From the get-go, both Puck and Dark Seer take heavy harassment from their opponents. Dark Seer manages to stay on his feet and farm slowly with Ion Shell, but Puck gets almost no experience as Vengeful Spirit chases him around and away from creeps.
This means that both Invoker and Weaver have been given free-farm, to all extents and purposes. While Weaver can use farm better in the mid-game, and Invoker with an early Phase-Janggo is a very mobile, potent hero. |1:48| As expected, not only is Burning's Obsidian Destroyer out-laned by Windrunner, but is now the victim of a gank. Enchantress gets the first blood, and Windrunner is allowed to further establish dominance. Burning needs to exercise extreme caution while laning mid, or else we will die many more times. Obsidian Destroyer gets bullied high-school style: 4 on 1.
|2:14| DK gets their first kill, with a lucky Cold Snap stun on Puck preventing his escape. He dashes into the bush, where Chen is waiting, and slams Puck in the face with some pure damage.
Strategically, Puck dug his own grave by waiting too long for his Illusory Orb. While extra distance would improve his chances of escaping, missing the Jaunt due to that critical mini-stun was what sentenced him to death anyway. |3:00| In the bottom lane, Puck is still level 1, while Invoker is casually farming on level 4. This is due to great harassment by Vengeful Spirit, as well as Puck's recent death. Invoker has no worries of Puck getting an early Blink Dagger now, and has complete lane dominance.
In WE's long lane, Weaver is farming without any hassles either. However, Dark Seer is doing a far better job than Puck with his farming and leveling, which will in turn allow him to be a more solid supporting hero in the mid-game. This is to be expected, as Dark Seer is a far better trade-off laner than Puck, and was actually the original "trade-off lane" hero. |4:30| For some reason, DK seems to really hate Puck. Maybe it's his irritating scritchy voice. Maybe they have a deep, long-running family grudge against Mofi. Maybe they just like to kick a man while he's down. Whatever the reason, Vengeful Spirit and Chen are further denying Puck experience and gold by double-pulling creeps through the bush. Poor Puck....
Jokes aside, this is an interesting strategical choice. Due to the massive level difference, Invoker could easily out-lane and out-harass Puck from hereonin. It might be wiser for DK to start ganking Windrunner, to not only ease up Obsidian Destroyer's lane, but to also place more pressure on WE. |4:50| A great use of Astral Imprisonment renders WE's gank on Harbringer ineffective. However, this has pushed him far back, to a safe point in the lane, and he cannot farm while three heroes are hungrily waiting on his doorstep.
Something interesting to note, however, is that Destroyer is beginning to lane against Windrunner without getting out-last-hit. This is due to the Astral Imprisonment spam, which not only boosts his base damage greatly, but also acts as a damage reducer for Intelligence heroes like Windrunner. |5:40| DK's bottom lane makes a rapid transition from farming to pushing. With his established lane dominance, Invoker can readily push against the comparatively weak Faerie Dragon. With Vengeful Spirit to help out, the Scourge bottom tower falls.
While DK may be aiming for late-game, taking towers at this stage is strategically wise. Not only does it provide team gold which will help them through the mid-game stage, but it also applies pressure on WE and forces them to choose between ganking the already-weakened carry, or focusing on the pushing Invoker and co. |7:07| A Smoke-gank on Destroyer is successful, bringing his improved laning to a halt and setting his score to 0/2. As an equalizer, WE capitalizes on the empty lane and takes the mid tower swiftly.
The loss of this tower is actually not a huge issue. While WE now has an extra 200 gold each, the lane has become far safer for Destroyer to farm in. While towers should not be conceded unthinkingly, this incident may well work out partially in Destroyer's favour. |7:26| While WE has returned to their posts after the Obsidian Destroyer kill, Invoker, Chen and Vengeful Spirit amp up the pressure, taking the second Scourge bottom tower. This further associates the need for WE to choose between ganking the carry, or bringing the fight to the pushing group. |8:45| Due to the new safety of his lane, Burning picks up the pace, swiftly gaining on Weaver's farm of 48. |9:14| WE now takes advantage of their long lane, and pushes hard to take the Sentinel top tower. Once they disperse, DK attempts a counterpush while WE tries to gank the Destroyer mid. They are not very subtle about it, however, and Destroyer escapes to the bottom lane unharmed.
Note that DK has taken this pressure to an even more tangible level. WE must either choose to go for Harbringer, or Invoker and co. Both these groups are on the other side of the map, which not only makes one safe while the other is targeted, but will waste WE's massively if they are unsuccessful with either. This is a distinct type of 4-protect-1 carry strategy, where instead of bodyguarding the carry, the four other heroes instead make a target on the other side of the map than cannot, or should not, be ignored. |11:00| Burning's notorious farming power is really picking up the pace now, as he overtakes Weaver in farm despite having two deaths.
