After the initial winner bracket matches, it will be Evil Geniuses and Secret facing off in the winner bracket final tomorrow. Despite putting up a fight, both Team Tinker and Natus Vincere were defeated and bumped down into the loser bracket.
The groupstage of StarLadder X LAN finals is now over, and the teams have been joined their respective brackets for the playoffs. While the top-two teams of the first group were clear (EG and Team Tinker), tiebreaker matches were required in Group B to break the three-way tie between Na'Vi, Virtus.Pro and IAP.XctN. In the end, Na'Vi managed to prevail and secure their spot in the Upper Bracket.
However, despite fighting hard to earn a spot in the uppers, Natus Vincere could not get through the full three game series versus Evil Geniuses and were knocked down into the lower bracket where they will play against the winner of Cloud9 and Virtus.pro. On the other side of the bracket, Secret Team continued their undeated streak at the event by taking out Team Tinker two to zero.
Team Tinker vs Secret Team - 0:2
Game One
Both teams selected familiar lineups, heroes with strong ultimates that can change the tide of the teamfight. Team Tinker applied severe pressure on s4's Puck from the earliest stages of the game, aiming to shut him down so that he cannot protect KuroKy's Antimage. While s4 met his maker several times through BuLba's Ancient Seal, KuroKy managed to find impressive amounts of farm and almost get 6-slotted by minute 35. However, Team Tinker's smart teamfight positioning caused a lot of trouble to Secret, especially with s4 and BigDaddy getting picked-off before they can unleash proper ultimates. The breakthrough for Secret Team came a little over 40 minutes into the game, when a masterful bait by BigDaddy resulted in a 5-1 victory and two lanes of barracks for Puppey's boys. From that point, it was very difficult for Team Tinker to get back into the game. While they did manage to defend their last remaining set of barracks for about ten minutes, they eventually crumbled against KuroKy's massive physical damage.
Game Two
The second match between Team Tinker and Secret Team was one of the most even battles of the tournament so far, with both teams earning and losing their advantage every two minutes. As the two opponents deployed a massive arsenal of nukes, each bad decision resulted in a lost teamfight -this phenomenon extended the game significantly. However, Secret Team possessed the pushing power of Bone Fletcher and Death Prophet, two weapons that showed their impact during the 32nd minute when Secret Team managed to decimate Tinker's barracks despite the mediocre teamfight result. The lane disadvantage was the beginning of the end for Team Tinker, as they were forced to contain Secret's split-pushing attempts instead for reaching the required objectives. Abusing their hard-earned map control, both KuroKy and s4 enhanced their inventory quite a lot. Tinker made their final stand by minute 44, but they were unable to save their bottom barracks to save their life. The GG just seconds later.
Natus Vincere vs Evil Geniuses - 1:2
Game One
The Ukrainians deployed their favorite Io-Gyrocopter duo along with the crowd-pleasing Pudge for Dendi. Evil Geniuses answered with a teamfight-oriented strategy with Enigma, Brewmaster and Ember Spirit receiving most of the farm. The earlier stages of the game were farm from ideal for the Americans, as UNiVeRsE was forced to abandon his lane before hitting level 3, allowing Dendi to get free gold and XP. The situation was rather similar for the midlane, as Io and Gyrocopter successfully zoned out Arteezy's Ember Spirit. As expected, Na'Vi proceeded to push as five, and EG got forced to team up as well without the required experience and gold on their cores. XBOCT was never in any real danger, and his farm quickly got out of control. The Americans attempted to force a few teamfights in a desperate attempt to regain some map control, but it was just a matter of time until Na'Vi seals the deal.
Game Two
Evil Geniuses went with a full pushing line-up, consisting of a core Venomancer, DP and Jakiro with a support Abaddon to provide sustainability. Na'Vi answered with a support Alchemist and a Zeus mid to have some sort of anti-push, but EG executed their pushes very strategically, taking down towers one by one with great patience. Na'Vi did find pick-offs in the early game, but the North-Americans were able to farm up quite nicely on all heroes and the natural tankiness of their line-up made it close to impossible for Na'Vi to kill any of them. EG kept pushing and good teamfight execution when breaching highground secured them the victory, equalizing against Na'Vi.
Game Three
EG once more had a strong pushing element, but they added a bit of pickoff potential with a Weaver and an Ogre Magi. The core Ogre was able to create a lot of space early on, grabbing crucial kills together with the supports. Na'Vi's line-up failed to find proper footing and struggled in teamfights as they lacked proper lockdown outside the Batrider Lasso. EG played out their usual pushing style, being rather patient and tactical in their approach while controlling most parts of the map. The North-Americans showed better coordination and execution and with their early tower lead, EG played it out cool and secured themselves the win.
Remaining matches
Saturday, October 25
10.00 CEST - Cloud9 vs VP (LB round 1, bo1)
11.45 CEST - Alliance vs IAP.XctN (LB round 1, bo1)
13.30 CEST - (Alliance/IAP) vs Tinker (LB round 2, bo1)
15.15 CEST - (Cloud9/VP) vs Na`Vi (LB round 2, bo1)
18.00 CEST - EG vs Secret (WB final, bo3)
Sunday, October 26
11.00 CET - Lower Bracket, round 3, bo3
15.00 CET - Lower Bracket, final, bo3
19.00 CET - Grand Final, bo5
The team from the winner bracket will start the grand final with a 1-0 advantage
