Dominating the lanes is critical to initiating early pushes. I believe this is the reason for EG's early use of Smoke of Deceit ganks, allowing them to get some kills and dominate their lanes, delaying Na'Vi's pushes. It's worth noticing that they waited to see if Na'Vi would scout them (which is possible, with a Nature's Prophet treant) before getting the Smoke of Deceit from the courier, hiding their plans. With these, they drew first blood from killed Nature's Prophet and Death Prophet, getting in a very comfortable position. They won mid and bottom lanes, and held their own at the top. Nature's Prophet wasn't getting any farm or experience on the bottom lane, and Na'Vi needed him to start their pushes. Their solution to this problem was driven by their lack of a natural hard-lane solo: Nature's Prophet abandoned the bottom lane completely, going into Dire's woods. By doing this, they make sure Nature's Prophet will get some farm and experience. The tradeoff is complete freefarm for Misery's Mirana. The decision is the best possible giving their picks, but it's still bad for Na'Vi.
At the 7:00 mark, Na'Vi manages to stabilize the game a little. They're behind 4-0, but the farm is almost equal for both teams, with only Death Prophet lagging behind a little (Mirana 41/22, Oblivion 32/5, Windrunner 16/4; Razor 42/10, Death Prophet 19/5, Nature's Prophet 14/1). The free bottom lane allowed Mirana a quick Hand of Midas, which will means even more gold and experience for her.
At the 8:00 minute mark, Na'Vi starts pushing the top lane. Windrunner escapes the gank from the flank, giving EG the chance to send other heroes in and defend the tower. With Pugna, Venomancer and Windrunner, EG hold the push, killing Tidehunter and delaying Na'Vi even more. Without taking down towers early in the game, Na'Vi are both map control and space to farm. While Death Prophet now has a free lane to farm, the bottom lane is a lost case for Na'Vi: Sand King and Mirana are pushing the tower and getting everything the lane has to offer.
The first tower destroyed in game is Na'Vi's first tier bottom tower, at 11:50. The timing is good for EG: they still haven't lost any towers, and now they're sitting on gold and level advantages. Fortunately for Na'Vi, they managed to deny the tower, preventing Playmate's Sand King from getting a very early Dagger. Na'Vi manages to get their first tower around 12:30, much later than they wished. Towers continue to be destroyed on the map, with Pugna claiming the middle lane first tower tower at 13:10, getting a lot of gold for himself and his entire team. Na'Vi can't find themselves in a good position for pushing, because the complicated early game meant that Nature's Prophet and Shadow Shaman got a very late lvl6.
Na'Vi is in a very precarious position, but Dendi the Superman swooped in for the rescue. There's no kryptonite to stop him. With the aid of a Haste rune, at the 14:50 mark, he grabs a triple kill while damaging EG's top lane second tier tower a bit. However, Na'Vi needs to hurry. If the plan is to force the 5v5 next to EG base with Exorcism, Eye of the Storm and Mass Serpent Wards, then the best timing is around 25-30 minutes. They only have ten minutes left.
At the 16:40 mark, EG and Na'Vi trade towers. EG destroys the top tower (killing Razor in the process) and have enough time to save their tower from destruction. Na'Vi manages to get this tower at the 18:30 mark (and notice how they ward the Radiant's jungle just after taking the tower. This is how you react to either taking or losing a tower: you place a ward to get map control), and keeps going for the the second tier tower, taking half of its HP before retreating.
At the 20:30 mark, Death Prophet is arrow-ed by Mirana next to the middle lane. Both she and Shadow Shaman dies in the process, opening a window for EG to push the mid lane. While four heroes damage the middle lane second tier tower, Sand King is able to farm on the bottom lane, getting the necessary gold for his Dagger.
At the 22:40 mark, Na'Vi takes EG's middle lane first tier tower. At the same time, EG destroy Na'Vi's bottom lane second tier tower. Mirana already has her Manta Style. EG can make such trade because they had tower advantage before, allowing them such option.
At 23:20, Na'Vi manages to find and kill Oblivion and Venomancer in Dire's jungle. With the option of either pushing or taking Roshan, Na'Vi opts for the later. Na'Vi claims the Aegis of the Immortal and a huge fight ensues. Windrunner hits a beautiful Shackleshot, setting up Sand King's Epicenter. However, they can't kill Death Prophet, who's rescued by Tidehunter. Other Na'Vi heroes comes to fight, and Na'Vi is able to preserve the Aegis while losing only two heroes. EG lost four heroes in the outcome of the battle.
