USA vs Russia - Game 2

Match Details
Tournament: MYM Prime Nations #3
Play Date: March 26, 2011
Format: Double Elimination, Best of 3 (Best of 5 Grand Final)
DotA version 6.71b / Game Mode: -cmub

GosuGamers Replay Rating: 8.0 (67 votes)
Personal Rating: 8.0
______________________________________

Bans/Picks

Ban Phase #1
RUSSIA bans Necro’lic
A strong ban, removing a powerful burst-damage. Necro’lic is often played as a support nowadays. Definitely not an uncommon ban.

USA bans Guardian Wisp
One of the “overpowered” ganking heroes made available due to Unban mode. Players on the RUSSIA roster have shown capabilities of running powerful early-game lineups to seize victories by the 30 minute mark before. A completely valid option for a ban.

RUSSIA bans Phoenix
As with the Guardian Wisp, Phoenix is an even newer hero made available due to Unban mode. Many argue about Phoenix’s balancing issues, but almost all would agree that it is a ridiculously overpowered hero in this version. The RUSSIANS definitely are not willing to see Phoenix played.

USA bans Clockwerk Goblin
Clockwerk Goblin is an extremely popular hero in European DotA, and rightfully so, as his ganking potential is enormous. USA are wise to not let this hero evade the ban pool.

RUSSIA bans Nerubian Weaver
Due to recent buffs to Nerubian Weaver, this hero been picked and banned often as of late, in both public games and high level clan wars, so this ban is no surprise. Germinate Attack gives him with great burst damage. Weaver's The Swarm can spell certain doom for low HP fleeing heroes, and is a great vision tool. Finally, his ability to maneuver and survive through Shukuchi and Time Lapse greatly enhances all of his aforementioned advantages. The Nerubian Weaver is a capable solo hero, as well as trilane carry; his versatility is early-pick-worthy, so removing him from the pool is a relatively safe idea.

USA bans Shadow Demon
Provided that he lands his Shadow Poison casts, Shadow Demon is an extremely potent damage dealer. Shadow Poison also provides a little bit of vision. His other skills are fantastic and are borderline anti-carry throughout all game long. It is still relatively safe to assume that not a lot of teams have either mastered this particular hero or found a way to incorporate him into their lineups. Still, USA’s decision to ban Shadow Demon is not without reason.


Pick Phase #1
RUSSIA picks Invoker
With Invoker’s Invoke ability, users would enter a shop of spells, mixing and matching, choosing what spells would benefit them the most at any given time. This allows Invoker to devastate multiple targets in team fights, to deal hard damage, as well as to survive. Most importantly, this hero has established himself as a vicious solo mid hero in version 6.71b. Missing the ban pool, Russia seeks to add Invoker’s deadly abilities to their arsenal and solidifies their solo mid position.

USA picks Ancient Apparition and Earthshaker
Both are well-known potent action-support heroes. Earthshaker is always a strong support, but a couple of missed Fissures will quickly take Earthshaker out of the equation. It is unlikely that this Ancient Apparition will lane against an Invoker pick, so we can expect to see this Ancient Apparition either solo top or trilane bot.

RUSSIA picks Lich and Vengeful Spirit
Time for Russia to pick up two more heroes: Vengeful Spirit, an all-round support with great built-in initiation, and Lich, yet another powerful support hero with great nukes and an armor buff that works well all the way deep into late-game. This Lich pick also opens up Russia’s lineup; Lich can be a powerful lane-controlling trilane hero, or put in a solo side lane to handicap their enemy.

USA picks Oblivion
Quickly seizing the Oblivion hero, this is USA’s answer to Russia’s Invoker. A strong solo mid with excellent AoE nuking power early-game, and a debilitating ward to deal with spell casters. Netherward is a great weapon against a "control-build" Invoker, whose spells require a rather high amount of mana. Yet Pugna is rather notorious for having a shorter range than most heroes, which an Exort-based Invoker can abuse.

At this stage, we can’t be certain of how this Ancient Apparition will be set-up in the laning strategy.

Side-Note: It is interesting to note that throughout Ban Phase #1 and Pick Phase #1, both teams have not hesitated much. They come to this second match prepared and focused.


