The Ukrainian powerhouse finally claimed revenge as they took a 4-game victory over Team Liquid in WePlay DotaLeague #2 Loser Bracket Final to set up another Grand Final with Alliance.
Match Recap
Game 1:
The North American squad secured themselves a very teamfight oriented line-up with a lot of AoE and chasing power, while Na`Vi went for an aggressive draft with a tri-core of Mirana-Templar Assasin and Timbersaw.
Both teams started out fairly well, with Liquid having a slight edge in terms of laning power. They transitioned fairly well into mid-game, matching Na`Vi blow for blow for a while. However, Na`Vi kept finding pick-ups on TC's Luna and won a few crucial skirmishes which put them in a commanding position. Liquid kept getting pushed back further into their base, failing to bounce back without the BKBs on TC and Bulba. They realized the deficit they were having to overcome and decided to call "gg" after losing the bottom barracks.
Game 2:
Na`Vi kept their core heroes from game 1, only mixing up the supports with Naga and Lich in place of Sand King and Visage. Liquid, on the other hand, went in a completely different route from last game with their all-out push-gank draft.
Liquid was the team who gained the upperhand this time, finding early kills to set up for the max Necrobooks strat they were having in mind going into game 2. The Necrobooks kept going out in a timely manner and, along with Chen's creeps, acted as a solid shield to protect them from any AoE Na`Vi could dish out. The timing was quite right for Liquid as they marched into the Radiant base with 3 Necrobooks level 3 online. NaVi put up a formidable fight but in the end it was not enough against the Dire onslaught. Liquid claimed game 2 and tied the series 1-1.
Game 3:
NaVi decided to go for a pushing line-up themselves, picking up the Pugna and Death Prophet. Liquid responded with a Lone Druid pick to match the Dire's pushing power, along with Mirana and Nyx Assasin to look for kills and slow down the push.
It was Liquid who claimed first blood on top followed by a quick second blood with their tri-lane, but a misplay from Fluff gave away that early lane advantage. Skirmishes took place all over the map with both teams trading kills and towes, not wanting to back off and give the other more space to farm. Na`Vi found a crucial opening 20 minutes in, killing off the Spirit Bear and pushed down Liquid's mid tier 3 tower. A last ditch effort from Liquid in the Rosh pit went horrendously wrong as they failed to get the Aegis and gave away 4 kills. Na`Vi then proceed to march into the Radiant base, claimed another set of barracks and forced the "gg" from Liquid
Game 4:
Liquid went back to the pushing line-up with the Pugna and Tinker picks, supported by Chen and Visage. Na`Vi, on the other hand, opted to go late-game with the Medusa.
The laning phase went by uneventful with both teams chose to farm up items and levels, save for Puppey carelessly giving away first blood. Na`Vi was the more active team coming out of their lanes, pushing down the side towers with Enigma to keep Liquid away from XBOCT's Medusa. Liquid was keeping up nicely with Na`Vi in terms of farm and the Tinker kept Na`Vi from pushing too far. The big breakthrough came at 45 minutes in with Puppey getting off a 4-man Black Hole and Tinker died after buying back. Liquid called "gg" soon after and it will be yet another Grand Final between Natus Vincere and The Alliance.
GosuGamers is also working with Datbet for the coverage of the WePlay Dota 2 tournament. The contest is over for now, it lasted until last day of October since WePlay finals got delayed. More information here.
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