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Dota 29 years ago

Too opaque for Shazam: compLexity qualify for Epicenter Moscow

Shazam and compLexity gave American Dota fans an entertaining five-game series in their attempts to qualify for Epicenter Moscow, with compLexity claiming the series 3-2.

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In the finals of the Americas qualifiers for Epicenter Moscow, compLexity and Shazam did battle in a series that became more hotly contested as it went on. The best-of-five series went the distance, with compLexity just managing to edge the series 3-2. compLexity have thus qualified for Epicenter Moscow.

The series started with two relatively one-sided games. Shazam took game one on the back of a dominant Outworld Devourer performance from Arif 'MSS' Anwar. In game two, Rasmus 'chessie' Blomdun showed that he is a force to be reckoned with on Invoker and his stellar performance allowed compLexity to walk away with game two.

Game three was a tense affair, with Shazam holding on to a small gold lead up until a crucial teamfight at 25 minutes into the game. From there, compLexity gained a great deal of confidence. compLexity held onto a lead of their own for about five minutes, until Shazam managed to wipe compLexity and up the pressure. compLexity managed to weather the storm, slowly farming where they could and gaining a gold lead. They used this lead to eventually claim the game.

Game four was a story that many may have seen in their pubs of late. compLexity picked a line-up with earlier timings, including a Gyrocopter for Kyle 'swindlemelonzz' Freedman and Earth Spirit for Zakari 'ZfreeK' Freedman. Shazam chose to secure the late-game by picking a Spectre for Tyler 'TC' Cook. As expected, compLexity used the early-game strength of their line-up effectively, constantly controlling the map and taking objectives. However, despite their best efforts, compLexity were unable to push high-ground, even with a 20k gold lead at 30 minutes. Slowly but surely, TC farmed his items. compLexity’s line-up began to fall off. Shazam claimed the fourth Roshan of the game, put it on TC, and pushed for compLexity’s bottom lane. By the force of the Aegis of the Immortal and buybacks from MSS’s Invoker and TC’s Spectre, Shazam succeeded in breaking compLexity’s base and winning the game.

Game five was another back-and-forth affair. Shazam picked a highly greedy line-up by snagging a Sven for TC and a Templar Assassin for MSS. Shazam succeeded in claiming a small gold lead in the early game. This was not grown, as compLexity managed to get more out of the map in the mid-game. compLexity also set themselves up for late-game nicely by forcing TC and MSS to use their Black King Bar charges to survive small skirmishes. This meant that they had short durations in the critical fights past 45 minutes.

The fight that turned the game is one that occurred nearby the Roshan pit at around 47 minutes. Shazam executed perfectly, managing to kill all 5 of compLexity’s heroes while only losing one hero of their own. Shazam then decided to push for compLexity’s throne, working it down to one-third health before enough of compLexity’s team revived to defend what was left of their base. compLexity then pushed themselves and got wiped on the back of buybacks from Shazam. Finally, in the final fight of the game, a well-timed ravage from swindlezz turned the fight. compLexity were able to kill most of the Shazam squad and finish off the throne before they revived.

In the end, compLexity emerged as the victors. They can look forward to facing up against some of the top teams in the world at the Epicenter LAN in Russia. In the coming weeks, the remainder of the field will be decided. Play starts in Russia on the 9th of May. Keep an eye on GosuGamers to see who will qualify and, after all is said and done, who will win Epicenter!