Ban Phase #2
RUSSIA bans Lightning Revenant
We start to see some hesitation from RUSSIA. As for the ban, the Lightning Revenant has recently gained a lot of attention. There is no doubt his skills are very capable, and he himself is a strong carry, as well as an anti-carry through the Static Link, draining a carry hero’s attack power and bolstering his own. This removes one powerful option that USA have during the second Pick Phase.

USA bans Morphling
A carry hero that would certainly make both Earthshaker and a trilaning Ancient Apparition rather useless in controlling lane dominance, the Morphling also sports incredible long-range AoE damage and can develop his Ethereal Blade build, which could spell disaster for any heroes of USA’s current line-up.


RUSSIA bans Batrider
A ban on Batrider can almost always be expected, as Batrider is one of the strongest solo lane heroes possible. However, if Lich is played as a solo, he could handle any aggressive play from Batrider by staying passive, defensive around his Tier 1 tower, and still be able to effectively deny creeps with his Dark Ritual skill. While Batrider is a good ban regardless of the situation here, perhaps Russia could have considered a different ban that could have benefited their line-up strategy.

USA bans Goblin Techies
Goblin Techies has always been considered a "joke" hero in the eyes of many public players. A lot of team captains always ignore Goblin Techies during their line-up planning and drafting. Throughout the last 10+ patches from when this game was played, IceFrog has been continually buffing and modifying Techies' skillset and mechanics. The most important changes to Goblin Techies was made in the version 6.72 changelogs, but this game was played using version 6.71b.

In all honesty, however, my view on the Goblin Techies ban as a last ban is rather a joke/silly exchange between USA and RUSSIA than a serious ban, as there are perhaps a few better ban options left over for the strategy that USA have in mind.


Pick Phase #2
RUSSIA picks Witch Doctor
Running deep into their extra time, Russia scrambles and grabs Witch Doctor. This reveals their choice for the final support for their trilane, opting for a Lich solo. While an excellent stun-support hero who also excels in team fight and healing capabilities, Witch Doctor will rely heavily on his ability to land good casks against Sentinel’s current lineup. In addition, Ancient Apparition can potentially nullify Witch Doctor’s healing capabilities.

USA picks Enigma
Initially, the Enigma pick is baffling, as Lich, Vengeful Spirit, and Invoker (to some degree) offer pre-existing powerful counters. Lich and Vengeful Spirit’s ultimates can pierce through Black King Bar, interrupting Enigma’s Black Hole. However, in conjunction with Earthshaker and Oblivion’s massive AoE, an Enigma can completely cripple an entire team. Additionally, Ancient Apparition’s Ice Blast would be so easy to position during Enigma’s ultimate. It will all depend on how well USA employs Enigma throughout the game.

RUSSIA picks Alchemist
Squeezing down their available time down to 10 seconds of extra time remaining, Russia opts for their trilane carry in the form of the Alchemist, a powerful farming beast with crippling DoT AoE, a powerful stun, and his ultimate that grants him insane regen, attack speed, and Strength increase. However, Ancient Apparition is a powerful counter to Alchemist and any other tanky heroes. Ancient Apparition is capable of Shattering heroes with Ice Blast if their HP drops below 10%/11%/12%. As with the Witch Doctor pick, Ancient Apparition’s Ice Blast can also nullify Alchemist’s regenerative abilities.

USA picks Spectre
Deep in thought, USA opts for a direct toe-to-toe confrontation with their trilane carry pick with 50 seconds on extra time left to go. Spectre is their answer to Alchemist. Both are melee carries with good durability, both will be looking forward to getting Radiance, and both are ridiculously powerful late game but dependent on farm. Spectre, however, has an alarming passive that reflects damage taken in an AoE around her, and good armor to match Alchemist with Lich’s Frost Armor. While Alchemist can farm faster, Spectre becomes more of a threat late-game when she assembles all her core items.


