The June edition of Big Point Battle came to an end today as Artyk emerged victorious. The Peruvians patiently and successfully held off Fnatic's relentless pushes en route to their first ever Big Point Battle title.
It's entirely expected to see Fnatic.EU breezing through their competition to the Grand Final as they were widely considered the favorite to win it all. On the other hand, Artyk's appearance in the Grand Final was somewhat a surprise. Their performance, however, suggested this was hardly a fluke as the Peruvians took down notable teams such as Flip.sid3, Kaipi and ICCup convincingly.
Game 1
Fnatic went with their bread-and-butter split-pushing strategy with Nature's Prophet and Keeper of the Light in their lineup. Artyk countered with an agressive, counter-push lineup of their own, picking Chen and the resurgent Naga Siren. Fnatic got off to a good start, as their perfect laning allowed them to get good farm on all three cores. However, as mid game approached, Fnatic was unable to push properly due to the Slark's disruptiveness and Naga Siren's ability to set up good teamfights. Unable to take down towers, Fnatic's gameplan unraveled. With their item and level superiority, Artyk easily took down two sets of barracks and forced Fnatic to call GG.
Game 2
Fnatic upped the ante in the second game, picking a full-siege lineup with Chen, Sniper and Omniknight. The Europeans' relentless pushing and sieging put Artyk on their backfoot in the first 20 minutes of the game. With Shrapnel spam and Sniper's long range attack with Desolator, even Treant Protector's Living Armor was not enough to stop Fnatic from taking Artyk's bottom tier-3 tower 18 minutes in. However, just like the first game, Naga Siren proved to be the X-factor. As Sniper was attacking the barracks under the protection of Repel, Smash's Naga Siren stormed out with Song of the Siren, literally caught the entire Fnatic lineup napping with the exception of the magic-immune Sniper, who was immediately blown up. The rest of Fnatic lineup also took a fall following a 3-man Overgrowth. Artyk regained map control after the engagement and Gyrocopter was able to get a lot of farm. Fnatic tried to siege a few more times to no avail, as Gyrocopter's damage output proved to be too much for them to handle. Having successfully defended their base, Artyk grouped up for a push of their own and completely demolished Fnatic's base, convincingly taking the series 2-0.
A statement victory over an European powerhouse and TI3 direct invitee, Artyk is slowly but surely proving to the DotA 2 community that they are a force to be reckoned with. The Peruvians' patient play provided a blueprint to stopping Fnatic's signature pushing strategies.
With this Big Point Battle June title, Artyk takes home €1500, while Fnatic settles for €500.
