In an unrivaled spectacle, EG barely overcame SG to head into the semi-finals after hard fought 2-1. The Brazillians leave the tournament with heads up high after delivering a show worthy of being compared with some of the best games in Dota 2 history.
Game One
Both teams set a cautious tempo in game one. EG avoided the pitfall of underestimating their opponents and gave all due respect to SG.
No team had a significant advantage in the laning stage, but EG pushed the pedal first, and started dancing around the map, getting kill after kill and frustrating their opponents in the later stages of the early game.
Eventually, SG managed to catch up with two team engagements and from this point further, the teams slowed down the tempo and team clashes would erupt in a contest for the Aegis near the Roshan pit.
In a rollercoaster of fights, EG and SG would swing the advantage back and forth until about 60 minutes into the game, when EG managed to establish a lead again and attempt to siege the enemy base. SG's valiant efforts drove EG's forays back. An aggressive smoke into EG's jungle spelled their doom, as the NA team managed to get the perfect setup for a team fight and made short work of the Braziliian heroes. Without buybacks, the Radiant base did not last long and EG claimed the first victory in the series.
Game Two
SG were not to go down easily and put up a good fight in the second game. Nevertheless, EG set themselves up for a better early game thanks to great performance from a roaming Ludwig "Zai" Wåhlberg on Riki.
EG had the advantage, but it was insufficient for them to steamroll and end the game. Despite getting more kills in this stage of the game, SG's Terrorblade was given plenty of space to farm, while EG slowly built their advatage.
And then, Otavio "Tavo" Gabriel came onto the stage. Impressive as he was in the first game, he truly shined on Enigma in the second. Of course, he was greatly helped by his teammate on Puck, whose heavy lockdown Dream Coil build was a key way for the Brazilians to control EG's lineup. A careless EG were caught next to Roshan and a Coil-Black hole wombo-combo had them team wiped.
SG were happy to fight EG in the ultra late game and after an hour of play having secured Roshan, they marched down EG's base. Despite pushing them away, another three-man Black Hole from Tavo five minutes later meant that EG had to admit defeat.
Game Three
The last game in the series was packed with a lot more action and higher pace and among the epic battles, there were three team wipes.
EG went for an aggressive trilane, which did not pay off immediately, as SG's trio faired better in the top lane. However, the other two lanes went amazingly for EG with Syed “SumaiL” Sumail Hassan dominating the mid lane with his Puck and Saahil “Universe” Arora getting plenty farm in the bot lane.
The teams started trading kills, but EG yet again proved more successful with the rotations and started to gain control. Universe played a crucial role in the early game with his Legion Commander getting a record number of Duel damage.
While EG managed to team wipe SG first and win fight after fight, EG fans nearly got a heart attack when the Brazilians managed to kill all five of them in a Roshan contest after about 34 minutes of play. Several minutes later, things went even more sour for EG, as the Brazilians forced their way into their base and managed to secure a set of barracks in the bot lane. EG were in a sticky situation, but they found the strength to repel their foes and eventually team wiped SG yet again in the Roshan pit, with SumaiL blinking and setting up his team to destroy SG after 46 minutes of play.
There were no more swings in the game and SG gave their best to stop EG, but in the late hours of Day 3, there was going to be only one winner and that was deservedly EG.
Despite elimination, the Brazilians leave a lasting impression as they head home, and the future of competitive DOTA for the South America region looks bright.