Line-up Analysis:
Both teams offer a strong late-game carry with Spectre and Alchemist, so it will boil down to the rate of farming. Despite Alchemist's obvious advantage of faster farming potential, Spectre is the stronger late-game carry. The supports will have to be on top of their game in order to not let the other side gain a powerful, unrecoverable advantage. RUSSIA's line-up offers standard support, solo lane, and two hard carries. USA's line-up contains a number of powerful AoE abilities that can be used together in a debilitating combo. They will put their trust behind Spectre's ability to farm and her extremely potent late-game. Another lane to focus attention on would be the mid lane, with arguably two of the most powerful heroes will duel for supremacy. Expect to see that Vengeful Spirit giving hell to the USA team as Enigma tries to find opportunities to land the perfect Black Hole.


Lane Prediction:
USA
USA will employ a trilane bottom with Spectre, Earthshaker, and Ancient Apparition, a solo mid Pugna, and let Enigma solo top. PowerNet has established himself as a strong hard carry player, so we can expect that he will play that Spectre. I’ve personally seen DeMoN (CaptainAmerica1) play many heroes, but one that did stand out over 2011 so far was his Enigma.

RUSSIA
If Russia is willing to go aggressive and feel confident, their trilane of Alchemist, Vengeful Spirit, and Witch Doctor will clash bot lane against USA’s trilane. However, it is also very likely that Russia will run their trilane top, a safer lane for Alchemist to farm, putting Lich in the solo lane against USA’s trilane to deny EXP. Russia will allow Invoker to solo mid. Azen is often a carry player, so I expect to see him on that Alchemist.



Replay Analysis

Enigma opts not to go to the top lane just yet. USA had a 5 hero cluster up on the top of the ramp in Sentinel forest, expecting something to happen. Nothing happened, and Vengeful Spirit ninja’d a ward up, directly left of the Scourge bot lane, that gives a large vision of that area, as well as the rune. Earthshaker is wandering as well.

Here, we can see how the lanes are played out. Instead of clashing trilane vs trilane, the Alchemist opted to head top for better farming potential. At this moment, because Enigma did not go top, Alchemist will be given free farm and exp. RUSSIA also utilizes a solo Lich bot, effectively and easily denying last-hit gold and EXP for Spectre. Enigma is actually opting to jungle, so USA has completely ignored their top lane, an extremely risky move to do against an Alchemist, as they have basically guaranteed Alchemist free farm and massive early game gold advantage.

“ I'm not a favor of leaving a lane to free farm, especially if the lane is occupied by a powerful late-game carry. However, putting Enigma in the solo lane to try to farm some gold and hold off the lane pressure is nearly as bad, due to RUSSIA's trilane's capability with wiping out Enigma's Eidolons and finishing off Enigma with a triple stun combo. It is a very possible case that USA anticipated RUSSIA to send the Alchemist trilane top to give Alchemist a safer farming lane and shutting down Enigma in the process, and opted for Enigma to jungle/quad-lane. Either way, it's a gamble from team USA.”

Within the first 2 minutes, the duel in mid lane is favoring Oblivion. A simple Decrepify-Nether Blast combo drops Invoker’s HP down to 1/4th, forcing a salve.

Enigma completes a jungle route and is ready to push Scourge’s bottom Tier 1 tower. At around 3:30, Lich overextends himself and USA executes a simple stun combo with Earthshaker and Enigma, giving USA the First Blood at 3:59. This mistake from Lich also costs RUSSIA their first tower (4:27). By the way, SENTINEL QUAD-LANE, anyone? :)



The Legendary Vigoss overstays at the Scourge Bot Tower 1 Hotel and is charged an additional fee of First Blood gold.




... and more gold fills team USA's bank accounts.


At the same time, however, USA has completely sacrificed their top lane. Alchemist, Vengeful Spirit, and Witch Doctor combo had already pushed deep, and they take out Sentinel’s top Tier 2 tower moments later (4:31). (Sentinel’s top Tier 1 tower was already destroyed at 3:42.)



Azen's hero gets tower happy.

