The second edition of BenQ's The Clash tournament is over, and what an ending! Natural 9 claimed the grand prize after a tight three-game series with Moscow 5.
The Australians, featuring familiar names as blackshatan and xMusica advanced undefeated through their group against German squad Mousesports, French team Shakira and finals opponents Moscow 5 and continued their undefeated streak against DreamHack champions mTw in the semifinals.
Moscow 5 earned their rematch against Natural 9 by defeating Experience two t oone in the other semifinal.
Game 1
Natural9: Sand King (Snoopy), Puck (r1sk) Venomancer (Cynical), Anti-mage (Shatan), Windrunner (Musica)
Moscow5: Viper (G), Tidehunter (Dread), Prophet (NS), Enigma (Santa), Shadow Shaman (Dendi)
Natural9: Sand King (Snoopy), Puck (r1sk) Venomancer (Cynical), Anti-mage (Shatan), Windrunner (Musica) Moscow5: Viper (G), Tidehunter (Dread), Prophet (NS), Enigma (Santa), Shadow Shaman (Dendi)The Russians, playing with Dendi as a stand-in, lost a lopsided match in game one. N9 started by dominating their respective lanes during the early game, as the Anti-mage, Sand-King, Venomancer tri-lane was proved to be more effective than the Viper, Tidehunter lane of M5, resulting in Viper (G) getting picked by Anti-mage two times.
Throughout the game, Natural 9 had map control via Venomancer wards, which allowed them to be able to avoid any m5 incoming ganks. Anti-mage excelled in farming with an outstanding 189 creeps in 20 minutes, while the rest of his team managed to outgank m5. An early "gg wp" was called from m5 after a complete team wipe which resulted in a 22-7 win for Natural 9.
Game 2
Natural9: Prophet (Musica), Windrunner (Cynical), Earthshaker (Snoopy), Beastmaster (r1sk), Razor (Shatan)
Moscow5: Nightstalker (G), Lich (Dread), Weaver (Santa), Sand King (Dendi), Crystal Maiden (NS)
Natural9: Prophet (Musica), Windrunner (Cynical), Earthshaker (Snoopy), Beastmaster (r1sk), Razor (Shatan) Moscow5: Nightstalker (G), Lich (Dread), Weaver (Santa), Sand King (Dendi), Crystal Maiden (NS)Moscow 5 picked a very gank oriented line-up for their second game, following their loss in the series of three, and managed to secure an early advantage which eventually ensured them the victory.
Dendi played an amazing Sand King during the early and mid phase of the game, as he managed to outfarm R1sk in their mid battle, while at the same time with the assistance of Night Stalker played by G, ganked the whole map and earned some very important early kills.
Moscow 5 continued to roam and be aggressive towards their opponents, with a consecutive number of "smoke" ganks picking up Natural 9 players. Dendi pulled an amazing performance of 11-1 having a total of 30 assists in 31 kills,which led to a 38 minute "gg wp" call from Number 9 after a complete team wipe in their attempt to contest Moscow 5 inside the Roshan pit with a final score of 31-12.
Game 3:
Natural9: Prophet (r1sk), Shadow Shaman (Musica), Weaver (Shatan), Sand King (Snoopy), Ancient Aparition (Cynical)
Moscow5: Lich (Dread), Windrunner (Santa), Slardar (G), Priestess of the Moon (Dendi), Shadow Priest (NS)
Natural9: Prophet (r1sk), Shadow Shaman (Musica), Weaver (Shatan), Sand King (Snoopy), Ancient Aparition (Cynical) Moscow5: Lich (Dread), Windrunner (Santa), Slardar (G), Priestess of the Moon (Dendi), Shadow Priest (NS)The third game seemed to be a repeat of the first, as N9 galloped to a huge lead, only to let it slip away as M5 clawed their way back into the game.
N9 were able to take buildings, but as the clock rolled past the 70 minute mark M5 seemed to have an advantage. That advantage was abruptly reversed in the 77th minute when N9 traded their middle barracks for M5's bottom barracks, giving them mega creeps.
With no choice left, M5 went all-in, racing against the clock, and the Radiant's mega creeps pushing in on the side lanes, to win one final team fight and take down the Radiant's Ancient. blackshatan finished the game in style, taking down the Dire's heroes with a Rampage to cap off Natural 9's victorious run through the tournament.