This alone shows the power of a solid last-hitting hero like Destroyer, combined with a well executed 4-protect-1 strategy. |12:30| A crucial spell interaction assists WE and results in two DK deaths. Invoker attempts to Cyclone an Ensared Windrunner, in order to disable her. Unfortunately for DK, Ensnared units cannot be Cycloned, allowing Windrunner to release her spells and cycle back into the battle without taking critical damage. This fight also shows a lot of foresight from WE, as Enchantress had begun to flank DK long before there was any initiation.
With Invoker dead, there is a core hero missing in DK's strategy. Their response to this, then, is to group Destroyer with the rest of the team until Invoker returns, so as to protect him as best they can. Due to the increase in roaming and teamfights, as well as core items coming into play, this game has made the transition from early to mid. The critical hero, Weaver, has a score of 1/0, with 65 creeps, and currently wields a Vanguard. The 1,200 gold he has implies he is indeed going for Radiance next. Harbringer, on the other hand, has two deaths, but 70 creeps. Equipped with Treads and Staff of Wizardry, it seems that he will be trying to get a Force Staff up to provide some means of escape and mobility. Both these heroes are at level 9.
Force Staff may seem like an odd item on a carry such as Obsidian Destroyer, as it is generally a utility item wielded by heroes such as Invoker, Windrunner, Puck and Batrider. However, it is a core item on Destroyer for many reasons. Firstly, it provides a nice "stepping stone" DPS item, increasing his damage by 20 and his mana by 130 (therefore increasing his orb by a further potential 11 damage), while also providing a much needed escape mechanism. Due to his fragility, and the nature of a 4-protect-1 strategy, Destroyer needs an escape mechanism on him at all times. Force Staff allows him to dodge area-of-effect spells, as well as quickly get a burst ahead of opponents.
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|14:40| After the teamfight at 12:30, there is an extended lull in the game. Both teams are using this time to farm: DK so as to survive mid-game, and WE so as to get that Radiance up as soon as possible. Destroyer and Weaver are neck-and-neck when it comes to farm, with Destroyer up on creeps and towers but Weaver up on K/D ratio.
Personally, I think DK should be ganking now. With Invoker with Phase and Janggo, as well as Chen and Vengeful Spirit with their disables and auras, forms a formidable aggressive unit. While they will be hard-pressed to stop Weaver, they should be trying to destroy his support by killing Windrunnner or Puck. |16:30| WE tries to push the top lane, but is easily repelled by DK.
This was a mistake. Weaver does not have his Radiance up and by pushing the lane, WE has made his job all the harder. Their goal is to get that Radiance and then slam towers, not the other way around. |18:30| An over-eager initiation wastes Puck's ultimate, rendering WE greatly weakened in their ability to conduct a teamfight. DK capitalizes on this and swiftly takes the mid tower without retribution.
DK is throwing a real spanner in the works right now: far from being defensive during this supposedly vulnerable stage, they are making full use of Invoker's great early game in order to keep the pressure up. WE seems to be struggling with regards to how they should respond, and it looks like DK's gambit with placing Destroyer mid might just pay off. Puck gets over-excited and releases an early ultimate.
|19:30| Poor scouting from WE catches the attention of creeps, and tips off Destroyer of the incoming gank. WE really blew it here: if they had gotten a successful gank on DK's primary carry they could really have halted their aggression and turned it back upon them. Fortunately for them it's not completely over, and they manage to easily take the outer bottom tower. |20:13| Another terrible ultimate from Puck robs WE of their teamfight power yet again, as the Faerie Dragon manages to capture a grand total of zero heroes in his Dream Coil.
This also displays how useful an item like Force Staff is on an intelligence carry, providing both DPS and a very useful escape and dodge mechanism. |20:30| A clutch save on the Dark Seer from both Chen and Vengeful Spirit not only save the hero, but also allow DK to counter-initiate with Sanity's Eclipse. The three heroes caught in it's AoE are reduced to less than half-HP as the AoE deluge continues. A vital Centaur Khan stun later, and Weaver is dead.
A chase ensures, and an over-hasty Vengeful Spirit doesn't pay attention to her health bar, giving Windrunner a delicious, free kill. She doesn't have long to savour it, however, and is pulped by Destroyer's pure damage.
This goes to show how vital it is to have the threat of teamfight power. With Dream Coil on cooldown, DK knew they could counter-initiate with everything they had, which gave them the boldness to dive in there and kill WE's primary carry. It also goes to show how powerfully Obsidian counters Weaver: with such massive burst damage, even a small chain-stun is enough to send Weaver to his doom. Dark Seer survives the initiation thanks to his team.
|23:15| in the post-teamfight lull, Obsidian Destroyer streaks ahead of Weaver in farm, ending up 35 creeps ahead. With his Ultimate Orb and 2,700 gold, a sheepstick is literally minutes away. Weaver, on the other hand, doesn't even have his Sacred Relic. Things are looking very bad for WE in terms of the original game plans. |24:30| DK takes the middle second tower unopposed. WE wisely concedes it: without their Radiance they have very little to counter the raw DPS of the Destroyer.
