It is a glorious conclusion to an amazing tournament in which we've witnessed the fall of old champions and the rise of brand new shining stars. Dota 2 just got better than ever before.
Game One:
The grand finals started with a speedy draft, CDEC not wanting to take their chances with a Techies chose to first ban them. Evil Geniuses got the chance to play their first Gyrocopter in the main event and surprised their opponents with a Skywrath Mage last pick to shut down the Chinese Winter Wyvern.
The actual game began in a disastrous way for Suma1L who got ganked three times in row in the first few minutes, CDEC doing what a lot of other teams have been doing, focusing to delay him as much as possible but meanwhile Fear and the supports were left to free farm and outlevel their opponents.
And the wonder - child of DotA 2 managed once again to pull out an incredible recovery (same way he did at DAC) by storming really fast the jungle to finish the fastest Orchid from the tournament.
CDEC continued to keep up their super aggressive playstyle but Fear beat them at their own game being one step ahead, anticipating their intentions he landed his Call Dawns perfectly three team fights in a row to secure three-four kills for his team.
The Skyrwrath last pick put CDEC in the impossibility to use the Winter Wyvern as Aui was only focusing her with his silence and nukes which enabled EG to take a really early 10k experience and gold lead. A deficit that CDEC weren't able to recover and that lost them the first game in 34 minutes.
Game Two:
The first two picks and bans went identical but as the draft continues CDEC focused Suma1L with their bans. EG’s last pick was Windranger for Suma1L but CDEC surprised the boys in blue with a unaccounted for Broodmother.
CDEC outplayed and outmaneuvered Evil Geniuses with the way they laned their heroes, sending Brood mid lane while what EG read as a support Leshrac turned to be a core pick for Shiki. EG were in big trouble right from the get go and although they did their best to recover after a really bad laning stage they ended up losing the game two to Brood’s split push power combined with extremely aggressive plays from the entire CDEC lineup.
Game Three:
The third game of the grand finals could be described as the best game of the entire International and it is definitely a must to watch one. EG played for the third time of the evening Gyrocopter while CDEC continued to open the bans with Techies. Suma1L received an Ember Spirit to play with and he impressed pushing the hero to its limits.
Although EG were the ones who won the laning phase CDEC forced the issue from the early game, grouping as five to take the tier one mid tower from EG. Fear showed Agressif he can rotate and play the same aggressive carry as him and used his teleports almost on cd to ensure multiple teamfights for his team.
CDEC never stopped to pressure EG even though they were a bit behind sometimes and as a result, the graphs were completely even 57 minutes into the game.
The turning point happened at the 55 minute mark when Suma1l nullified CDEC's initiation power with a Linken's Sphere. EG turned the tables on the Chinese, wiped them and took the first tier three tower.
It all came down to one single decisive teamfight and that one was better executed by Evil Geniuses who took the lead of the series after an insane one hour long game there.
Game Four:
Being one game away from winning the biggest DotA2 TOURNAMENT, ppd composed himself and drafted a perfect lineup that surprised CDEC with last pick Ancient Apparition.
The big wombo –combo EG had, a Naga Siren Song to setup the teamfights, a Gyro’s Call Dawn an AA ultimate on top of a Echo Slam always perfectly timed by Universe, was too much to handle for Agressif and his team.
The key moment of the final was the final fight in the Roshan Pit where CDEC felt comfortable enough to adventure in after they ganked Suma1L's Storm Spirit. They did not expect EG to contest the Aegis but the boys in blue pulled off the knock-out combo Echo Slam into AA's ultimate and instantly killed four enemy heroes. And that marked the begining of the end for CDEC.
Winning big team fights after teamfights, EG started to feel the big victory coming their way and so did the audience who was enchanting USA-USA continuously for the last 20 minutes of the game.
At the end of intense 50 minutes last game, Evil Geniuses wrote Dota 2 history by winning in a final that lived up to its hype. But congratulations are in order for CDEC too after their amazing run from qualifiers to grand finals. Most certainly their story just began.
Prize pool distribution:
1st - Evil Geniuses - $6,616,014
2nd - CDEC Gaming - $2,848,562
3rd - LGD Gaming - $2,205,338
4th - Vici Gaming - $1,562,114
5th - Virtus Pro - $1,194,558
6th - EHOME - $1,194,558
7th - Team Secret - $827,002
8th - MVP Phoenix - $827,002
9th - compLexity Gaming - $220,534
10th - Cloud9 - $220,534
11th - Team Empire - $220,534
12th - Invictus Gaming - $220,534
13th - Newbee - $55,133
14th - Fnatic - $55,133
15th - Natus Vincere - $55,133
16th - MVP.HOT6ix - $55,133
