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The experimental LAN – Team Liquid vs Planet Odd; KuroKy- vs MiSeRy-

DreamLeague Season 7: Game-by-game draft analysis between Team Liquid & Planet Odd.

It's the final LAN before The International 2017 and both grand finalists have nothing to lose. Team Liquid probably came into the LAN with a light heart, hoping to further refine their playstyle going into TI7. As for Planet Odd (PO), they would be hungry for this championship title, having not qualified for TI7. With so much at stake at TI7, this would be Kuro Salehi 'KuroKy-' Takhasomi's last chance to experiment new drafts and fine-tune it. With that said, let us head into the final draft analysis before TI7 between Team Liquid & Planet Odd.

Game 1

1st phase

PO banned Io and Spirit Breaker;

  • Io: Targeted ban against Maroun 'GH' Merhej.

  • SB: Upcoming Position 4 (at least in DreamLeague), being able to consistently put pressure on the map.
     

Liquid banned Night Stalker and Necrophos;

  • Night Stalker: KuroKy- 1st banned Nightstalker in all of the 9 games they played at DreamLeague. Not only is Nightstalker one of the best Pos 4 hero now in the game, there is also a high chance that KuroKy- is trying to bait his opponents to either 2nd ban KotL or deny pick it against them. Liquid is one of the few teams that still prioritizes KotL as GH is an absolute beast on that hero.

  • Necrophos: This ban is rather peculiar. It could just be a hero that could disrupt whatever game-plan Liquid was planning to have.
     

PO picked KotL;

  • Deny pick to Liquid.
     

Liquid picked Earthshaker and Bounty Hunter;

  • Earthshaker: Strong and versatile first phase pick.

  • Bounty Hunter: A hero that we haven't seen in a while but my guess is KuroKy- is trying to experiment with the hero going into TI7.
     

PO picked Clockwerk;

  • Extremely strong hero against both Earthshaker and Bounty Hunter during the laning phase and in team-fights. As such, Clockwerk can be effective both in the Position 3 or 4 in this game.
     

2nd phase

Liquid banned Templar Assassin and Batrider;

  • Both Liquid supports are terrible against TA's Refractions.

  • Batrider can just firefly out of any potential ganks with Fissure.
     

PO banned Anti-Mage and Juggernaut;

  • Anti-Mage: The hero made his return here at DreamLeague and Amer 'Miracle-' Barqawi is one of the best AM players out there.

  • Juggernaut: A carry that isn't really affected by Mana Leak.
     

Liquid picked Nature's Prophet;

  • KuroKy- expected a Position 4 Clockwerk and NP is one of the better laners against it as he can use Treants to tank the Battery Assault.

  • Should PO's Pos 4 hero roams, NP can easily contest the lane against a KotL with the high damage of Treants.
     

PO picked Gyrocopter;

  • A carry that can deal decently well against Treants with Flak Cannon.  

  • The downside being that NP can use his Treants to tank the Rocket Barrage damage (which is majority of Gyro's damage in the laning phase).
     

Liquid picked Viper;

  • With 2 roaming supports (Earthshaker + BH), Liquid needed a self-sustaining carry and Viper does exactly that. He can stay in lane and win most of his matchups without having much troubles.
     

PO picked Timbersaw;

  • Versatile hero that can either go offlane or mid in the context of PO's draft, leaving Rasmus 'MiSeRy-' Filipsen with more options for his last pick.

  • Timber is one of the better heroes that can survive against Earthshaker's Fissure Blocks or BH's roaming ganks in either lanes as well.
     

3rd phase

Liquid banned Tinker;

  • Tinker is one of the best heroes to deal with the split-pushing style of Nature's Prophet.

  • Liquid lineup isn't good at dealing against a Tinker.
     

PO banned Lone Druid and picked Sand King;

  • Lone Druid: Lasse 'Matumbaman' Urpalainen's classic hero which will be a strong hero to complete Liquid's death-ball lineup.

  • Sand King: PO's line up lacks stun and SK can provide the consistent lockdown during team-fights. Not to mention, it is also one of the best Position 4 hero in the current meta.
     

Liquid picked Invoker;

  • Miracle's best hero. (I will talk more about the last pick Invoker in the next section below). 
     