Scoreboard at 5-Minute Mark
Sentinel - USA Score: 1/0 - Towers: 1/2	Scourge - RUSSIA Score: 0/1 - Towers: 2/1
USA.IMBuLba_MMA 17/6 - 0/0/0	RUSSIA.G 16/10 - 0/0/0
USA.PowerNet 17/7 - 0/0/1 1 Tower Kill	GGnet.AZEN 21/0 - 0/0/0
CaptainAmerica1 4/1 - 1/0/0 15 Neutral Kills	RUSSIA.VigossZ 5/0 - 0/1/0

At 7 minutes in, Lich attempts to kill Spectre with a Frost Nova, some assistance from his teammates, and his Chain Frost. Spectre escapes, but it bounces off Earthshaker and Ancient Apparition. Due to an error in judgement from Enigma, he teleports in next to Earthshaker to Black Hole, which only catches Vengeful Spirit. The Chain Frost continues to bounce, proceeding to finish off Earthshaker and lands one last time on Enigma, allowing Lich to get the killing blow with another Frost Nova for a Double Kill.





RUSSIA's Lich gives a new meaning to the Cold War.


This gives Ancient Apparition the clue that there most likely is an Observer Ward in the vicinity, and he proceeds to deward it with a set of Sentry Wards.

At 8 minutes in, RUSSIA uses Smoke of Deceit to great effect and catch Spectre off guard.



USA could have afforded another set of Observer Wards to ensure ganks/heavy pressure on bot lane doesn't cost Spectre gold and crucial laning time.


Earthshaker and Ancient Apparition attempt to save their teammate, but in the process, Spectre still dies, and Ancient Apparition becomes another easy target. Earthshaker watches helplessly as Ancient Apparition falls. Oblivion has joined up Earthshaker in search of blood revenge, but all 3 Scourge heroes successfully escape.

During the whole exchange, Enigma and Alchemist clash top for creep kills and denies.

Scoreboard at 10-Minute Mark
Sentinel - USA Score: 1/4 - Towers: 1/2	Scourge - RUSSIA Score: 4/1 - Towers: 2/1
USA.IMBuLba_MMA 33/6 - 0/0/0	RUSSIA.G 35/13 - 0/0/0
USA.PowerNet 25/7 - 0/1/1	GGnet.AZEN 36/0 - 0/0/0
CaptainAmerica1 33/6 - 1/1/0	RUSSIA.VigossZ 22/5 - 2/1/2

One thing to note is AZEN’s Alchemist, who has had free farm for the entire game so far, yet only managed to net 36 CS, which is rather subpar compared to his usual performance.

RUSSIA begins to capitalize on their early-game advantage and starts to force fights in the defense of the Sentinel’s mid Tier 1 tower. With Spectre being caught out of position by Witch Doctor and Invoker, as well as Lich making great use of his newly acquired Invisibility Rune, RUSSIA nearly doubles their kill score lead and proceeds to dismantle the middle tower while USA hopelessly watch. Spectre is gimped and only barely reaches level 6.

RUSSIA continues to put pressure the Sentinel’s mid Tier 2 tower. In an attempt to defend the incoming push, Earthshaker, Ancient Apparition, and Oblivion pull the Scourge creeps past the tower, forcing the RUSSIANS to hold off on their push. Deciding not to over-commit, they disperse, with Invoker, Vengeful Spirit, and Witch Doctor heading bot lane to apply pressure elsewhere on the map. Vengeful Spirit sidesteps from her path to place a good strong Observer Ward over the Sentinel forest.



One of my favorite ward positions when I'm on the Scourge team. Provides plenty of ganking opportunities on unwary Sentinel prey.


With this ward vision, RUSSIA wipes out Sentinel’s bot Tier 1 tower without any fear, and continues to press hard on USA. RUSSIA now has a strong kill score lead and tower kill lead over USA.

When the Sentinel’s bot Tier 2 tower is down to 1/3 HP left, Earthshaker felt he had no other choice but to attempt to throw down a Fissure to delay the advance. Invoker immediately sees this and throws a Tornado before the Fissure stuns him. A simple Cold Snap guarantees Earthshaker’s death for his own anxiety, and the Tier 2 tower goes down regardless.

