OG’s reign atop the international rankings has taken a major hit courtesy of a young Wings Gaming team that sit upon their perch as champions of the Summit 5.
The Grand Finals at the Summit 5 did not disappoint. The first three games were a tug of war for control of the series. Wings Gaming got underway with a slow start, dropping the first game, but bounced back and commanded the series from then on out.
Game One:
In terms of aggression, not much changed in the first minute from the previous series between OG and Wings Gaming. OG chose to use a defensive tri-lane to secure Johan 'N0tail' Sundstein's farm on Drow Ranger. Right off the bat, the two teams went for each other’s throats. A clash in the Dire safe lane resulted in a swift two kills on the Dark Seer, Riki dual lane in OG’s favor. Wings seemed to learn their lesson after the early blunder as the game slowed down tremendously.
A few more pick offs of their heroes was the last thing Wings wished to see against a Drow Ranger lineup, but that’s precisely what happened. An unusually timid Wings team allowed OG to take an uncontested Roshan just a little after 12 minutes into the game. Even more shocking, was OG pushing Wings’ high ground at only 16 minutes. Sustained but controlled pressure from OG on the Radiant high ground compelled Wings to force an engagement they did not want to take. Chu 'Shadow-' Zeyu wandered out of position on Slark for just a slight moment, but that was all David 'MoonMeander' Tan needed on his Axe to land a Berserker’s Call, then it was off with his head. Having just purchased Shadow Blade, and rightfully so, Slark was unable to buy back as the bottom barracks fell and ‘GG’ came at only 18 minutes.
Game one had snowballed into a stomp as it became apparent to Wings that they were indeed out drafted. The early push from OG forced Slark to be the initiator and was easily countered with both Medusa’s Stone Gaze and Axe’s blink Berserker’s Call. The OG lineup was perfectly executed.
Game Two:
OG kept the pedal to the metal and began game two with a five man smoke into Wing’s jungle catching out Zhang 'Innocence' Yiping on the Ogre Magi. They maintained their presence, opting for an early aggressive tri-lane to pressure the Huskar. Rotations from OG kept Wings on their heels as the intimidation from game one appeared to boil over into game two. However, that would not last for long.
As the match transitioned towards the midgame, Wings showed signs of shaking off their timid play and the hyper aggressive team that we know began to surface. A series of smoke ganks pushed Wings into the driver’s seat as they translated one into an 18 minute Roshan. Wings displayed their newly found confidence as OG towers began to fall one by one to a Huskar wielding Aegis of the Immortal.
Detecting blood in the water, Wings marched onto the top high ground and claimed OG’s melee barracks with little opposition. Choosing to leave the ranged barracks, they backed off but would simply reset and continue their pressure in the bottom lane. Huskar postured himself on the high ground with his team nearby to back him up. OG failed to find an appropriate angle to engage the Huskar, experiencing a taste of Wings' futility in game one. They made quick work of captain Tal 'Fly' Aizik's Undying and Io, moving the game to its conclusion after 25 minutes, without any serious defense mounted from OG.
Game Three:
Wings drafted an oddly straight forward lineup by their own standards, picking up an Antimage and backing him up with a defensive tri-lane. Strange enough, the early game was quite slow, both teams opting to focus more on finding their farm. This disparity from the previous matchups didn’t last long as Wings smoked into the OG jungle and landed themselves a pick on a rare Amer 'Miracle-' Barqawi Storm Spirit. The retaliation was rapid with OG finding several kills themselves to balance the kill score.
Both teams reverted to farming in the midgame until Wings decided to pressure the bottom lane. OG were looking to force a fight and a significant clash broke out leaving four Wings heroes dead and OG losing only an Io after a minor over extension by the young Chinese squad.
From here on out the action was few and far between until Wings took to the Roshan pit at 29 minutes. Sensing something was awry, OG went for the big play with Faceless Void jumping into the pit and throwing out a blind Chronosphere. The opportunity was there momentarily but Wings had vacated the pit and the Void ultimate caught nothing but air. The mistake turned out to be a disaster and four OG heroes fell with Treant Protector wasting his buy back. Wings reentered the pit. Realizing that if Wings acquire Aegis, the game would inevitably end, Miracle- went for the steal but was unsuccessful and died doing so.
Wings wasted little time and began sieging the bottom tier three tower. OG put forth an admirable defense but the farm on the enemy cores plus the Aegis on Antimage posed to be too much as they were sliced down and ‘GG’ called.
Game Four:
The game kicked off with a return to the hostile atmosphere we are accustomed to. However, the violence was a bit less controlled and more chaotic with both teams truly just running at each other consistently. OG chose to pick up the N0tail Huskar themselves and most Zhang 'Faith_bian' Ruida Spirit Breaker ganks usually finished with the Huskar taking out a hero or two before falling.
After OG found kills on Faceless Void and Oracle at the Dire ancients they made the decision to move into the Roshan pit. The attempt was sluggish and with the two Wings heroes respawning, Faith_bian decided to make a play for Aegis using a centaur creep for vision and the charge timing was utterly ridiculous. Not only did he claim the Roshan last hit but the subsequent Greater Bash effect allowed him to pick up the Aegis as well. Wings gaming mopped up the OG heroes and thus began a series of team fights with both teams continuing to run at one another. Wings constantly came through these scuffles on top.
At 30 minutes, and an early Roshan respawn later, Wings claimed yet another Aegis but this time uncontested. After a bit of pushing out lanes Wings smoked towards the bottom lane where they found pick offs on Doom and Dazzle conveniently just outside the OG base. A mixture of smacking down structures and pressure on OG heroes caused a pattern of deaths, buy backs and then die backs as OG called it quits to a mistake riddled game four.
Although Wings Gaming took the series three games to one, OG made the series infinitely more competitive than the score would have you believe. Their performance in the decisive game will probably leave a bad taste in their mouth, but they’re an experienced squad with a close relationship with one another, leaving them more than able to learn from the mistakes. There is enough time to iron out the issues that currently plague them and in doing so may lead to a hype rematch with Wings Gaming at The International 6.