Win Condition

I believe that Liquid had the option and/or thought about going for a 5-man deathball lineup in game 1. However, with PO having extremely strong anti-push (Illuminate, Rocket Flare, Call Down and Chakram), it feels almost impossible for Liquid to safely push into. The last pick Invoker allowed Kuroky- and his team to shift their focus and game plan. Both Invoker and Nature's Prophet are extremely good at pushing lanes out. This gives Earthshaker and BH the opportunities to create gank attempts across the map which can easily be followed up by NP teleporting in and/or Sunstrike. This would be ideal for Liquid as small skirmishes are the best way for the team with BH to gain an advantage through Track Gold. As for PO, they need to play around their Gyrocopter and/or Timbersaw, making sure they do not get picked off unnecessarily. 

Conclusion

Both teams have a rather solid draft with their own set of game plans to execute. They both have decent laning phase and can transit into a strong mid game.

Draft Advantage: Team Liquid 50% - Planet Odd 50%

 

Game 2

1st phase

Liquid banned Nightstalker and Sand King;

  • Nightstalker: Same as game 1.

  • Sand King: A tier 1 Position 4 hero that Liquid just lost to in game 1.
     

PO banned KotL and Io;

  • Targeted bans toward GH (His 2 best heroes). With the 2nd pick, MiSeRy- is no longer able to deny pick the KotL, thus having to ban it in game 2.
     

Liquid picked Shadow Shaman;

  • Surprisingly uncontested in game 1. A tier 1 support pick in today's meta, started by the Chinese teams.
     

PO picked Earthshaker and Batrider;

  • Earthshaker: Strong and versatile first phase pick.

  • Batrider: A stable offlane hero and Sticky Napalm can really mess up a hero like Shadow Shaman who already has the slowest turn rate (0.4) in the game.
     

Liquid picked Venomancer;

  • Veno is a self-sustaining carry that matches up well against Batrider in lane.

  • Plague Wards is extremely good at disrupting Batrider's Blink initiation.

  • Provides versatility in the draft as Veno can take on multiple roles.
     

2nd phase

PO banned Juggernaut and Dragon Knight;

  • With Liquid already having Shadow Shaman and Veno, the possibility of a death-ball draft is evident. Removing the Juggernaut and DK from the pool could be targeted towards preventing a potential death-ball lineup.
     

Liquid banned Meepo and Viper;

  • Meepo: Resect ban towards Aliwi 'w33' Omar.

  • Viper: Probably just to prevent an unfavorable matchup for Miracle- in the mid lane.
     

PO picked Anti-mage;

  • As mentioned earlier, AM is making his return here at DreamLeague and is highly contested between both teams. Roman 'Resolut1on' Fominok and Miracle- are both amazing on the hero.

  • It also acts as a deny pick to Liquid.
     

Liquid picked Slardar;

  • With most of GH's heroes ban, Slardar is one of his few heroes left in the pool.

  • Has the potential to duo offlane to put pressure on the Anti-Mage.
     

PO picked Winter Wyvern;

  • Martin 'Saksa' Sazdov's classic hero.

  • Good defensive support against Slardar's initiation and Mass Serpent Ward's trap.
     

Liquid picked Outworld Devourer;

  • Astral Imprisonment can be used defensively against Batrider's initiation.

  • Can stack up Intelligence on a Cold Embraced target.
     

3rd phase

PO banned Nyx Assassin;

  • Nyx Assassin is one of the better counters against Batrider's initiation.
     

Liquid banned Razor and picked Elder Titan;

  • Razor: Removing an unfavorable matchup for Miracle's OD.

  • Elder Titan: KuroKy- might be trying to experiment with ET after seeing the Chinese teams have decent success on the hero, especially against AM. Natural Order reduces 100% of Base Armor, causing an Agility hero like Anti-Mage to become extremely squishy.
     

PO picked Puck;

  • A tempo-controlling mid-laner that can create the space for his Anti-Mage during the mid-game.

  • Great at jumping the backline heroes on Liquid such as Shadow Shaman and Elder Titan.
     

Win Condition

Team Liquid needs to pressure the Anti-Mage during the laning phase and slow down his Battle Fury timing. With a self-sustaining Veno carry, the duo supports of Liquid are free to roam and they need to help Liquid secure an early advantage from the laning phase. The blink timing on GH's Slardar is extremely important as he is the only initiator for Liquid and he is the crux to catching the farming Anti-Mage in the mid-game. As for Planet Odd, they need to play a 4-protect-1 strategy, creating space for their AM to farm. Their heroes are very strong in the mid-game and should be able to do so. However, the biggest challenge for PO would be getting the Blink Daggers on w33's Puck, David 'MoonMeander' Tan's Batrider and MiSeRy-'s Earthshaker.