RUSSIA pedals out of there ASAP, with Lich teleporting to their mid Tier 1 tower. All the while, Enigma had been solo pushing mid lane, and nearly takes down the tower, but Lich made it just in time for a perfect deny, further slowing down USA’s gold gain. However, since Lich was the only one who teleported into mid lane, all of his teammates, except for Vengeful Spirit and Alchemist, who needs to farm, lacked TP scrolls. Enigma throws a Malefice on Lich, and his Eidolons attack Lich repeatedly. Spectre haunts in and nearly takes down Lich, and Vengeful Spirit teleports in. Spectre and Enigma realize they overcommitted in their attempt to kill Lich, and they know Invoker is hot on their trail. Enigma desperately throws down a Black Hole over Lich and Vengeful Spirit, but Invoker applies Cold Snap and cancels Enigma’s ultimate and nets an easy kill for RUSSIA. Spectre manages to teleport out to safety.

Alchemist stays too deep into Sentinel territory and a combination of Earthshaker, Oblivion, and Ancient Apparition seal his fate, a much needed revenge kill on RUSSIA’s hard carry. Meanwhile, Spectre urgently farms bot lane creeps. A key thing to note is while RUSSIA still has their ward watching over Sentinel forest, USA has two protective wards watching for incoming ganks from the sides.



Indicated by the white circles, these wards give necessary information, greatly hindering RUSSIA's ganking potential, to the great benefit of Spectre.


Unfortunately, because of RUSSIA’s vision over Sentinel forest, they have the degree of freedom to claim a Roshan kill and the Aegis of the Immortal at 17:55. With the Aegis on Invoker, RUSSIA want to make good use of their advantage and push down the last of the Sentinel’s outside towers, which they do without any opposition. USA wisely avoids a conflict outside the base at this point, which could have spelled the end of the game for them.


IMPORTANT USA BASE DEFENSE #1
As RUSSIA attempts to do damage to the Sentinel’s mid Tier 3 tower, a good combination of spells takes out Lich, Witch Doctor, and more importantly, burns off Invoker’s Aegis, at the cost of Earthshaker and Ancient Apparition’s lives. Enigma and Spectre stall the Scourge advance and RUSSIA has no other choice but to retreat, right before the 20 minute mark.

Scoreboard at 20-Minute Mark
Sentinel - USA Score: 5/11 - Towers: 3/6	Scourge - RUSSIA Score: 11/5 - Towers: 6/3
USA.IMBuLba_MMA 65/6 - 1/1/3	RUSSIA.G 78/14 - 3/0/2
USA.PowerNet 59/15 - 0/2/4	GGnet.AZEN 82/3 - 1/1/1
CaptainAmerica1 60/11 - 1/2/2	RUSSIA.VigossZ 34/5 - 5/2/4

As we can see here, USA successfully defend their mid Tier 3 tower, but RUSSIA has a substantial lead in CS, Kills, and Towers. USA are forced into a turtling strategy. They have the heroes that can do so – Earthshaker, Oblivion, and Enigma can hold out against attempts to drive into their base, while Spectre needs to carefully farm up to catch up with Alchemist’s lead.

RUSSIA’s core heroes have a good amount of gold under their belts. Invoker has his Phase Boots and Force Staff, Lich has a Mekansm, Vengeful Spirit has a Medallion of Courage and Gem of True Sight, and Alchemist, opting for a more tanking power early on, has both a Vanguard and a Hood of Defiance.

Key facts to note for the USA team are that Enigma has a Blink Dagger (at 14:18) and an Ogre Axe, Oblivion completed his Mekansm (at 16:14), and Spectre will have completed his Vanguard soon (at 21:28, to be precise), which would enable them to hold onto the game much longer.


IMPORTANT USA BASE DEFENSE #2
At 21 minutes in, RUSSIA decides to try to push in again, trying to leave USA without a breather between attacks. On top of that, Alchemist has a Double Damage Rune, and Lich has his own Hood of Defiance, intending to turn it into a Pipe of Insight. This is a crucial defense for USA; if they cannot hold, this game will be over in less than 30 minutes. A well-placed Tornado and EMP disables Enigma and wipes Earthshaker’s MP respectively, but not before Earthshaker throws down a Fissure to stall Alchemist’s direct attacks to their Tier 3 tower. The Glyph of Fortification pops off following the Fissure’s stun effects, halting RUSSIA’s push. RUSSIA begins to retreat, and Spectre lets out a Haunt to add additional pressure. Ancient Apparition follows up with an Ice Blast, knocking Vengeful Spirit and Invoker’s life down to half. Most importantly, the Ice Blast completely nullifies Lich’s attempt to use Mekansm to heal his whole team.

