The Phantom Strikes
The first series of the day saw Vici Gaming take on the fan-favourite Old But Gold; however, the CIS squad simply could not stand up against their Chinese opponents in the Semifinal.
Game One was a stomp. Vici held OBG to only 7 kills as the Chinese side maintained the lead the entire game, absolutely crushing any OBG players when fights were attempted. On top of this, Zhang 'Eurus' Chengjun went absolutely ballistic on Phantom Assassin, finishing the match 19-0-8, a KDA that more than doubled OBG's entire kill score.
Game Two was the type of battle royale one would expect from a CIS Dota team. In 45 minutes there was an absurd 80 kills, with the net worth lead constantly switching back and forth between the two teams. The lategame was particularly crazy as both teams exchanged huge teamfight wins and base defences. Sergey 'God' Bragin's Dragon Knight had a very strong showing, allowing OBG to win a few key fights almost entirely on his hero's damage output; however, it was again Paparazi on Terrorblade who would not be denied. In the end Old But Gold simply could not stand against the Soul Keeper and they conceded after 45 wild minutes.
Gambit Clips Envy's Penguins
The second Semifinal of the Final Day was a show of force by AS Monaco Gambit, who handily dispatched Jacky 'EternaLEnVy' Mao and his test 123 in under an hour.
Game One featured the only lead Flying Penguins would have all series, and it lasted a mere 13 minutes. After this point Gambit took over, taking the better engagements and moving around the map in a smarter, more purposeful manner. Flying Penguins were helpless to stop Gambit as they took objective after objective, finally claiming the ancient at 31 minutes.
Game Two was an insane 20 minute beatdown that saw Gambit hold Envy's side to a rather sad 6 kills. Gambit utterly destroyed Flying Penguins in every facet of the game, from laning to map control to objectives, while Nikita 'Daxak' Kuzmin's Meepo grew out of control in terms of farm. After a late teamfight loss, the game and the tournament was all but over for Flying Penguins.
Vici Gaming Undeniable in the Grand Finals
Despite how good Gambit was looking leading up to this point in the tournament, they were little match for what Vici brought to the table in the Grand Finals. Not only did the Chinese squad look incredibly prepared for all of Gambit's picks, but they executed their strategies with a ruthless efficiency in all three games.
In Game One Gambit lost every single lane, making it very hard to keep any kind of presence on the map. Zeng 'Ori' Jiaoyang was putting in a dominant display on Necrophos, and to make matters worse, Paparazi was again on Phantom Assassin and he was given all the time in the world to farm. After a lost teamfight Gambit called the GG at 25 minutes, having only secured 3 kills.
Game Two was more of the same. Vici Gaming had an explosive start, again winning every lane and jumping out to an early net worth lead. Paparazi, once again on Phantom Assassin, was farming consistently and Gambit could do nothing to stop him. Ori stepped up his game even more, going 8-2-8 on Puck, ensuring that Gambit could never get a foothold. This time the CIS team was held to only 6 kills while Vici cruised to another 25 minute victory.
In Game Three Gambit finally showed some resilience. Although the match started in favour of Vici, Gambit fought back, taking a few key teamfights thanks to strong initaition on Aleksander 'Immersion' Khmelevskoi's Eartshaker. However, in the midst of the momentum shift, Ding 'Dy' Cong pulled off an obscene support play during a critical teamfight which stopped Earthshaker's Echo Slam and turned the engagement for Vici.
After this the Chinese team was firmly back in control, slowly squelching all of the life out of Gambit as they methodically built up farm and took objectives. After the valiant but failed high ground defence, Gambit Esports called the GG at 44 minutes.
With the tournament victory, Vici Gaming have qualified for the DreamLeague Season 11 Major.
StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor Grand Champions - @ViCi_Gaming! Congratulations!#dota2 #sldota2 #KievMinor #SLIMinor pic.twitter.com/0KYiuerLMS
— StarLadder Dota 2 (@dotasltv) March 10, 2019
Can Vici Gaming compete with the top teams at the DreamLeague S11 Major?
Photo Credit - Vici Gaming Twitter
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