Conclusion

In the late game, Liquid definitely have the tools (Corrosive Haste and Natural Order) to deal with an over-farmed AM. However, the split-pushing nature of AM can cause a lot of problems for the side of Liquid, allowing the rest of PO's lineup to catch any of Liquid's heroes who are out of positioned. Moreover, Liquid's heroes like Shadow Shaman, Venomancer and Elder Titan are pretty immobile and will have a hard time keeping up with the fast pace heroes on Planet Odd's side. Team Liquid need to force Planet Odd to follow their tempo and avoid getting pulled into the fast tempo that Planet Odd wants to play.

Draft Advantage: Team Liquid 45% - Planet Odd 55%

 

Game 3

1st phase

Liquid banned Night Stalker and Batrider;

  • Night Stalker: Same as game 1.

  • Batrider: A respect ban towards MoonMeander and a hero they had trouble against in game 2.
     

PO banned KotL and Io;

  • Same as game 2.
     

Liquid picked Earthshaker;

  • Strong and versatile first pick.
     

PO picked Rubick and Legion Commander;

  • Both picks are rather interesting as they aren't really meta picks. Having a 2-0 lead, MiSeRy- might have a specific strategy or game-plan going into game 3.

  • Rubick is also one of Saksa's go-to hero.
     

Liquid picked Lycan;

  • A Matumbaman's classic.
     

2nd phase

PO banned Shadow Shaman and Templar Assassin;

  • Shadow Shaman: A tier 1 support hero in today's meta.

  • Templar Assassin: PO's lineup has nothing to deal against Refractions and they don’t have the best lineup to contest her ancient stacks. MiSeRy- probably just didn't want to deal with a mid-game snowballing TA.
     

Liquid banned Sven and Troll Warlord;

  • Interesting bans as well, but we will understand why after seeing what Liquid picked later on in the draft.
     

PO picked Anti-Mage;

  • Highly contested carry that both teams love.
     

Liquid picked Visage;

  • Good synergy between Familiars and Howl.
     

PO picked Spirit Breaker;

  • A decent position 4 hero that found some success here at DreamLeague.

  • Good at locking down an extremely mobile Lycan.
     

Liquid picked Huskar;

  • I have a feeling that KuroKy- planned for this Huskar cheese strat since the start of the draft and here's why: 

  • KuroKy- banned out Sven and Troll Warlord in the 2nd phase. Both these heroes are more than capable to man-fight a Huskar. 

  • I believe KuroKy- expected MiSeRy- to go for Anti-Mage again, similar to game 2. And he believes that the fast-paced tempo that Huskar brings (together with Lycan) is the answer against the AM. 

  • Everything about the flow on the bans and picks was so smooth. By 4th picking the Huskar, KuroKy- knows for sure he will either get the Dazzle or Oracle as PO can only ban away one of them.
     

3rd phase

PO banned Dazzle;

  • It was either going to be Dazzle or Oracle due to the Huskar pick by Liquid.
     

Liquid banned Ancient Apparition and picked Oracle;

  • AA: KuroKy- was afraid of a Mid AA which w33 has ran before. Ice Blast is one of the best counters against Huskar. It also has good synergy with LC's duel and Spirit Breaker's initiation.

  • Oracle: Defensive support to pair with the Huskar.
     

PO picked Lina;

  • PO needed some form of pure damage burst from w33 and Queen of Pain comes to mind. However, MiSeRy- decided to go for the Lina instead.

  • Lina has the heavy amount of burst nuke damage during the early-mid game and can also transit into a heavy physical damage dealer come late game.

  • Lina is also better at defending high-ground with the nuke spams to clear the creep waves. 

  • w33 can even consider going for Aghanim's Scepter this game on the Lina for the pure damage ultimate.
     

Win Condition

Team Liquid has an insane mid-game timing which they can hit. They need to utilize this timing to take down every outer tower of PO as well as Roshan. With the Aegis in hand, Liquid will try to break high-ground. As for Planet Odd, they need to secure a good start for Anti-Mage. Liquid doesn't have the best catch for an Anti-Mage and a lot is on Resolut1on to split-push to prevent the 5-man deathball push of Liquid. The anti-push capability of Planet Odd is rather strong with Fade Bolt, Overwhelming Odds and Dragon Slave and they need to do their best to deter the push from Liquid while AM split-pushes.

