4 Puck plays let them grab two more kills! Excellent stuff from the Alliance mid player - they transition into Roshan and secure an Aegis for Sven. 3-0 trade and Aegis is a big win for Alliance and you can feel the momentum shifting.28:30 Team Empire11:9Alliance Big kill as the global prescence Alliance have begins to pay off, relocating and Prophet TP'ing up top to grab a quick kill on Ember Spirit, while Bane dies on another lane. Alliance claim the last tier one mid off it and they are beginning to really pull ahead now.30:42 Team Empire11:15Alliance Play it back! Ember and Bane both die again as Alliance press the advantage they've built up, with Bulldog's Orchid doing a nice bit of work. A minute or two later, Silent gets relocated on and he dies too. A big team in another lane sees three more kills for the Swedes and it's looking grim for Empire. They simply cannot farm without being in mortal danger - it's a classic case where Alliance have got full map control and use it to make sure their opponents don't have anywhere safe to go.34:18 Team Empire12:15Alliance A small measure of recoruse for Empire, as Silent dodges a relocate gank and Empire sit on the relocate spot to murder Wisp as soon as he reappears...on bottom lane s4 gets killed after a nice Mirana arrow, letting Empire claim the Tier 1 bottom. Alliance are still able to kill off Roshan though. Bulldog has gone for a full mobility Prophet, carrying both a blink and force staff.37:39 Team Empire13:20Alliance A massive, massive shift in the game - it's a full five man team wipe on the top lane and scarily, it happened in the blink of an eye. Empire simply decimated theree, losing the T2, T3 and Rax on the top lane afterward.40:00 Team Empire13:24Alliance Alliance are turning the screw here, finding two pick offs on the top lane and then one mid - and that's it! Empire have seen enough and gg out. Commanding performance by Alliance there - once they got any sort of advantage, they hammered it home with force. Game two soon!Team Empire 0-1 Alliance Best of 3 - Live ReportGame Two FinishedDRAFT Team Empire0:0Alliance Well, that was pretty impressive wasn't it? Alliance showing why they're so strong, especially with a Prophet. Will Empire be able to regroup? Draft begins and this time it's Empire picking up the Wisp, in combination with Gyrocopter. Alliance will again use their first pick on getting a Treant Protector, but this time follow up with a Doom, also. Dragon Knight is the next pick up for Empire, while the Swedes opt for a Witch Doctor - might they even be setting up for a Faceless Void? The fourth picks are an Alliance Wraith King and the signature Clockwerk for Mag; before wrapping their draft up with AA. Alliance look to dominate the lane as they last pick Outworld Devourer.02:00 Team Empire0:0Alliance The top lane is shaping up to be a big tri on tri fight, with Alliance taking Tree, Withdoctor and WK up there against the Wisp/Gyro/AA trio. The kills could come fast and furious there.03:12 Team Empire3:3Alliance FIRST BLOOD! It goes to Empire this time, as Mag traps Bulldog's Doom in power cogs to set up the initial kill - although he dies to tower damage after, but it's a worthwhile trade. Empire follow it up nicely as they turn a fight up to kill Wraith King, but everything begins to fall apart with a big fight with multiple deaths that Alliance get the better of.06:00 Team Empire3:3Alliance Bulldog dodges a smoke gank on his lane by the skin off his teeth, which also uses up the DK Ultimate. Alliance try to use the space to kill Gyro but to no avail. Mag comes in but misses his hookshot and in the end Empire can only kill off a Witch Doctor. DK admist all this gets bottom tower, while denying his doomed AA teammate.09:00 Team Empire5:5Alliance Empire having a much better early game here, killing off Loda and securing the top tier one tower off the back off the kill, although they do lose Mag elsewhere.12:00 Team Empire5:5Alliance Empire secure the T1 mid, denying Alliance the map control they abuse so well - however, Mag finds himself dying again admist a relocate gank, getting doomed up as Bulldog makes a big escape.14:00 Team Empire7:6Alliance Both teams converge at Alliance's top tier two, with Doom being popped on DK purely to force Empire away so they can heel up the damage. Empire turn around though for a bold wrap around! It goes well intiailly, getting Treant and the Wraith King reincarnate, with Alliance unable to turn it aroudn as Wisp makes a clutch relocate, before Mag runs back to try and save him, only thwarted by a clutch WD cask. The tower lives and Treant will set about healing it up.16:00 Team Empire11:7Alliance BIG FIGHT! Just like that, this game has turned massively. Both teams were hanging around the bottom tier two where the fight broke out and admist a huge ice blast/call down combo, Alliannce go from five heroes to none in seconds - it's a teamwipe. It's a tier two bottom. It's Roshan. Empire now in control.16:00 Team Empire11:7Alliance BIG FIGHT! Just like that, this game has turned massively. Both teams were hanging around the bottom tier two where the fight broke out and admist a huge ice blast/call down combo, Alliance go from five heroes to none in seconds - it's a teamwipe. It's a tier two bottom. It's Roshan. Empire now in control.19:00 Team Empire11:7Alliance The tier two middle is the next one to fall for the Swedes, although it does get denied - that leaves the TI3 champions with no outer towers, while having taken down zero towers themselves. How do they pull themselves back into this game?21:00 Team Empire12:8Alliance Well, a gank to kill off ALWAYSWANNAFLY might help, stemming the bleeding a little bit. They can't claim a tower from it though - it's hard for them to show up alone due to relocates. It's also tough to show as five after that last teamfight loss.23:00 Team Empire12:8Alliance A fight breaks out just outside of the middle highround, right after Empire take the last outer tower, managing to bait out overgrowth while killing off Wraith King's reinacarnated. When it looks like Empire might be staying too long with DK's aegis popped, Mag force staffs him after the respawn and drops a great cogs to cut off any