Something interesting to note here is the bonus pure damage Destroyer deals to both illusions and Enchantresses creeps (which count as summons due to their expiration timer). With a potential bonus 400 pure damage, Enchantresses creeps are dying in a couple of hits. |26:00| Weaver gets his Relic as Destroyer gets his Sheepstick. The main divergence in Destroyer's item build is to choose between an early Bloodstone or an early Guinsoos. While a Bloodstone allows him to enter teamfights in the mid-game, in my opinion the Hex is far more vital as a counter to the Weaver. Guinsoos also syngerizes with Sanity's Eclipse far better, and is more ideal towards a late-game Destroyer. This is a very solid indication of who is currently winning. Weaver must also be exceptionally cautious of that Hex: 3.5 seconds is all DK needs to kill him outright. |27:00| Against all possible odds, Windrunner survives a five-man gank through a fantastic Enchant-Stun from Enchantress. Lightning-fast reflexes like this makes games amazingly intense and interesting, and I can bet DK are scratching their heads right now and wondering how on earth Windrunner is still alive.
In other news, Weaver now has his Radiance. WE needs to make the most of this now, as their window of opportunity is closing quickly. Windrunner owes Enchantress one.
|28:10| WE takes advantage of DK's push top to kill Roshan and push mid. This is a clever strategical decision, as they need a big teamfight to go their way so they can push to rax. They do, however, need to watch top and make sure DK doesn't get a rax themselves. Weaver gets the Aegis and they mass-teleport top. |28:50| Puck wastes his ultimate yet again. Despite having Aegis, WE has lost a huge intimidation spell, as DK can now push up the ramp without fear of getting trapped by Dream Coil. |29:00| Teamfight time! With Puck's ultimate on cooldown, and Weaver venturing outside the base, DK strike. Weaver's Aegis is used up in seconds via Destroyer's Sanity's Eclipse, while Enchantress, Maiden and Puck each take massive damage. Enchantress and Crystal Maiden die quickly to the follow-up, while the Radiance on Weaver starts returning some damage to DK. It doesn't last long, however: a Hex and three hits later and DK has another kill. DK takes the melee rax, two more heroes (Enchantress and Puck) and finally the ranged rax.
Let's analyse the three big mistakes made in this fight. Firstly, the premature use of Dream Coil robbed WE of a good counter-initiating spell, which allowed DK to be bolder and more aggressive. Secondly, Weaver was out at the front when WE knew that they were vulnerable. This resulted in a bold initiation, robbing him of his Aegis. In this game, with so much nuking power in DK, Weaver should be played as a hit-and-run hero, who initiates in follow-up and cycles in and out of the teamfight. The final mistake was Weaver's choice to stay and fight. With the fight 5v3, losing the barracks was almost inevitable, and Weaver should have instead retreated to avoid giving DK another kill. Weaver < Pure damage
With the battles now centering around towers and barracks, as well as the big cores up on both primary carries, this game has made its final stage into an early "late-game" stage. Obsidian Destroyer is outcarrying Weaver hugely right now: while their creep scores are almost the same at 172 and 174 respectively, Destroyer is bringing far more to the table. DK is executing their strategy well, and is even overpowering WE during the phase where they should have been strongest. WE really needs a clutch teamfight victory to have any chance at all here.
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|32:20| WE manages to keep a middle-lane push at bay using their one big advantage: lots of long-ranged AoE nukes over multiple heroes. This lets them defend while not putting themselves at huge risk. |33:15| A great swap-silence, combined with a ward from Vengeful Spirit, results in another quick death for Weaver and Crystal Maiden. The middle base tower falls, as Weaver buys back. WE manages to counter-attack effectively, chasing Destroyer away while killing all four remaining heroes.
Despite this admirable defense, I fear that this may be a case of "too little, too soon". WE might have this victory, but DK is looking more and more threatening by the minute. Another thing to note is how powerful Dream Coil is when used correctly, as it was influential in trapping the DK heroes in the Scourge base. |36:10| Another good swap allows DK to initiate into the Scourge base, killing Windrunner and Crystal Maiden in the process, shortly followed by Enchantress. They take the barracks mid, and cycle through to the bottom, quickly unlocking Mega Creeps. As their final ranged barracks falls, WE calls, giving the victory to DK.
This teamfight had little to do with WE's mistakes, and more to do with the huge DPS and mobility DK has right now. It's very hard to fight against a team that both deals huge damage, and can dance around you with ease. |