Conclusion

The tempo of Liquid's lineup will be insanely fast and it will be extremely difficult for Planet Odd to keep up. However, should Planet Odd be able to hold the first Aegis push by Liquid without losing too much, Resolut1on's Anti-Mage might be able to come online just in time and put enough pressure on the other lanes, forcing Liquid out of their comfort zone.

Draft Advantage: Team Liquid 58% - Planet Odd 42%

 

Game 4

1st phase

Liquid banned Night Stalker and Batrider;

  • Same as game 3.
     

PO banned Io and KotL;

  • Same as game 3.
     

Liquid picked Earthshaker;

  • Strong and versatile first pick.
     

PO picked Shadow Shaman and Tidehunter;

  • Shadow Shaman: Tier 1 support pick.

  • Tidehunter: A peculiar pick. Newbee is the only team that still pick Tide for their offlane Damien 'Kpii' Chok and it was very interesting to see MiSeRy- picking it up here, especially in the first phase.
     

Liquid picked Rubick;

  • Instant response to the Tidehunter.

  • Can be played by both GH or KuroKy-
     

2nd phase

PO banned Huskar and Templar Assassin;

  • Huskar: PO were afraid of the cheese after what happened in game 3.

  • TA: Same as game 3.
     

Liquid banned Sand King and Meepo;

  • Sand King: Tier 1 position 4 hero still left in the pool.

  • Meepo: Respect ban towards w33.
     

PO picked Nature's Prophet;

  • This is either a Position 1 NP or a Position 3 NP with Position 4 Tide. MiSeRy- might be trying play some sort of mind games here with a rather different draft here in game 4.
     

Liquid picked Necrophos;

  • Another of Matumbaman's classic hero.

  • Self-sustaining hero that matches up decently well against either Tidehunter or Nature's Prophet, should the supports choose to roam.

  • Due to Kraken Shell, Reaper's Scythe is one of the best spell to burst down a Tide before he is able to get off Ravage.
     

PO picked Puck;

  • Good at finding backline heroes like Earthshaker and Rubick.

  • Has a decent magical burst against Necrophos' Ghost Shroud.

  • Downside of Puck being that Liquid's lineup deals pretty well against Puck with Fissure from long-range, instant telekinesis or Reaper's Scythe.
     

Liquid picked Anti-Mage;

  • Liquid's turn to pull out the Anti-Mage for Miracle-, forcing PO to have the appropriate response to deal with AM.
     

3rd phase

PO banned Dark Seer;

  • Liquid was lacking their offlane hero and Dark Seer is a targeted respect ban towards Ivan Borislavov 'MinD_ContRoL' Ivanov.
     

Liquid banned Drow Ranger and picked Nyx Assassin;

  • Drow Ranger: Drow would have been an extremely strong pick for PO, amplifying their pushing potential and become a scary deathball.

  • Nyx Assassin: Great at dealing against Puck. Spiked Carapace on Puck's Illusory Orb is one of the best ways to initiate on a Puck. Also, mana burn does a lot of damage against Puck.
     

PO picked Troll Warlord;

  • Provides decent pushing potential with Fervor and Battle Trance.

  • Able to man-fight Anti-Mage in the late game.
     

Win Condition

Previously in game 2 and 3, Planet Odd was the team with the Anti-Mage and Team Liquid had to play around a timer. Here in game 4, the scenario has been reversed. Liquid are the one that needs to play the 4-protect-1 strategy with the Anti-Mage and Planet Odd have to put on the pressure right from the get-go. The difference being that if Planet Odd can take an early advantage and apply sufficient pressure onto Liquid, their lineup actually allows them to contest a late-game Anti-Mage if he is the only farmed hero on the team.

Conclusion

I kind of feel that Planet Odd's lineup is trying to do too many things. They have decent team-fighting with Tide's Ravage and Puck's spells; Decent pushing with Troll Warlord, Nature's Prophet and Mass Serpant Wards; Decent catch against Anti-Mage. It might not be a bad thing as they can adjust their game-plan according to how the game is going for them. But I can't help but wonder if it would be better for them to just focus on one and stick to it. As such, I put the favor of the draft slightly to Liquid's favor.

Draft Advantage: Team Liquid 53% - Planet Odd 47%

 

Game 5

1st phase

PO banned Io and Necrophos;

  • Io: Targeted ban towards GH.

  • Necrophos: Not wanting to deal with Matumbaman's Necrophos after losing to it in game 4.
     

Liquid banned Nightstalker and KotL;

  • Nightstalker: Same as game 1.

  • KotL: Planet Odd had first pick and KuroKy- didn't want to play against KotL like they did in game 1.
     

