EG won their first tournament for the calendar 2017 and avenged OG for eliminating them from the Boston Major. The final will also be remembered as the longest one in Dota 2 history due to a number of technical difficulties causing a delay of several hours.
Game One
The first draft did not look as if either side would get the advantage from the start. OG had a very strong sustain lineup, while Evil Geniuses one looked very much alike a 6.88 draft.
EG drew first blood after Jesse "JerAx" Vainikka was caught unprepared. The laning stage went on to be a contested one, but neither team committed too heavily. OG made use of EG’s two failed ganks, but the NA team still scored several kills for themselves.
Going into the mid game, both teams continued to play the farming game with the occasional clashes. This benefited mostly Anathan "ana" Pham Alchemist, who was growing stronger and stronger and EG’s ability to cope with him diminished with every passing minute. OG started advancing towards EG’s base, inflicting casualties on EG’s side in the process. The key moment came when a misjudged gank attempt got Syed Sumail "SumaiL" Hassan killed and without buyback, his team was unable to do anything to stop OG and lost the first game after 31 minutes.
Game Two
An interesting minus armor strategy for OG, while EG went for trendy picks, such as Lone Druid and Earth Spirit in the draft phase. The second game offered cautious play from both teams in the first several minutes, before a technical problem led to a delay of several hours.
Starved for blood from the delay, the two teams grabbed themselves by the throats and after 12 minutes of play the score was 7-14 in favour of EG. More clashes followed, but the score was always in EG favour. The first Roshan also fell in their hands and after 28 minutes of play, the team made their first successful high ground push, eliminating the top barracks. The game continued to be as action packed, but EG were keeping their advantage (17-31 after 34 minutes of play. The final push came three minutes later and a great Black Hole from Saahil "UNiVeRsE" Arora made the last team fight in OG's base quite one-sided.
Game Three
EG went for a good all-round lineup with lots of sustain, while OG had plenty of magic damage heroes at their disposal, as well as a Slark.
The NA team was generally happier with the laning phase, but OG won bot where s4 was creating a lot of space for his team. In terms of kills, neither team was prevailing.
Both teams moved safely in numbers around the map as the mid game approached. EG focused more on farming, while OG were a lot more active in their intentions – pushing towers, establishing map control and looking for fights. EG’s passive game led to the destruction of all of their tier two towers by the 32nd minute. A minute later, OG were knocking on the high ground door, but were repelled. Five minutes later they attempted another push that did not achieve anything at the time.
Then the two team settled for farming game for a while with occasional clashes, but after Luna was killed after a 46th minute team fight, OG were rewarded with a set of top barracks. Feeling the taste of victory in their mouths, OG stormed the high ground only two minutes later and after a desperate struggle from EG, the green team was ahead in the series with 2-1.
Game Four
EG had a very good team fight magic damage draft with good ganking potential, while OG drafted more farming oriented with two defensive supports.
The game started in a dynamic fashion and both teams started exchanging kills right from the start. EG’s aggressiveness however, began to give results and after eight minutes they had three thousand gold lead. They pressed on their advantage and started taking down towers, further increasing the score on the board in their favour.
EG took down all tier one towers after 15 minutes of play and at the 24th minute and managed to take down a tier three tower after a high ground push. EG’s momentum and team fight execution was hard to stop and although OG did they best, it was a matter of time, before the inevitable happens. Having killed Roshan, EG got their first set of barracks around the 34th minute and despite a brave defense from OG, after 48 minutes they had to admit that they were bettered.
Game Five
EG made similar picks to game two, while OG’s lineup offered a lot of options in ganking, as well as good physical damage.
The first blood this time was on Andreas Franck "Cr1t-" Nielsen’s hands, but OG retaliated and both team exchanged several kills in the early minutes of the game. The players on each side began to team up early and it was EG who took down the first tier one tower.
It was essential which team would initiate first In the forthcoming team fights. The first serious team clash was around the 16th minute when EG managed to team wipe OG. Despite the setback, OG did not give in and with a couple of kills on their side not only got back into the game, but also gained the upper hand for a while.
The two sides continued canceling each other until the 26th minute, when EG made the most of their initiation, killed four of OG and got Roshan. From this point forward, EG started dictating what was happening on the map and building up their advantage.
Having killed Roshan 38 minutes into the game, EG turned their looks to the enemy high ground. A great chance presented itself three minutes later and EG brought down the top melee barracks. Only a couple of minutes later EG finished the ranged one, as well. OG were still in the game, but Johan "N0tail" Sundstein’s Sniper was caught off guard by EG and died without having a buyback. Once EG got rid of OG’s hard carry, there was not much that could stand in their way and soon the throne was down after 50 minutes of play.
Evil Geniuses claimed victory and gained nearly $63 000 in winnings, along with the trophy for DotA Pit League Season 5.
