After a rollercoaster ride of a series with compLexity Gaming showing signs of a reverse 3-0 sweep, Digital Chaos take game five and secure their place at the International 6.
Digital Chaos and compLexity faced faced off yet again the playoff stage of the NA qualifiers, this time for the last NA invite to the upcoming International. After DC stomped coL into the lower bracket, coL looked to take revenge as they quickly 2-0'ed FDL in the lower bracket final. However, the grand final BO5 series started out extremely rough for coL as DC closed out game 1 and 2 in under 30 minutes.
Game One
Game one saw DC outdraft coL with a strong scaling lineup in a Slark and Invoker. CoL went for a push heavy lineup with a Dragon Knight, Venomancer and Gyrocopter picked up. Kyle 'swindlemelonzz' Freedman showed some real potential on his jungle Venomancer who had a staggering experience lead with a level six by five minutes. The early game saw coL try to contest DC's Roman 'Resolu1ion' Fominok on the Slark who still managed to stay very well farmed.
As the midgame commenced, coL looked to push down DC's objectives with the Venomancer, DK and Oracle sustain. However, DC's Rasmus 'MiSeRy-' Filipsen on the Rubick stole Venomancer's Venom Wards, slowing down coL's push immensely and allowing Resolut1ion and Aliwi 'w33haaa' Omar on the Invoker to continually farm.
While coL initally seemed quite strong, they failed to control the tempo of the game and allowed the DC cores to spiral out of control on their farm. A team wipe at 24 minutes showed the difference in strength between the two teams' cores, and gg was called by coL shortly after.
Game Two
CoL looked to scale a bit better in game two with another strong pushing lineup centerd around protecting a Phoenix egg. CoL picked up a Drow Ranger and Vengeful Spirit for some aura stacking, disengage via Nether Swap and some better late game scaling than game one. DC went with a ballsy fourth pick Broodmother, looking to cause some havoc for the Drow, but a swindle Axe seemed to be the counter to the spider. Both teams picked some nice pushing lineups with coL's looking to be a little more aggressive in the mid game.
DC's David 'Moo-Fak' Hull on the Broodmother took the offlane as expected, and matched up against Swindle's Axe, who simply ran at the spider early, looking to disrupt the spider's farm with some sentries and spins. Meanwhile, in the bottom lane, coL's Drow and Venge looked to put pressure onto Resolut1on's Lifestealer and Martin 'Saksa' Sazdov on the Winter Wyvern. However, while coL's draft on paper looked good, it came down to execution as DC starved the Drow Ranger bottom with continual pick offs. In turn, the Axe top lane failed to shut down the slippery arachnid, who stayed on the top of the CS charts and continually pushed down the lane.
CoL falling behind, looked to Roshan at 21 minutes, smoking up to try and swing the gold, exp and perhaps some objectives in their favor. DC however, caught the coL squad off guard, wiping them 4v5 as coL lose a gem, aegis and a set of barracks by way of the Moo's Broodmother. With a lane of rax taken and aegis in hand, DC simply grouped bottom and forced a fight, wiping coL again and taking the game in 27 minutes.
Game Three
On the brink of losing their TI invite, coL needed to regroup. Instead of going their usual deathball-push, coL looked for a much more active lineup with a Slardar for Swindle and a Mirana for brother Zakari 'ZfreeK' Freedman. CoL rounded out their aggressive lineup with a mid Timbersaw for Linus 'Limmp' Blomdin, giving Rasmus 'Chessie' Blomdin the safelane with his Invoker. DC went with a fairly balanced lineup with some great teamfight capability in a Lich and Sand King combo, backed up with a PL and Lifestealer.
The early game saw the Timbersaw simply bully DC's Phantom Lancer in the midlane, as he topped the CS and denies. Bottom lane was another story as Moo constantly harassed Swindle's Slardar with his Caustic Finale, gaining a good gold advantage. The same was true for coL's top lane with Chessie having a tough time against DC's aggro offlane in the Lich and Lifestealer. It came down to the Freedman brothers to control the tempo and that they did with their Crush-Arrow combo proving to be very effective against the various evasive cores on DC's sides.
The true MVP of Game three was Limmp on his Timbersaw, who proved to be too difficult to kill with his Bloodstone, disrupting the DC back line and shutting down the PL illusion army. With the attention focused on the Timber raid boss, Chessie quietly and efficiently kept farming, keeping up in Net Worth to Timber. DC showed signs of a comeback at the 36 minute mark when they caught out the Timber who strangely had cut almost all of the trees top lane, forcing a buyback out from coL. As the game grew longer, the momentum shifted between the two teams constantly as they traded fight for fight, DC looking to secure their invite and coL clawing back tooth and nail for their own. However, a huge fight for coL at 53 minutes with a key Deafening Blast-Static Storm combo shut down the relatively big PL and cost DC the game.
