This month's GEST-IDC was truly entertaining to watch, and after a mix of expected wins and upset victories, Pacific.eMaxx ends up on top once again.
It was another great run for Pacific.eMaxx, taking the GEST November again without dropping a game. This is their second back-to-back championship, giving them a total of four GEST titles and earning themselves a spot on the record books. Mineski, playing with 2 stand-ins, finished as the runner-up on the event.
| Game 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Pacific.eMaxx | Mineski-Dota | |||||||||||||||||||||||
     |      | |||||||||||||||||||||||
eMaxx knew that they only had to somehow contain Mineski's all-int lineup on the early game to let their line-up naturally win out on the later stages. Things fell through better than though, as they get the first blood and completely dominated the early game. The trilane of CM, WR and Skywrath showed to be very fragile, as Pacific's trilane of THD, Rubick and Drow picked off target after target.
The early game dominance translated well into the mid-game, specially after Drow, DK and DS had their core. It wasn't long until they were able to force things, and they took Game 1 on convincing fashion.
| Game 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mineski-Dota | Pacific.eMaxx | |||||||||||||||||||||||
    |   | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Do not fix what isn't broken, right? Emaxx held on to that, and decided to once again use Drow, THD and DK. Mineski, on the other hand, went with a totally unexpected last pick in Alchemist.
Things are looking good for eMaxx, but Mineski's Jay isn't going to take a lose without doing anything. He tried to take matters on his own hand, dodging ganks and getting kills of his own on the early game. The Magnus however was having the time of his life against the obviously underhanded Alchemist solo. Wootz's played his signature hero Chen to perfection on the beginning as well, showing impressive micro and impeccable positioning.
While the scores are close almost all through-out, it is becoming apparent that eMaxx is having the better of the exchanges as the game drags. While Alchemist had decent farm, he is being simply kited by the enemy team and his own team lacks burst damage of their own. Magnus and ES are progressing nicely on their items, while Drow was helped off with a massive Ancient stack and the Empower buff.
Late game teamfights proved to be deadly for Mineski, as the Refresher Orb-Magnus, the highly-mobile Lothar's Edge DK and the massive DPS Traxex racked in kills one after another. Not many team fights after, Mineski was forced to call gg.
"I was inspired by S4's Magnus at DreamHack. I finished the games before I slept" [the games finished at around 9 a.m. local on the Philippines], said Chin of Pacific.eMaxx.
Final Standings:
1st Place:
Pacific.eMaxx - $1,500 USD2nd Place:
Mineski-DotA - $700 USD3rd Place:
SVR_ES - $300 USD