RUSSIA attempts to push in again with their next mid lane creep wave, while Invoker’s Quas orbs quickly regenerating his missing health. However, a quick Cold Feet and Fissure brings Witch Doctor and Vengeful Spirit’s HP dangerously low. As RUSSIA’s creep wave gets obliterated, they have to retreat and wait yet again for their next creep wave, with Sentinel’s mid Tier 3 tower down to 192 HP. During the next clash right outside the base, Enigma attempts to land a good Black Hole, but Vengeful Spirit and Alchemist were barely outside of the radius, enabling RUSSIA to gain the upper hand and claim Enigma’s life.



CaptainAmerica1 (a.k.a. DeMoN) is unable to create a good Black Hole, getting interrupted by GGnet.AZEN's Alchemist.


Finally, Invoker is able to bring down USA’s Tier 3 tower, and RUSSIA puts significant damage on the melee barracks. However, with some good AoE spells and stuns, USA chases RUSSIA out of their base, hunting down 4 of 5 heroes, leaving Invoker to run away as the sole survivor.



Earthshaker holds off a strong push from Scourge with a single Fissure.




With Scourge's heroes frantically trying to escape, USA claims 4 out of 5 RUSSIA's heroes.


IMPORTANT USA BASE DEFENSE #3 [Major turning point of the game!]

At 27 minutes, RUSSIA pushes mid lane once again. By now, the melee barracks has regenerated to half health. With a well-placed Fissure, Enigma is able to blink in and land a Black Hole around ALL 5 of RUSSIA’s heroes, allowing Earthshaker to go in and let out a damaging Echo Slam.




Perfect Black Hole by Enigma.




A dire warning sign for RUSSIA and the perfect AoE combo that USA has been looking for since the beginning of the game.

“ The perfect Black Hole from Enigma was the massive momentum shift for USA, arguably the best play in the game, guaranteeing USA's position in the game. As predicted in the beginning of the analysis, USA put a lot of faith in the execution of their AoE combo and CaptainAmerica1's (a.k.a. DeMoN's) ability to land that crucial ultimate. The game begins to spiral out of control for RUSSIA.”

Genocide! USA can now launch a counter-offensive against RUSSIA.


At 29 minutes, RUSSIA picks up another Roshan kill and the Aegis on the back of Alchemist.



The Aegis gives RUSSIA a chance to fight. Will they use it well, or will the Aegis be lost without much gain?

Scoreboard at 30-Minute Mark
Sentinel - USA Score: 14/12 - Towers: 5/7	Scourge - RUSSIA Score: 12/14 - Towers: 7/5
USA.IMBuLba_MMA 89/6 - 2/1/10	RUSSIA.G 115/14 - 3/1/3
USA.PowerNet 121/20 - 3/2/10	GGnet.AZEN 121/3 - 2/3/1
CaptainAmerica1 96/14 - 3/3/9	RUSSIA.VigossZ 52/5 - 5/4/5

Spectre has completely caught up with Alchemist in CS, and definitely earned slightly more gold from Kills. His Radiance recipe is flying to him on the Sentinel Crow Courier. Enigma is also doing very well, with enough gold to finish a Black King Bar. Earthshaker bought his Blink Dagger, waiting for him in base, and Oblivion has enough gold to complete his Pipe of Insight.

With a good use of Smoke of Deceit, RUSSIA jumps on Spectre and Enigma. Spectre dies, but Enigma manages to steal RUSSIA’s top Tier 2 tower and TPs away safely.



Smoke of Deceit allows Scourge to close in on Spectre before she has much time to react. However, Enigma boldly stays and finishes off Scourge's top Tier 2 tower and escapes.


Alchemist finishes his Radiance. Spectre is still waiting to resurrect, when RUSSIA strikes hard once again. Without much of a fight, both Enigma and Oblivion lose their lives. Oblivion had completed his Hood of Defiance, but he correctly foresaw the necessity to save up more than 2.4k gold for a buyback instead, which he promptly uses. Spectre completes his Radiance as soon as he revives, and Haunts in. Earthshaker blinks in and immediately lets out an Echo Slam, ripping through Scourge heroes. Witch Doctor and Vengeful Spirit takes a fall, and Alchemist burns up his Aegis. With a perfect follow-up Fissure, Earthshaker seals Alchemist’s fate, while restricting Invoker from being able to help much.

