It’s time to prepare for some truly exciting matches as the Dota 2 EPIC League started the Playoff matches. The highlight so far is we now have the teams for the Upper Bracket Finals. It’s none other than Virtus.pro taking on Vikin.gg. A lot happened to reach that point and we’re going to look into it today.
An Obvious Result
After the Group Stage started, the tournament didn’t immediately proceed to the Playoffs. Instead, some teams had to go through the Play-in Stage. You can learn more about this phase of the tournament here.
As a quick recap, four teams from Division 1 of the tournament went against four from Division 2. Based on the match-ups, it was rather clear who would be heading to the Playoffs. When the Play-ins ended, it was more than proven. Team Nigma, Team Liquid, and OG, all managed to sweep their respective opponents. The three teams were also from Division 1.
The last match might be different, in a sense, but it was clear as day. Yellow Submarine was doing pretty well lately and they were the clear choice heading into their match against Just Error. It turned out true as Yellow Submarine beat Just Error 2–0.
New vs Old
The first match was interesting. It was Nigma going against its former organization, Liquid. Nigma had been doing well in the tournament and had momentum going their way. This match was truly one for the books.
Nigma’s strategy appeared to be putting everything on the line for Amer "Miracle-" Al-Barkawi. The first game was a bit of a disaster as Liquid had a really good draft and drew first blood against Nigma. Still, with the same strategy, Nigma performed better and grabbed the win in the second game.
With the win, Nigma continued to give Medusa to Miracle- while Liquid did things differently. The initial impression was that this would be a good fight with six deaths already happening at the start of the third game. But that was it, as Liquid pretty much dominated and won the game with 52 total team kills against Nigma’s 10.
Still Got It
While they might not be the TI roster that everybody knows, OG once again showed who was the boss against rising star Yellow Submarine. The first game initially started on a somewhat equal footing. YeS, though, had a problem dealing with Yeik "MidOne" Nai Zheng on Sven and couldn’t find an answer.
Again, OG managed to draft Sven in the second game. Then, YeS appeared to have found an answer against Sven and probably why they allowed it in the first place. Yet when MidOne reached level 15 on Sven, it was all over.
A New Era Is Here
This might be the first tournament of Virtus.pro’s new roster but it looks like they’re putting everyone on notice. Going against Team Secret, there was no question that it would be an uphill battle. It turned out, however, the opposite.
In the first game, it seemed that Secret was outdrafted and outmatched by VP. VP’s Egor "epileptick1d" Grigorenko on Sven had five total kills and zero deaths. It goes without saying that the expectation was Secret would make a comeback in the second game. The expectation was once again far from reality as VP outplayed Secret to clinch a spot in the Upper Bracket Final.
The Rising Star
Vikin.gg remained as one of the rising stars in the European region. They’ve managed to get the championship for both the BTS Pro Series Season 3: Europe/CIS and the DOTA Summit 13 Online: Europe & CIS.
Once again, they showed everyone just how good they are. In the Group Stage, they finished in second place along with Natus Vincere, the same team they faced in the first round of the Play-offs.
In the first game, it was all Vikin.gg as they never took sight of their lead to claim the victory. Na’Vi, though, wouldn’t take it sitting down and showed Vikin.gg some excellent Dota 2. The second game went out as a blowout. How so? Consider this, Vikin.gg ended the game with a total of six team kills. Four players of Na’Vi each had six kills. Think about that.
In the third game, Na’Vi was off to a good start. After just above five minutes, they got a 5–0 lead against Vikin.gg. A minute later, they pushed to 7–0 and even got a bottom tower. Vikin.gg then got a kill but at the expense of having two deaths on their side, resulting in a 9–1 in favor of Na’Vi.
Things slowed down a bit after that. Indji "Shad" Lub on Sven slowly obtained items for the hero. And around the 24-minute mark, it led to a triple kill. A fight at the Rosh Pit resulted in four deaths in the side of Na’Vi. This marked Vikin.gg’s ascent. Ultimately, Na’Vi found it difficult to deal with Sven, and Vikin.gg eventually won.
Today’s Matches
Two matches are scheduled today, both in the Lower Bracket. That means another two teams are heading home. These matchups are:
- Team Secret vs Team Liquid
- Natus Vincere vs OG
So, what about you? Who are you rooting for in this tournament? Are the new bloods going to win it or will the old guard continue their dominance?
