The first day of Star Series IX LAN finals has reached its conclusion, with Team DK and EG topping their respective groups. The games continue tomorrow with the two remaining matches of each group, followed by the opening round of the playoffs.
It has been a busy day for the eight participants of the offline Star Series IX finals. Each team played a total of two matches today, and they will get a chance to play one more game before the conclusion of the group stage tomorrow.
Group A : With two victories against Empire and Alliance, Team DK dominated their group pretty convincingly, securing an Upper Bracket playoff spot. On the other hand, the newcomers MVP.Phoenix were not so lucky, as they lost both their matches against the same teams. Alliance will face Team Empire tomorrow, and the match will determine the team that joins DK in the Upper Bracket.
Group B : Despite playing with a stand-in player, Evil Geniuses performed impressively well today, taking down both the defending champion Na'Vi and RoX.KIS on the first day of the group stage. Invictus Gaming managed to take down RoX.KIS with ease, but they could not overcome the obstacle of Na'Vi. Thus, a three-way tie can occur tomorrow if iG defeats the Americans. In that case, extra tie-breaker matches will take place to declare the two teams that move to the Upper Bracket.
MVP.Phoenix vs Empire
Empire got a taste of their own medicine as MVP picked Silencer, and along with Death Prophet and the Orchid of Storm, "Silent" was indeed a fitting nickname for this game. Empire had no issues rolling over MVP early on but due to some good initiations by Storm supported by the Global Silence, MVP turned a few fights around and clawed their way back into the game. After struggling a bit and farming some key items, Empire were able to ultimately secure their victory.
Alliance aimed for a cookie-cutter push lineup consisting of Lycan, Chen and Shadow Shaman against Team DK's more teamfight oriented lineup consisting of powerful AOE heroes: Ancient Apparition, Centaur, Sand King and Puck. Alliance had a disadvantage during the early game but EGM's support Shadow Shaman allowed them to net key hero pickoffs just outside DK's base with no buyback, proceeding to take down DK's middle lane rax. However, things quickly turned south for Alliance as DK's strong AoE-lineup prevented any further pushes from Alliance and allowed their carry Burning to get really huge, eventually scoring DK the victory.
Evil Geniuses selected the risky but effective Wraith King for Zai, protecting Arteezy's favorite Outworld Devourer. Through several well-timed rotations, the Americans managed to take the early lead of the game, dominating the lane stage. However, Funn1k's solid Batrider initiation helped Na'Vi get back on their feet, winning several fights by assassinating Arteezy. However, despite all their momentum, Universe's Dark Seer turned the tides once again for Evil Geniuses, with several massive Vacuum-Wall combinations shattering the opposition. In the end, XBOCT and Dendi could not deal enough damage to take out both Arteezy and EternalEnVy, and EG claimed their first victory of the day.
RoX.KiS went for a line-up based on farming up during the first 15-20 minutes to tank up their core items before starting to five-man. However, the early-aggression and highly mobile heroes of iG never gave the Russian squad the space they needed. Before getting any Blink Daggers up, Rox could not turn the clashes around, and the game was over shortly thereafter.
Through their draft, it was obvious that Empire did not want to drag this game for too long, picking Lycan and Visage to focus on tower destruction. However, DK seemed well prepared to face this strategy, selecting heroes that are very difficult to dive, gank or push against. Despite a few careless deaths by BurNing, the Chinese squad managed to farm extremely well, overwhelming their opponents while they were hopelessly roaming the map to grab kills. With a very fat Spirit Bear, Necronomicons and Forge Spirits, DK managed to win a 5-1 teamfight by minute 28 to claim the top barracks, finishing the job six minutes later with a 23-9 score in their favor.
MVP.Phoenix vs Alliance
The Koreans selected an early teamfight hero roster with Slark and Doom Bringer. Alliance answered with Ember Spirit, Centaur and s4's favorite Magnus, aiming for massive AOE control and damage potential. MVP's heroes attempted to score early kills several times, but Alliance's supports were always there to save the day. With a very early Blink Dagger on s4, the Swedes were able to win several teamfights, building a big gold and experience lead. Despite some goofy miscommunications that offered some openings for MVP, Alliance controlled the map for the majority of the game's duration, getting their first victory of the day.
Turning their backs on history, Na'Vi selected a Naga Siren for Dendi, going against Ferrari_430's feared Invoker. With a very strong trilane, the Ukrainians forced iG to play very defensively. The lack of early ganks secured a solid experience lead for Na'Vi, allowing Funn1k's offlane Puck to create even more space for Dendi's Naga Siren. In the end, the overwhelming farming speed of the Radiance Naga cornered the Chinese, locking them inside their base with Luo's Luna being unable to react. It took only a few minutes for Na'Vi to seal the deal.
RoX.KIS opted for the Razor pick-up to counter Arteezy's Outworld Devourer, and Ancient Apparition to reduce the healing capabilities of Dazzle and Treant Protector. Despite the above 'counter-picks', the complete lack of reliable crowd control was the Achilles' heel for the Russians. Using Timbersaw and Luna, the Americans were able to overrun their enemies, resulting in another stomp against RoX.KIS today.
Tomorrow's schedule
08:00 CEST/02:00 EDT/14:00 SGT: 
Team Empire - vs - Alliance 
09:30 CEST/03:30 EDT/15:30 SGT: 
Team DK - vs - MVP.Phoenix 
11:00 CEST/05:00 EDT/17:00 SGT: 
Natus Vincere - vs - RoX.KiS
12:30 CEST/06:30 EDT/18:30 SGT: Invictus Gaming - vs - Evil Geniuses 
14:00 CEST/08:00 EDT/20:00 SGT: Tiebreaker 1 (if needed)
15:30 CEST/09:30 EDT/21:30 SGT: Tiebreaker 2 (if needed)
17:00 CEST/11:00 EDT/23:00 SGT: Tiebreaker 3 (if needed)
18:30 CEST/12:30 EDT/00:30 SGT: Winner's Bracket Round 1 Match 1 (BO3)
22:30 CEST/16:30 EDT/04:30 SGT: Winner's Bracket Round 1 Match 2 (BO3)
