With an impressive comeback from a 2-0 deficit, Team Dog managed to take down Empire in one of the two best-of-five play-off matches of the ESL European main qualifier. The second best-of-five series between Cloud9 and Fnatic will take place on April 29th.
The ESL One LAN finals are fast approaching, and eight of the strongest teams in the world will travel to Frankfurt, Germany to battle for the massive $150,000. the ESL organization gave the chance to all DotA teams, amateur and professional, to join Na'Vi and Alliance in the tournament finals, with extensive regional qualifiers for the East and West.
The European qualifiers for ESL One 2014 are about to conclude, and determine the three European teams that will travel to Germany. The four winners of the main groupstage battle each other in two best-of-five matches, and each victor qualifies. DOG was the first to cross the finish line today after an astonishing comeback against Team Empire. Through their feat, the players of DOG earned the right to participate in the tournament finals, which will be held at Commerzbank Arena, Frankfurt in June.
Advancing to the finals was not an easy task for DOG.The Russians took the lead in the first game after a valiant defense by DOG, with the latter using the Naga Siren - Centaur - Ancient Apparition combo to prolong the game as much as possible. Maintaining their momentum, Empire grabbed their second victory through the notorious global spell arsenal of Spectre, Ancient Apparition and Invoker.
With a 2-0 deficit, many spectators believed that Team DOG was done for - but they could not have been further away from truth. The third game was a full fledged stomp for Pajkatt's boys, with a very successful aggressive trilane that crippled the early impact of Empire's supports. FATA's invincible Wraith Knight paired with the farmed Nature's Prophet and Mirana gave no chance to Empire, with the Russians being forced to call the GG with 6-28 on the scoreboard. The fourth and fifth games were a personal recital by Arif 'MSS' Anwar, who pulled off two incredible performances on Axe to secure the victory for his teammates (even helping FATA's Outworld Devourer catch up after a 0-3 score during the first five minutes of the fourth game).
The second best-of-five playoff match of the European qualifier will be held tomorrow, with Fnatic taking on Cloud9 at 19:00 CET. The winner will join Na'Vi, Alliance and DOG in Frankfurt. The two losers still have the chance to advance, as they will join the second and third placers of the four groups in a single elimination bracket. The sole survivor of this demanding bracket will be the last European finalist of ESL One.
For more information about the qualifiers, check out our coverage hub here.
For more information about the ESL One 2014 tournament, visit the official website.