USA successfully defends their base once again, while maintaining their lead over RUSSIA in a 2-for-2 encounter. More importantly, RUSSIA loses their Aegis advantage and Alchemist dies, allowing Spectre to gain a further lead in carry power.



At 33 minutes, USA executes a push of their own. RUSSIA engages them outside near where their mid Tier 2 tower used to be. A simple Black King Bar and Black Hole from Enigma catches all 3 of RUSSIA’s support heroes. Invoker saves Witch Doctor with a Force Staff, the closest of the 3, and they are forced to retreat into their base. Alchemist, however, is caught out, and he falls to Ancient Apparition.



"You aren't getting away that easily!" Enigma enables USA to pick off two of RUSSIA's heroes in their advance towards RUSSIA's mid Tier 3 tower and barracks.


It wasn’t enough, however. USA charges in and Spectre slays Invoker and Witch Doctor, completing a team wipe. Despite a desperate Glyph of Fortification, USA tears up Scourge’s mid Tier 3 tower and both barracks. USA safely retreats as RUSSIA scrambles to regain their balance.

At 37 minutes, RUSSIA attempts to push Sentinel’s bot Tier 3 tower. With a buyback from Enigma, RUSSIA decides not to make the same mistake as they have made multiple times with mid lane, and disperse. Witch Doctor teleports to defend the incoming top lane wave of creeps from Spectre’s solo push. Vengeful Spirit’s ward detects Spectre farming in the Scourge forest, but Invoker’s hasty charge through the middle of mid lane’s Sentinel creep alerted Spectre and allowed her to escape unscathed. Meanwhile, Spectre finishes her Heart of Torrasque at 38:13.




At 39 minutes, USA counters with a multilane push – Spectre solo-pushing top lane, and the other 4 heroes pressuring bot lane. Inside their base, RUSSIA is forced to split their attention between top and bot lanes. Enigma rushes in to cast a Black Hole on Sentinel’s supports, but misses Vengeful Spirit, who immediately uses her Nether Swap to pierce and disrupt Enigma’s ultimate through his Black King Bar. Despite Russia refocusing their efforts on the defense of their bottom Tier 3 tower, Spectre Haunts into the fray. Earthshaker blinks in and follows up with another Echo Slam, enabling Spectre to grab a kill, but Earthshaker and Ancient Apparition die in the process. Regardless, Spectre's Heart of Torrasque makes her become incredibly tanky and enables her to dive straight into the middle of the clash. RUSSIA is unable to kill her, crippling their own team with each attempt from Dispersion's pure damage.

Scoreboard at 40-Minute Mark
Sentinel - USA Score: 23/18 - Towers: 7/7	Scourge - RUSSIA Score: 18/23 - Towers: 7/7
USA.IMBuLba_MMA 115/6 - 2/2/18 Core Items: Mekansm, Pipe of Insight, Power Treads	RUSSIA.G 151/14 - 6/2/5 Core Items: Guinsoo’s Scythe of Vyse, Eul’s Scepter of Divinity, Force Staff, Phase Boots
USA.PowerNet 224/20 - 8/3/14 Core Items: Vanguard, Radiance, Heart of Torrasque, Power Treads	GGnet.AZEN 179/3 - 2/5/5 Core Items: Vanguard, Hood of Defiance, Radiance, Power Treads
CaptainAmerica1 125/17 - 4/5/13 Core Items: Blink Dagger, Black King Bar, Soul Ring, Vladimir’s Offering, Power Treads	RUSSIA.VigossZ 77/5 - 7/6/6 Core Items: Mekansm, Pipe of Insight, Power Treads

In a final clash, Spectre flaunts her Manta Style, and takes down Scourge Tier 4 towers. RUSSIA concedes, and USA wins Game 2.




Personal MVP: CaptainAmerica1 (Enigma)




Final Opinions:
I will describe what I felt were the crucial mistakes and overall criticism with team strategy that occurred in the game.

