Fnatic and Alliance through to EMS playoffs from group B

Group B summary

Group B started off with Alliance versus last minute replacement ONE.dota. Nothing much can be said about this game considering it was very one-sided due to the apparent lack of practice the Serbians claimed prior to the match. Alliance's split push strategy easily outmaneuvered ONE and it only took the Swedes 25 minutes to double their opponents' kills and force the "gg".

After the relatively quick game, it is time for Startale, the first Korean Dota 2 team to compete outside their home country, versus Fnatic who was without the presence of their secondary solo player Kalle 'Trixi' Saarinen. Instead, it was Danijel 'Street' Remus, Fnatic's General Manager who stood-in for the team. While many expected the match to be relatively one-sided, Startale managed to put up a really good fight and was this close to winning if not for their poor decision making. Noah 'MP' Pyo was even able to snatch two Aegis from Fnatic to further delay the game but their ultimate downfall was due to the lack of Midas. Going into late-game, Fnatic started outfarming the Koreans and pulled away for the tough win.

With Trixi still on his way to the event after the second match, the organizers decided to play the loser bracket first and Startale was once against up to face ONE.dota. Looking back, EMS One Fall will go down in history books as the event the Koreans took a game off an European team, albeit an unprepared one. Startale had better movement around the map from the get-go at the expense of their supports' levels. However, that created enough space for Tinker to farm the ancients and the lanes before taking over the game with Dagon, Blink Dagger and a Scythe of Vyse. ONE stood no chance against the constant Rocket spams from Clockwerk and Tinker. Startale took 39 minutes to clear ONE's barracks to move onto the loser bracket final.

By the time the game ended, Trixi has arrived at the event and the organizers quickly started the match without much delay. Once again opting for a split push line-up, Fnatic punished Alliance heavily early on, especially after they won their first team fight and subsequently bought three Midas. Fnatic then moved on to kill Roshan and more or less confined Alliance in their own base due to constant threat from the Lifestealer Bomb. Alliance did took one good fight off in mid-game off Fnatic's overconfidence but the European mix did not repeat their mistake a second time. Fnatic took no time in pushing the bottom lane and with most of their heroes dying twice, Alliance tapped out, guaranteeing Fnatic a spot in the playoffs.

The final game of group B is basically do-or-die time for both Alliance and Startale. While Startale did not expect themselves to win against Alliance, they still tried their best to go up against the champion of The International 3. Unfortunately for the Koreans, their journey in EMS One will end here as Alliance, through several pick-offs uncoordinated Startale movements net Jonathan 'Loda' Berg's Gyrocopter a Triple Kill and soon later, an Ultra Kill. The game was more or less over by that point but Startale, sporting perseverance, fought to the bitter end and only pulled out the white flag after they lost the deciding teamfight.

VODs of Group B