PO picked Earthshaker;

  • Strong and versatile first pick.
     

Liquid picked Sand King and Zeus;

  • Sand King: Tier 1 position 4 support.

  • Zeus: It seemed like a hero that Team Liquid have been experimenting with. In game 2 of their match against Vega Squadron at DreamLeague, they picked the exact same duo support with KuroKy- on Sand King and GH on Zeus.
     

PO picked Anti-mage;

  • In game 2 and 3, MiSeRy- picked the AM in the first pick of the 2nd phase. However, in game 5, Liquid will be the team that gets first pick in the 2nd phase. As a result, MiSeRy- decided to immediately go for the Anti-Mage as his 2nd pick.

  • The first 2 Liquid picks are heavy on magical damage and Anti-Mage excels against that.
     

2nd phase

Liquid banned Batrider and Puck;

  • Both heroes are respect bans towards MoonMeander and w33 respectively. These were also the heroes that Planet Odd played in game 2 when they won with Anti-Mage. KuroKy- probably just wanted to get PO out of their comfort zone.
     

PO banned Huskar and Templar Assassin;

  • Same as game 4.
     

Liquid picked Beastmaster;

  • Primal Roar is a very good lockdown for Anti-Mage, forcing AM to get either Aghanim's Scepter or Linken's Sphere.

  • Inner Beast allows for the potential of a deathball pushing strat.

  • With Hawk vision and Zeus constantly dewarding, the vision game will definitely be in Liquid's favor.
     

PO picked Crystal Maiden;

  • Frostbite is a good counter to Beastmaster's Boar during the laning phase.

  • Arcane Aura benefits heroes like Earthshaker greatly.
     

Liquid picked Lycan;

  • Matumbaman's classic hero which buffs up the deathball pushing potential of Liquid's lineup.
     

PO picked Omniknight;

  • Good defensive hero that can help nullify the heavy physical damage from Beastmaster and Lycan and also the magical damage from Zeus and Sand King.
     

3rd phase

Liquid banned Razor;

  • I don't quite understand the Razor ban but if I have to guess, Plasma Field is a pretty good anti-pushing spell. Also, 3 of Liquid's heroes have targeted spells and Unstable Current can be pretty pesky to deal with.
     

PO banned Invoker and picked Windranger;

  • Invoker: Miracle-'s best hero that fits the lineup - Sunstrike to combo with Primal Roar; Forge Spirits to amplify the pushing power; Tornado and Cold Snap can be extremely disruptive against heroes like Omniknight and Earthshaker who have a long cast point for their spells.

  • Windranger: One of w33 comfort heroes. Planet Odd's lineup currently lacks anti-pushing spells and is rather light on lockdown as well. Windranger is able to make up for it with Powershot and Shackleshot. Another option would be Lina but Lina would get easily ran down by a Lycan whereas WR can save herself with Windrun.
     

Liquid picked Weaver;

  • A very interesting pick that makes a lot of sense. Weaver is a natural Desolator builder and that will amplify Liquid's pushing potential even more.

  • A highly mobile hero that can defend against split-push and move across the map to join his team in short time.

  • The minus armor from The Swarm and Desolator synergizes well with the heavy physical damage from Lycan and Beastmaster.

  • Weaver utilizes Beastmaster's Inner Beast aura and Howl extremely well too.
     

Win Condition

The win condition in game 5 is very similar to that of game 4, except the roles are reversed once again. Planet Odd need to buy the time for their Anti-Mage to get the farm he needs to come online. However, time will be extremely limited with the lineup that Team Liquid has. The pace and tempo of the early game would be insanely fast from Team Liquid.

Conclusion

In the early game, I find it extremely difficult for the lineup of Planet Odd to keep up at the tempo that Team Liquid is going to set. Should MiSeRy's team survive the early game, Resolut1on has to play out of his mind on the Anti-Mage to create any possible openings for the rest of Planet Odd to take a good fight come mid-game. That being said, I feel that KuroKy- was well-prepared for the Anti-Mage pick and built an extremely strong and well-rounded lineup to combat against it.

Draft Advantage: Team Liquid 65% - Planet Odd 35%

 

An additional point I want to highlight is the importance of supports continue to show in this series. Throughout the series, 12/20 of the 1st phase picks and 16/20 of the 1st phase bans were targeted at support heroes. This continues to show the increasing importance of supports in today's meta. For those who have yet to read my article on supports, you can click here if you are interested.

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