posted by Malystryx.GDS,
The third day of the Shanghai Major was the best so far, with all of today's games thrilling to behold. Out of the ashes of Alliance and OG rise Complexity and Fnatic who both go through to the final six.


Historic victory for Fnatic and SEA overall
It was an incredible day for results just one day after all of the Chinese teams were eliminated. Int Fnatic who surprised in the groupstages by finishing second in group B, were exiled to the lower-bracket after losing to us Evil Geniuses 2-0 in the first round of the playoffs. However, a 1-0 victory over Newbee and a remarkable performance today against eu OG, has secured them a place in the final 6 of the Shanghai Major.

The highest ever placement for an SEA team at a Valve event was Mushi and Ohaiyo's Orange eSports at TI3, and ironically the coach who has been helping Fnatic at the Shanghai Major, my Chan 'Xtinct' Zhan Leong, was part of that roster. As it stands there are two "SEA" teams in the top 6, and Fnatic will face the other one kr MVP Phoenix* in the next round for a slot in the final 4.




OG switch up NoTail's heroes with Silencer and Zeus
dk Johan 'BigDaddyN0tail' Sundstein has appeared to be off his game this tournament, and in previous matches where opponents have shut down jo Amer 'Miracle-' Al-Barkawi, OG have struggled. OG came into the Shanghai MAjor as the reigning champions but it appears teams are slowly working out how to deal with OG's strategy of 4-protect-Miracle. "Dota isn't an easy game," said NoTail after their games against Secret and VP. "Thanks for all the support and sorry to ours and my fans for being non-interactive at the venue."

In the first and third game of the series against Fnatic today, OG decided to give NoTail a less farm-intensive mid / support, something OG have toyed with in the past. Miracle and NoTail often switch roles depending on the strategy, and this unpredictability was one of their strengths when they were starting out last year.

In game 1 he played Silencer and in game 3 he played Zeus. NoTail has not played Silencer on 6.86 (or 6.85) so far and this was only his second game on Zeus. Unfortunately the match versus Fnatic was statistically dk Johan 'BigDaddyN0tail' Sundstein's worst series of the tournament, going 1-7 on Drow Ranger in Game 2 and 0-7 on Zeus in Game 3.

OG's victories seem to have become more and more reliant on the performances and Miracle and il Tal 'Fly' Aizik, which was perhaps more noticable in game 2 when the duo managed to salvage what should have led to a 2-0 win for Fnatic. Fly and Miracle helped force the draw but in the third game OG seemed a world away from Fnatic.

OG gave us some memorable moments at the Shanghai Major (Image: @StarGame_US


28-4 - A formidable victory by Fnatic in the third game
The third game was a crushing defeat, 28-4 the scoreline in a 29 minute game. Fnatic's newest player my Yeik Nai 'MidOne' Zheng went 14-0 on Outworld Devourer, and OG's squishier heroes did not survive. dk Andreas 'Cr1t-' Nielsen Earth Spirit was not as impactful as expected, ending with 0-8, and overall OG's draft could not stand up against Fnatic's. Mushi and MidOne's GPM both exceeded 600 and three of Fnatic managed to end the game with no deaths. This was a superb showing by Fnatic who could go on to place in the top 3.






Complexity dare to test fate with Bulldog Nature's Prophet
Complexity finished last in Group D but took a game off Evil Geniuses and eliminated LGD Gaming. Their match against se Alliance was to be their first bo3 in the lower-bracket. After losing the opening game with se Rasmus 'Chessie' Blomdin on Nature's Prophet, Complexity decided to do what many teams have been warned not to do; let se Henrik 'AdmiralBulldog' Ahnberg play Nature's Prophet.

However, Complexity not only left Nature's Prophet in the pool for Alliance to pick him, they did so two games in a row and won both. Their counter to Prophet's presence was se Simon 'Handsken' Haag's Io relocate in game 2 and 3. All five of Complexity's heroes in those matches had a disable and the team synergy was top notch.

The former Alliance carry se Rasmus 'Chessie' Blomdin was in top shape in the last two games, and in general it was Complexity's 3 new Swedish additions who secured them a magnificent victory against a top European side. Although he was the leading man in game 1 on Zeus, se Gustav 's4' Magnusson's Brewmaster did not impact game 3, which is surprising considering it is his 6th most played hero and he maintains a 70% win average with him. Much like OG, Alliance were not poor, it was just their opponents were better on the day. Alliance vs Complexity is definitely a series to revisit.





The tournament continues...
Today's results see Alliance and OG leave the competition with a top 8 finish, and Fnatic and Complexity progress to the final 6. Only two days remain in the $3 million event, but finally talk is focused on the games and not the drama.



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