Mineski crowned DAC Major champs! Jump from 9th to 4th in DPC

posted by Malystryx.GDS,

DAC 2018 was a wonderful event for SEA Dota as Mineski were crowned victors of the Major after a 5-game Grand Finals with LGD Gaming.

The DAC2018 Major was a glorious success for South-East Asian teams, as not only did two teams finish in the top 4, but

Mineski went on to win the event after a 3-2 victory over

PSG.LGD.

THe Pro Circuit Grand Finals have been quite underwhelming over the past few events, but the finale to the Chinese $1 million tournament lived up to the hype. It was the second time Mineski faced LGD and it was a match to remember.

MIneski and coach 71 with their prize (Photo by Perfect World)

In Game 1

Mineski had both of the Dueling Fates heroes in their draft, Pangolier and Dark Willow. Mineski had the early game on kills but all three lanes ended up quite even. Two costly deaths for Mushi however, set him back while

Wang Chun 'Ame' Yu's Phantom Assassin and

Yao 'Somnus' Lu's mid Tiny grew in stature and farm. Come mid game the frail draft of Mineski had no answer to PA and Tiny, especially with

Yang 'Chalice' Shenyi's Venomancer dropping them low with Poison Nova.

Mineski responded insanely well in game 2 with an almost flawless performance. Maybe's mid Shadow Fiend was once again picked apart, just like in LGD's groupstage match against TNC. With both Maybe and Fy losing mid and Chalice's Underlord unable to stop the combination of Mushi and Ninjaboogie's Gyro and Ancient Apparition both lane, LGD were left with just a small victory top lane thanks to Ame's Troll Warlord and XNova's Disruptor.

However, if LGD were only slightly behind in the first 10 minutes, they were miles ahead by 20 minutes following a series of awkward fights that led to them losing 8 heroes in the space of 2 minutes, including Maybe's Shadow Fiend.. twice. From then on it was full steam ahead for Mineski and LGD had no reply. Great response by Mineski to draw level at 1-1.

in Game 3, Mineski were unfortunate to concede and it was the closest of the three games up until that point. LGD brought out a similar strat to the one used in game 1, combining the AOE damage of Chalice's Venomancer, this time with the cleave damage of Kunkka and raw power of TerrorBlade, as opposed to Tiny/PA they used earlier in the Grand FInals. Mineski once again fell to the strat, with Maybe's double Daedelus on Kunnkka truly brutal. However, props have to go to

Xu 'Fy' Linsen's Clockwerk, who isolated Mushi's Gyro repeatedly. 2-1 to LGD Gaming.

In game 4 when LGD once again brought out PA and Tiny, this time with a Tidehunter instead of a Veno for Chalice, Mineski had had enough. Iceiceice on Pangolier went full sustain with Crimson Guard, Pipe of Insight and Guardian Greaves, while Mushi and Nana opted for pre-30 minute BKBs. LGD's strat which had got the best of game 1 and 3 was stopped dead in its tracks, and rather triumphantly.

By game 5 it was a fresh draft for both teams and was even all the way until around 35 minutes, when Mineski just simply would not die. Lovely set-ups by iceiceice on Magnus and Jabz' on Naga Siren made life relatively easy for Mushi's Lifestealer, the MVP hero of the game. At 43 minutes LGD were throwing themselves to defend their throne but Mineski would not stop, they were going to be Major champions, and LGD could not hold on. LGD's throne fell and Mineski were victorious.

Mineski jump from 9th to 4th in DPC Rankings
The DAC2018 is in fact Mineski's second Pro Circuit title, as they were winners of the PGL Open Bucharest Minor all the way back in October. With Mineski's four top 4 placements at Minors and now the DAC2018 1st place, they jump from 9th place all the way to 4th, knocking Newbee down to 5th.

Final Standings
1.

Mineski - $370,000
2.

PSG.LGD - $135,000
3.

Virtus.pro - $105,000
4.

TNC Predator - $85,000

Overall the biggest winner coming out of #DAC2018 is SEA, as their teams take 2 of the 4 DPC point places. More importantly show they can place top 4!
— Toby Dawson (@TobiWanDOTA) 7 April 2018

One highlight from LGD vs VP you won't want to miss
One highlight for viewers earlier on in the day was in game 3 of LGD's LB Final encounter with

Virtus.pro when

Yang 'Chalice' Shenyi took his team-mates on a Dark Rift ride straight into Roshan by using a dominated siege creep. Chaos ensued and in the words of TobiWan "crapped all over VP". LGD took down four of VP including their carry

Roman 'RAMZEs' Kushnarev and mid