Right now, we're on the 26:00 minute mark, and Razor has almost 5000 gold. He has a lot of options here. He can buy some item to deal damage; he can get even more tanky with Heart of Tarrasque; or he can buy Aghanim Scepter and go for an all-in push with the other heroes. The last option was the one I was expecting, but not the one taken by Razor. He goes for Heart of Tarrasque, with hopes of tanking all the damage the Radiant team has. Na'Vi use the advantage from the Roshan engagement to take EG's bottom tier two tower and rotate middle to continue pressuring their opponents. A good Shackleshot from Lacoste's Windrunner isolates Shadow Shaman. After the teamfight, Na'Vi has lost three heroes and their momentum.
With the Heart of Tarrasque on Razor, Na'Vi goes to push EG's middle lane second tier tower. A big fight turns in favor of Na'Vi, who claim the lives of Mirana and Oblivion, forcing a buyback from Misery, while losing Nature's Prophet. Mirana is the only hero with enough DPS to take out Death Prophet and Razor. If Na'Vi manages to kill her one more time, they'll have a huge window to push EG's base.
I'd like to point out Sand King's decision to buy Boots of Travel. It's a very nice decision. Boots of Travel not only allows you better control of the lanes, but it also diminishes Nature's Prophet's power. A second Boots of Travel would make EG's squad even more powerful. The game enters a more passive farming stage as both sides prepare for the late game. Na'Vi has Nature's Prophet, but he's not as equipped as he wanted to be, being forced to hold the Mekanism. On EG's side, Mirana is their best choice of dealing damage.
The farming stage ends at the 34:40 mark. Because of a vitally important ward at the top rune, EG is able to spot Death Prophet maneuvering to the mid lane. This gives Mirana a good opportunity to land an unexpected, difficult to dodge arrow. This is how a player should use Mirana's arrow. With Death Prophet dead, EG destroy Na'Vi's middle lane second tier tower. Dendi buys back and Na'Vi react by going to Roshan, taking him down with Exorcism.
At 36:50, disaster strikes EG. A big Shackleshot gives them a great opportunity to win another fight, but Sand King misses the timing on Epicenter, Blinking in too early and wasting his ultimate. As a consequence, Mirana dies once again. This means that Na'Vi can push really hard right now, as Mirana has no buyback. Na'Vi goes for it, destroying both the second and third tier towers on the middle lane. This is the situation they wanted, a big fight in EG's base. That's when Mirana comes back, and EG repels Na'Vi. Sand King achieves redemption by landing a triple kill, and EG teamwipes Na'Vi.
At 42:00, another big fight occurs at the entrance of EG's base, as Na'Vi is trying to push once again. EG engages them outside the base, not allowing Na'Vi a chance to plant Mass Serpent Wards in range of their buildings. Even with a non-optimal Epicenter and with Sand King missing the subsequent Burrowstrike, EG is able to repel Na'Vi once again, killing two heroes and forcing a buyback from Razor.
At 45:00, a risky decision from Sand King puts EG in peril again. He tries to snipe Nature's Prophet on the solo lane with Epicenter and Burrowstrike. Nature's Prophet is able to turn him into a chicken and teleport to safety. This opens yet another window for Na'Vi to push, now not having to deal with Epicenter. Again, Na'Vi goes for it, planting the Mass Serpent Wards in EG's base and damaging it with Exorcism. Thanks to a double damage rune on Mirana, EG is once again able to repel Na'Vi without losing the barracks.
After winning the last battle, EG goes for a counter-push. A well-landed arrow on Nature's Prophet gives them the opening to destroy Na'Vi's middle lane third tier tower. Na'Vi loses some more heroes and are forced into more buybacks, but they manage to repel EG without losing their barracks.
At 48:00, the last scene of this game: Na'Vi goes to kill Roshan once again. EG contests it, and a big fight happens. Thanks to BKBs, Tidehunter's Ravage isn't that efficient. Once again, brilliant Shackleshots from Windrunner seal the deal, allowing EG to wipe Na'Vi once again. GG is called.
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EG
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