First day of Dream League Season 3 at DreamHack Summer in Jönköping Sweden was quite a tense one as the rank three to six teams of the online league played in a double elimination bracket to settle which two were to move on to the second phase of the playoffs. At the end of the day the two BU of the tournament, Burden United and Basically Unknown fell short while Na’Vi and NiP emerged victorious.
Twice BU
The debut game in Jönköping Sweden was played between Burden United and Basically Unknown. While Burden United qualified for the LAN stage, Basically Unknown, a team that basically disbanded after The International 5 qualifiers, took the trip to DreamHack Summer as a replacement for Team Empire. This being the last LAN event that they would attend in this formula, Basically Unknown had nothing to lose and they chose to go for an extremely team fight oriented draft that shined in the early – mid stage of the game (Leshrac, Tidehunter, Ogre Magi, Disruptor and Gyrocopter). Getting a lot of pickoffs courtesy of Disruptor’s impeccable rotations and plays, Basically Unknown found themselves in a confortable leading position. Forcing the issues as they started to play five man DotA lead to a fast map control but at the same time they lost from sights SingSing’s Anti Mage who didn’t get involved in the early action preferring to meticulously farm and once his Manta Style was done the split push started to cause problems. 34 minutes into the game Basically Unknown decided to smoke as five and go for the first Roshan kill of the game but the move being a bit too obvious Burden United was not shy to contest and they out played and out maneuvered Basically Unknown forcing a team fight in which not the kills were the main objective but keeping them busy as long as possible and give SingSing’s Anti Mage time to take a tier three tower and melee racks. By the time Basically Unknown managed to teleport back home it was already too late. Being in the situation where they had the base exposed, the Aegis lost in favor of Burden United and not having enough anti push power Basically Unknown had to call out the GG.
New record for Dendi
The other BO1 series brought together Natus Vincere and Ninja in Pyjamas, two teams that have a lot to prove to the audience but most important to themselves. While NiP is on home soil and the recent gold medalist of jD-MLG at X Games in Austin, Na’Vi is for the first time with a complete roster at a LAN event. Although they attended MarsTV DotA 2 League in Shanghai last week, they had to play without their captain ArtStyle who didn’t receive his visa in time. However, this time around, Na’Vi came with their full roster and they’ve shown they are ready to take down NiP despite the fact that Swedes are the audience’s favorites. Actually the determination of Na’Vi can be seen in Dendi’s new record for this patch, as he managed to kill 81 creeps in the first ten minutes of the game with his Shadow Fiend. Given the fact that NiP opted for an aggressive line-up with an Undying as a first pick for Handsken, a Puck for Limmp and the signature hero Axe for Jonassomfan, Na’Vi response came with an equally offensive line up: Shadow Fiend for Dendi, Leshrac for XBOCT and Spirit Breaker for Funn1k. Realizing in time that NiP is going for an aggressive tri lane, Na’Vi dodged it, forcing the Swedes to rearrange their lanes and waste time and resources which translated in an early game loss of tempo that allowed Na’Vi to take the game and advance in the winner bracket playoffs – phase one while NiP were sent to the lower bracket.
XBOCT unleashed vs Burden United
Advancing in the Upper Bracket playoffs Na’Vi had to face for the first BO3 series of the day, Burden who somehow allowed the Ukrainian squad to run a very similar draft with the one that marked their return in The International 5 qualifiers; Pugna, Winter Wyvern, Puck, Undying, Dark Seer. Their lack of vision in the drafting stage costed Burden United a lot as nine minutes into the game there was no safe lane left for them, all the towers melting down to Pugna’s Nether Blast. With an insane team fight potential on their side and an unstoppable pushing force, Na’Vi breached the enemy base at the 20 minute mark and they took the first game of the series in less than 30 minutes.
Being one win away to ensure their advance into the Dream League’s playoffs, Natus Vincere looked determined to end the day fast. Choosing for Sonneiko’s Winter Wyvern as a first pick followed by a Gyrocopter, Na’Vi unveiled enough information about their team fights intentions for BU to counter them with a Shadow Demon – Slardar - Centaur Warrunner heavy control combo. Even so, Na’Vi surprised everyone with their Pudge last pick for Dendi. As expected Dendi’s hooks landed perfectly and the early game was entirely dominated by Na’Vi while XBOCT found all the farm needed in order to allow him to go full XBOCT style with dives up to the enemy fountain. Only 32 minutes into the game Burden United had to call out the GG. While BU had to wait for the last game of the day to decide their faith in the tournament Na’Vi went for a well deserved break for the rest of the day, which gives them plenty of time to prepare for their first game tomorrow versus Alliance.
The end of Basically Unknown
Being an elimination series, the confrontation between these two teams counted tremendously as the winner of the BO3 series would advance further into the tournament while the losers will end their Dream League journey. High stake like this made the two teams to play with a bit more caution which translated in the longest games of the day. The common grounds for both of the games that have been played were on one hand Era playing intellect heroes (Queen of Pain and Storm Spirit) and on the other hand the constant Roshan obsession from NiP who managed to claim every Aegis that was up for grabs. The first game from the BO3 series was the longest game of the day, hitting 60 minutes of intense DotA plays. Despite the fact the entire match was all about trading kills back and forth, killing Roshan on cooldown, with a total of a five Aegis on their side, NiP cornered Basically Unknown in their base for the last 15 minutes of the game to finally make the GG push when the clock reached the 58 minute mark.
Continuing the intellect hero trend for Era, Ninja in Pyjamas drafted a Storm Spirit this time sending him in the middle lane, babysat by Rubik (Sealkid). Throughout the entire laning phase NiP accrued a big gold and experience advantage by getting pick offs while their Bristleback (Jonassomfan) was free farming with impunity. Although Ar1se found the farm and the kills with his Shadow Fiend, the same Roshan obsession that they’ve shown in the first game lead NiP to further their advantage and allowed them to pick team fights on their terms and slowly but surely they’ve secured the game and eliminated Basically Unknown from the tournament.
Burden United outplayed, outclassed out of the tournament
It obviously was a very long day for both Burden United and Ninja in Pyjamas who had to fight their way out from the lower bracket and they had to gather all the inner strength in order to advance to the day two of Dream League Season 3. Going into the game one draft, NiP opened with a well-known duo these days, Pugna - Undying while BU grabbed Leshrac and Treant Protector to delay a bit the obvious push strategy. Beside the fact that they had the hero combo on their side, NiP kept on the forcing fights around the Roshan Pit which brought them the victory once gain.
With awesome plays from Johanssomfan (Legion Commander) for the second game of the series Ninja in Pyjamas outplayed, outmaneuvered and outclassed Burden United and they sealed the deal in only 25 minutes to advance into the second double elimination bracket that will begin tomorrow at Jönköping.
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