After the match, we spoke to Cynical and r1sk from the winning team...
How did it feel to win the event?
r1sk: "It felt really good to take out the event. After our strong performances on the first day we knew we we had a solid chance to win."
Were you worried when your lead started to slip away in game three?
Cynical: "We were worried every game regardless of whether we were in the lead or not, but our motto is to never give up."
r1sk: "We made a few mistakes in game 3 which allowed M5 to gain the upper hand mid game (together with their strong play); however, we knew we just had to be patient and take up any opportunities that arose."
How was your preparation going into the tournament?
r1sk: "Preparation for the tournament on the whole wasn’t ideal mainly due to timezone issues however we are in the process of finding a solution to that problem and getting more scrims up our sleeves."
Cynical: "We played some pubs beforehand (thanks Demon for being the biggest victim here), but other than that we were unable to spend a lot of time training due to unfortunate circumstances."
How do you feel about the recent surge of sponsorship in Dota 2?
r1sk: " The recent surge of sponsorship in Dota 2 is a sign as to the high level of interest in the game, which is excellent for the competitive scene. We are hoping to partner up with an organisation and continue to excel in both online and offline competitions."
Thanks for speaking with us after your victory; do you have any shoutouts you'd like to give?
Cynical: "Shout out to godz, godot, sas158, herpes, chupz, izzerr, bamchief, tyranee, tastay, ghostofphanny,happyroach,anh,ksshy,ichigo_69, toneeh, rein, enemy-, kyuchi, lolwilson, zmuffinman, lnx, weiyi, hal, shinkz, owly, lazuta, chteam, shazhude, L-, dabeliuteef, Ex, t-duck, winterbladez and sagemist. Also shoutout to all the euro teams in the tournament for supporting us regardless of the circumstances. shout out also to www.youtube.com/user/dotAUgaming"
r1sk: "Shoutouts to the bored aussie forum and all those that support us. Special shoutout to Ichigo_69 and the other aussies who have stayed awake through the early hours of the morning to watch us play."
How did it feel to win the event?
r1sk: "It felt really good to take out the event. After our strong performances on the first day we knew we we had a solid chance to win."
Were you worried when your lead started to slip away in game three?
Cynical: "We were worried every game regardless of whether we were in the lead or not, but our motto is to never give up."
r1sk: "We made a few mistakes in game 3 which allowed M5 to gain the upper hand mid game (together with their strong play); however, we knew we just had to be patient and take up any opportunities that arose."
How was your preparation going into the tournament?
r1sk: "Preparation for the tournament on the whole wasn’t ideal mainly due to timezone issues however we are in the process of finding a solution to that problem and getting more scrims up our sleeves."
Cynical: "We played some pubs beforehand (thanks Demon for being the biggest victim here), but other than that we were unable to spend a lot of time training due to unfortunate circumstances."
How do you feel about the recent surge of sponsorship in Dota 2?
r1sk: " The recent surge of sponsorship in Dota 2 is a sign as to the high level of interest in the game, which is excellent for the competitive scene. We are hoping to partner up with an organisation and continue to excel in both online and offline competitions."
Thanks for speaking with us after your victory; do you have any shoutouts you'd like to give?
Cynical: "Shout out to godz, godot, sas158, herpes, chupz, izzerr, bamchief, tyranee, tastay, ghostofphanny,happyroach,anh,ksshy,ichigo_69, toneeh, rein, enemy-, kyuchi, lolwilson, zmuffinman, lnx, weiyi, hal, shinkz, owly, lazuta, chteam, shazhude, L-, dabeliuteef, Ex, t-duck, winterbladez and sagemist. Also shoutout to all the euro teams in the tournament for supporting us regardless of the circumstances. shout out also to www.youtube.com/user/dotAUgaming"
r1sk: "Shoutouts to the bored aussie forum and all those that support us. Special shoutout to Ichigo_69 and the other aussies who have stayed awake through the early hours of the morning to watch us play."
Natural 9 roster
David 'r1sk' Arnous (c) Alex 'blackshatan' Chang Trong 'Snoopy' Truong
Justin Bag 'xMusica' Yuen David 'GoDZ' Parker
Stephen 'Cynical' ChungLinks
BenQ The Clash - Tournament page