Crucial Mistake #1: RUSSIA overcommitted on pushing for a victory by mid-game.
RUSSIA maintained a strong early-game advantage. Lich finished an early Mekansm, and Vengeful Spirit placed a number of good wards. Unfortunately, they overcommitted in their push to attempt to take USA’s mid Tier 3 tower and barracks. Their first attempt ended in failure, losing 4 of their 5 heroes. At that point, they should have realized that with USA’s lineup, they have the heroes capable of turtling the game, as well as ability to execute a devastating AoE combo. What RUSSIA should have done at that point is to finish the Radiance on the Alchemist as quickly as possible, and execute a multilane push. An Alchemist pick secures you a late-game carry, provided that he farms gold at a sufficient rate. However, Alchemist would be at a disadvantage as the game drags even farther in, due to USA's Spectre, so the best choice for RUSSIA would have been to have the Alchemist farm until he becomes virtually uncounterable between mid to late-game, and before Spectre can farm the necessary items to counter him. Remember, before 30 minutes, Alchemist was outfarming Spectre.

Possible Solution:
A multilane push would spread out USA’s attention along several fronts. They would not have been able to land a perfect Fissure + Black Hole combo. Vengeful Spirit also played too close to the front lines and teammates. If a Black Hole goes off, it is either Lich or Vengeful Spirit’s responsibility to disrupt Enigma’s ultimate immediately, an easier task for Vengeful Spirit. On the contrary, they seemed to have ignored Earthshaker and Enigma’s threat to the team. RUSSIA insisted on trying to use all their heroes, even Alchemist, to push down the middle lane in an all-out fashion, attempting to end the game right there. In their second attempt to end the game early, the whole team was decimated. This was the major turning point of the game and pretty much sealed the deal, allowing Spectre to outfarm Alchemist and win the game.


Crucial Mistake #2: Alchemist's early farm advantage could have been much stronger.
Remember that during the entire early game phase, USA never sent a single hero top, leaving AZEN's Alchemist unopposed. However, AZEN only managed to net 36 CS at the 10-minute mark.

On top of that, AZEN leveled Goblin's Greed at Level 2, but kept the skill at Level 1 until he reached Level 8, opting to level Acid Spray. Perhaps he was afraid of a possible power push from Sentinel with heroes like Enigma, Oblivion, and Earthshaker, or perhaps he was stuck in the mindset of following a "set" build. Either way, he ran unopposed top lane and did not level his Goblin's Greed until way after Sentinel's top Tier 2 tower was taken out.

Possible Solution:
Upon seeing that Enigma was committing to pressuring bot lane, USA featured a quad-lane bot. For Alchemist, this means free farm; for RUSSIA, this means they should ward top river to protect top lane Alchemist from incoming ganks and send Vengeful Spirit and Witch Doctor to deal with the strong pressure bot lane. AZEN's farming was poor compared to his normal performance, so this is definitely something that could have been better. Alchemist could have also skilled his Goblin's Greed earlier, upon seeing that Sentinel wasn't going to send any heroes top lane.

As you can see in the following Gold Timeline chart, we can compare Spectre's total gold income compared to Alchemist's total gold income. In fact, Invoker was leading the gold income tab for RUSSIA most of the time.





Final Word:
The quad-lane strategy enabled USA to wipe bot lane entirely, as there was only a solo Lich to deal with the massive push power and it was tremendously easy for USA to tower dive for the First Blood. While this was not the manner in which the originally discussed quad-lane to be used (the speculation that the quad-lane might be used versus a standard tri-lane), it did enable USA to seize bot lane advantage, though sacrificing their top lane.

Most importantly in this game, during the picks and bans, USA did well to pick Spectre as a direct hard-carry counter to Alchemist. When given the same amount of late-game farm/gold, Spectre will outcarry Alchemist. It's true that Alchemist can farm faster throughout the whole game, so USA was putting a lot of confidence behind PowerNet's Spectre to farm up as they turtled. USA were successful in base defenses, executing powerful AoE combos several times. This allows PowerNet's Spectre to outfarm AZEN's Alchemist by the 30-minute mark and guarantee victory.