Newbee solidified their impressive performance with yet another successful qualification cycle after winning the World Cyber Arena 2016 Chinese qualifiers and Dota Pit League Season 5 Chinese qualifiers earlier this month.
LGD got the first game in the ESL One Genting Chinese qualifier Grand Final after picking a meaty lineup around Sven and Legion Commander against the ranged--but more vulnerable--Drow Ranger and Outworld Destroyer. Neither side had serious advantage until about the 30th minute, but LGD won a crucial encounter and gained the upper hand. Hu 'Kaka' Liangzhi was able to keep Newbee in the game for the last 15-20 mins with great Disruptor ultimates in the team fights, but eventually LGD prevailed after 52 minutes of play.
In game 2 LGD went for a heavy pushing lineup with Luna, Dragon Knight, and Jakiro while Newbee put their trust in a gank squad with the supreme late game Alchemist. LGD grouped up early and started taking towers down, but Newbee defended successfully, trading kills to buy time for their Alchemist. It eventually paid off as Newbee managed to close down the game in 30 minutes.
LGD went for a lineup similar to game one with Sven and Legion Commander while Newbee chose a Tiny-Io combo alongside Juggernaut. Teams settled for farming in the first ten minutes, but soon team encounters followed, which were won by LGD. Newbee did not give up and managed to turn things around with a fight near Roshan, effectively grasping and maintaining control of the game until the very end of it.
It was time for a Drow Ranger strategy for Newbee in game four while LGD committed to shutting it down with Slark and Batrider as well as Naga Siren for the late game. The team exchanged kills until the mid game, but it was LGD's Slark and Naga that had the net worth advantage. Newbee tried to build their Drow to a multi-hitting DPS machine with an Aghanim’s Scepter and a Mjollnir, but she could never survive long enough to dish out the damage. LGD claimed victory.
Despite the loss, Newbee went for another first Drow Ranger pick alongside a late game insurance Medusa. LGD countered with an unconvential draft that included Anti Mage, Tusk, and Legion Commander. The game started well in the laning stage for LGD, but Newbee managed to catch up with several Anti-Mage pick-offs and crucial plays from Kaka and his Disruptor. The Medusa started to snowball as Newbee was prevailing in the team clashes while LGD’s Anti-Mage had limited impact and Tusk’s value had already expired.
Thus after playing eight games in total, Newbee emerged victorious.
The ESL One Genting main event will take place between 6-8th January at Arena of Stars from Genting Highlands Resort, Malaysia. All but one participants are known. The remaining one will be decided after the end of the the Malaysian qualifier.
ESL One Genting 2017 participants:
Wings Gaming (direct invite)
Digital Chaos (direct invite)
Fnatic (direct invite)
Virtus Pro (EU qualifiers winners)
NP (US qualifiers winners)
Execration (SEA qualifiers winners)
Newbee (China qualifiers)
TBD (Malaysia qualifiers)