chase. Empire aren't leaving highground yet though...25:00 Team Empire15:10Alliance ...which means we get a highground push and an even trade - Alliance lose three heroes, but they do get a kill on Gyrocopter and a massive OD ultimate also forces the Russians back. The tower lives, but Empire will almost certainly be back soon.27:00 Team Empire15:10Alliance And here they are for a renewed push, although a wayward hook/cogs combo from Mag forces Empire back a little - every second wasted is allowing Treant to heal the tower even more. They finally leave, giving Alliance a chance to attempt a smoke gank, although they don't find anybody in the dire jungle.29:40 Team Empire20:10Alliance A lull in the game sees Alliance return to farming up, but Empire find a Roshan kill in the meantime and get the Aegis up on DK again before returning to the Swedish base. Bottom tier three is the target this time though and wow, great play from Empire! s4 gets caught by a force staff into the whole of Empire and melts to the damage and is forced to buyback. But it's not enough, Empire have too much in the fight and kill him again, claiming three other heroes in the meantime and Alliance call it there. Empire have levelled up the series 1-1 and we are game three bound!Team Empire 1-1 Alliance Best of 3 - Live ReportGame Three SoonPREGAME Team Empire0:0Alliance So, Empire turn it around in game two with an impressive performance - they got off to a great start and didn't stop pushing and pressuring until the gg came out. That means we have a game three now - who do you fancy to win this time and progress to the next round?DRAFT Team Empire0:0Alliance Well, Empire and Alliance use their first picks for heroes who delivered wins - Empire go for Wisp and Alliance return to the trusty Bulldog Prophet, although this time they follow up with Bane. Empire use their second pick for a Storm Spirit! After using almost all their bonus time, too - so they'll have to pick fast now. Alliance go for a signature Chen, alongside Tidehunter - perhaps prompting Empire to think about thinks, as they go for a Rubick. Morphling is their follow up to that. Alliance then show their hand fully with the last pick - it's push and its Pugna. Empire's last pick will be Clockwerk.2:30 Team Empire0:0Alliance A nice start for Alliance as EGM is able to secure a double damage rune from the off to do some good zoning out. s4 will be running that Tidehunter mid against a combined Wisp/Morphling, with Akke's Chen in the jungle, joined by Pugna and Bane up top against Clockwerk. The bottom lane will be Bulldog's Prophet against Storm Spirit and Rubick. Chen finds a Wildskin, with the tornado being a huge nusiance for Resolut1on the Morphling.3:20 Team Empire0:0Alliance The misery continues for Morphling as Akke now sends a Harpy into the mid-lane. As a mid, you couldn't really have a worse combination of creeps thrown at you in succsesion, Wisp or no Wisp.5:00 Team Empire0:1Alliance First blood! Mag gets killed on the top lane, which is about the worst death Empire could take as it really opens up the tower for Pugna to push - which he does, with it falling. That's a five minute tower although Rubick does get the deny. Morphling has recovered a little mid, forcing s4 to defensively ravage in order to save his life.9:00 Team Empire0:4Alliance The power of Pugna - Loda sets up camp at the Empire T1 middle and it's melted down in no time, followed up by two pick offs on Wisp and Rubick respectively as they try to push towers, with Pugna turning his attention to the bottom tier one. Storm Spirit pursues and Pugna does a massive chunk of damage, forcing Storm to make a great escape. Vanskor isn't as lucky though as he gets fiend's gripped. Tier one bottom now dies and Alliance are really picking up steam.13:00 Team Empire1:4Alliance Roshan is the target for Alliance and although Empire are fully aware, but unable to do anything to stop it and Pugna is given the Aegis. It's a 5k gold lead and 2.5k experience - Alliance off to a great start, although Empire finally get on the scoreboard with a pick off on Bulldog.14:50 Team Empire1:7Alliance Massive team-fight win for Alliance - Empire try to go for a relocate gank on Bulldog but the Swedes turn it around with ease, a three-hero ravage means three kills for no loss and a bottom tier two, as they sit outside the tier three now. They have the Pugna ward and mek, using it to take half the health away - although Empire sneak two tier ones meanwhile. Alliance return to the tier three and chip away a chunk more health before fully retreating.17:50 Team Empire1:7Alliance Big double pick off on Mag's Clock and the Storm Spirit by Alliance and the tier two middle is toast. Their eyes turn to that tier three bottom again, claiming it fully this time. Huge ravage now! Rubick has to buy back, Wisp dies in exchange for just Chen. But Alliance don't leave and kill off Mag and finish off the racks. Great exchange for Alliance.22:00 Team Empire2:14Alliance While Empire try to split the map, Alliance goes for the objectives taking the last remaining outer tower of Empire at the top lane. At this point Empire is falling dangerously behind and with Alliance continuing their pickoffs with deadly efficiency, it's not looking great for the Russians.23:50 Team Empire4:16Alliance A last ditch effort from Empire repels the enemy, but they still lose their second barracks of the game. Not much can stop Alliance at this point, but they play it safe and go for a Roshan.27:40 Team Empire4:18Alliance Alliance group up for the deadly blow. Both teams clash right outside the Radiant base and even as the Rubick manages to steal the Death Ward from Pugna, they are unable to push back the Alliance. GG is called and Alliance takes a well-deserved game 3 victory and will face Cloud 9 in the winners’ bracket finals. Alliance takes the series 2-1 over Team EmpireThis article was written by
Jamie Donovan, a joinDOTA writer.SohNata first experienced Dota during the TI3 finals and has been hooked ever since. A massive fan of European Dota, he's probably one of the people with more tickets than wins.Location: Warwickshire, UKFollow him on @SohNata.
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