Game Four
With the momentum from their victory in game three, coL drafted a similarly aggressive lineup with a first phase Riki and Beastmaster to counter DC, who went with their guns and picked up Lifestealer for Resolut1on yet again. A Disruptor rounded out the three-way counter to Resolut1on. CoL changed things up however, and snuck a Terrorblade through on the 4th pick with a Windranger as the 2nd core. DC countered with a w33haaa Lone Druid and a very defensive Rubick and Dazzle duo.
Knowing the power of the late game Terrorblade, DC tried their best to contest Chessie's lane, forcing Riki to rotate rather than be active on the map. This gave Moo a free lane on his Batrider although some execution errors cost him some valuable CS while swindle stayed on top of the CS charts with his signature jungle BM. Looking to further pressure the top lane, Moo caught the Terrorblade out with a Lasso at around 10 minutes, almost spelling the end for Chessie, who lived and looked to turn the fight around. A rotation by the Dazzle-Rubick duo however, cost coL three as Moo walked away with a triple kill and some nice progression toward his blink dagger. And meanwhile, the Lone Druid continued to farm mid with his Midas, well on his way to the Radiance.
Ultimately as the game dragged on, it was the Terrorblade that proved to be DC's Achilles heel, as Chessie continued to farm and push down objectives, matching the DC Lone Druid. DC showed signs of a comeback at around 26 minutes where they lost one melee rax mid and counter-engaged onto a retreating coL. Resolut1ons armlet toggling kept him alive for a seeming eternity, allowing DC to grab three from the fleeing squad. Another huge win for DC by the Rosh pit at 34 minutes cost compLexity four barracks. Like the previous encounter, coL counter-engaged against DC who stayed a bit too long, grabbing megas at the 37 minute mark. Faced with megas, DC valiantly tried to 5 man up mid but the Terrorblade with a buyback nailed the game shut and sealed the victory for compLexity.
Game Five
With both teams on the brink of winning their invite, game five proved to be the closest of the series. DC denied swindle his BM but gave Chessie the Invoker once again. DC changed things up this time and tried to out-compLexity compLexity, drafting a very familiar coL lineup in the heavy teamfight Void-DP-Phoenix. DC capped their lineup with some great lockdown in Lion. CoL meanwhile, countered with the classic Io-Tiny combo and a Swindle Axe once again.
Early on, Swindle chose to jungle with the aid of Zfreek on the Winter Wyvern giving Resolut1on an uncontested lane bottom, allowing him to grab coL's tier one tower at a very early 5 minutes. With the tier one gone, Swindle - again with the help of Zfreek - looked to take a very big ancient stack to add on to his extremely fast Vanguard. DC contested, and coL lost the Io and Wyvern in the process. Meanwhile in the top lane, BM and Lion badgered Chessie's Invoker heavily, picking him off and slowing down his farm. With action happening all over the map, compLexity felt a bit neutered as they needed Swindle's blink dagger to start making plays. Blink Dagger in hand at 12, Swindle looked to defend his tier one top and forced an Exorcism and Egg from DC who failed to take him down. A relocate on the back line by Io and Tiny however cost Tiny his life with a fatal misstep against MiSeRy's Lion.
With all of coL's tier ones gone and only a tier three standing in the way of barracks, DC pushed onto coL's highground. The push cost DC their DP and the BM but forced a very early buyback from Tiny who got caught earlier in a well-placed Chronosphere. Pushed back, DC regrouped while the coL cores split up the map effectively with each core finding farm. With the pressure on and the impending threat of the coL cores, DC took the first Roshan at the 18 minute mark with coL smoking up to counter-engage. Swindle was the mvp here, taking the highground on DC's ancients, catching them off guard. CoL took a five for one trade shifting the momentum in their favour. Swindle continued to make plays for the coL squad as the game went on, a notable one being a very nice Toss-Call combo at 37 minutes onto Resolut1on which cost him an aegis and stemmed DC's highground push. As the game neared the hour long mark, DC and coL both faced dire odds as each were left with a handful of barracks, coL on the worse end with no tier fours and an exposed throne. The teams traded often, the fights revolving around the next aegis with continual buybacks from both sides. DC however, weathered the storm and with compLexity's buybacks gone and an exposed throne, DC throned coL with a well-timed TP and Exorcism on the Death Prophet to secure their invite to the International.
CompLexity will join the other runner-ups from each region's playoffs and will compete in Seattle for the final two wild card spots at the International.
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