photo credits: @NewbeeCN
A handful of Group B matches marked the latter half of Ti6's group stage day one with a number of impressive showings from the teams, particularly the Chinese ones
Team Secret's secret: Huskar and Io
Team Secret drafted the duo for Artour 'Arteezy' Babaev and Johan 'pieliedie' Åström for three of the four games they played, the last one denied by MVP.phx.
In their first series against Vici Gaming Reborn, Secret executed the Huskar-Io strat wonderfully in game one. With an unusual Axe pick for EternalEnvy’s safelane, it was on Arteezy and pieliedie to seal the victory for Secret and that they did. Early on, the VG.R Shadow Demon-Mirana duo proved to be problematic, but with attention elsewhere Arteezy got a free lane, and just spiraled out of control into the midgame.
While VG.R had a great teamfight lineup on paper, it just wasn’t enough to stop the European squad, and Secret closed the game out in 35 minutes. Like game one, Secret went with their Huskar-Io duo, this time pulling a support Kunkka for Clement 'Puppey' Ivanov out of their back pocket. The pirate captain proved to be a good fit for Secret’s leader, whose Torrents were on point throughout the game. VG.R crumbled under the weight of Secret and called gg around 35 minutes, giving Secret a 2-0 victory.
In their second series against MVP, Secret made a similar draft to game two of their series against VGR with a DP for Jacky 'EternalEnvy' Mao instead of Ursa. The Koreans went with a fairly passive lineup which just wasn't up to snuff to deal with the Secret's aggression and Secret claimed game one. MVP learned quick from their mistake however, and banned out the Huskar, forcing an Alchemist and Batrider for Arteezy and EE. MVP brought the aggression right away to Secret, with Dooyoung 'DuBu' Kim on the Spirit Breaker just constantly charging across the map. With a non-stop brawl from 12 minutes on, MVP finally came out on top with a 7000 gold lead, which they put to good use taking map control and eventually the game, ending the series in a draw.
EHOME and Newbee: the strength of Chinese DOTA
EHOME and Newbee both had great showings in this first round of group B. Aggressiveness and coordination defined EHOME’s opening series against Fnatic. Incredible plays coming from the disgustingly strong ganking trio, Bane-Mirana- Nyx Assassin put Fnatic behind from the laning stage. EHOME shut down Chong 'Ohayio' Xin Khoo's Batrider making a decently timed Blink Dagger impossible while also putting pressure on Yee 'Mushi' Fung Chai's Lifestealer. Eventually, EHOME steam rolled over Fnatic with a beyond godlike Mirana played by Zhiyong 'oldchicken' Wang only 10 minutes into the game, taking game one.
Continuing their momentum into game two, EHOME secured a Luna–Shadow Demon illusion push strat, which faltered in the laning stage as Fnatic came out on top. However, EHOME worked like a well oiled machine and gathered as five in the midgame to prevent Fnatic’s timing for high ground push. Good control over Roshan and an Aegis placed on Luna allowed them to turn the game in their favor and they took the series with a clean 2-0 score.
Thier second series didn't go as swimmingly as EHOME faced off against Team Liquid. Game one went in favour of Liquid, with Kuro 'KuroKy-' Salehi Takhasomi and Jesse 'JerAx' Vainikka, on a Bounty Hunter and Rubick respectively, controlling the EHOME line up continuously. With Track kills and farm adding up, Liquid took control of the game and denied the chance for an EHOME comeback. Game two went much differently however as EHOME claimed complete control of the early game and looked set to take a rather quick game with their lineup. However, Team Liquid began to make a rather noticeable comeback through Lasse 'Matumbaman' Urpalainen on the Anti-Mage. But this time it was EHOME denied any space for a comeback, and with mega creeps knocking on their throne, Liquid had no chance, and the series ended in a draw.
In their first series against Liquid, Newbee looked a bit shaky at first. Game one was marked by a very reactive draft for Newbee, changing up their game tempo with a last pick Sven, relegating their Naga to offlane. The change wasn’t what spelled disaster for the Chinese squad, but execution as Liquid simply took control of the game with their solid play: Matumbaman and Adrin 'FATA-' Trinks absolutely dominating. Game two was a different story as Newbee simply outplayed the Liquid squad early, looking to take revenge from their loss in game one. However, as the game transitioned into the midgame, Liquid slowly took back map control with their Lycan-Ion shell combo. As the game went on however, it was the control from the Newbee lineup that cost Liquid the game, ending the series in a draw.
Newbee had a great showing in their series against Chinese counterparts VG.R. Early on, Newbee seemed to have the upper hand: their aggressive rotations proving somewhat problematic for the late-game oriented Vici lineup. However, Alchemist played by Wang 'NoNo-Fight Together' Xin still got a very nice timing for his Radiance and as the game transitioned in the mid-late game, Vici took control of the map despite being behind in kills. Pushed back to their base from a Juggernaught played by Pu 'END-Zyf-YJ' Yang and a very scary Alchemist, Newbee looked poised for a loss.
However, an extended fight from 54 minutes on, with buybacks flying left and right, gave the Newbee the momentum as they pushed back all the way to Vici's fountain. Vici repelled them and looked to take Rosh for the win. An immaculate four man Chronosphere from Zhi 'Hao' Hao Chen on the Faceless Void however secured Newbee the win as they skipped rax entirely, throning VGR. Riding their adrenaline from Game one, Newbee masterfully executed a Drow push strat, with VGR opting for an Io-Clinkz combo. However, a last pick Slardar proved to be the lynchpin for Newbee, as they surgically took down objective after objective, giving them a clean 2-0 victory.
Digital Chaos: the lone NA wolf
DC's first series against the Korean MVP squad ended in a draw, as DC looked to find their sea legs for the rest of their trip in Group B. MVP Phoenix looked set to take an easy game from the start, but a single mistake allowed Roman 'Resolut1on' Fominok on the Morphling to take down most of the barracks in the Dire base. After a long struggle between the two teams, with MVP controlling most of the kills, DC finally claimed mega creeps. Even with an extremely valiant defense from MVP against megas, DC closed out game one of the series. In the second game, MVP were not going to make any mistakes. Even though DC had some great team fights it was MVP with a Phantom Assassin played by Sun 'QO' Kim who destroyed the DC line up whenever a chance was given. DC threw in the towel after QO dove their fountain at 42 minutes, ending the series in a draw.
DC's final series for the day went much better. Up against Fnatic, DC looked hungry as they took game one fairly easily. Aliwi 'w33haaa' Omar put the game on his back with a perfect 9-0 game on Alchemist, which allowed DC to bully Fnatic’s Drow Ranger and Invoker cores, securing game one. Fnatic tried to turn things around in game two with a signature Ember Spirit pick for Nai 'Midone' Zheng Yeik. However it was not to be, as w33 and David 'Moo-Fak' Hull on the Invoker and Beastmaster played phenomenally. Fnatic called GG right before the 30 minute mark, giving a 2-0 series win for Digital Chaos.
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