Round 2 included some interesting match-ups that many were eager to see. As expected, it did not disappoint, neither the results nor the competition.
Fnatic vs Vici Gaming
VG opted for a classic Chinese lineup centered around Spectre thus conveying their intention of going into the late game while Fnatic opted for a early to mid game lineup without a traditional hard carry.
Fnatic were on the clock, needing to finish the game early, otherwise it would have been their end. Unfortunately, not being able to capitalise and end the game early, VG walked away victorious on the back of their farmed Spectre leaving Fnatic in tatters.
Going into game two, Fnatic rectified their earlier mistake and opted for a well rounded draft, however, VG drafted a line-up with a hero Fnatic weren’t expecting – Venomancer. It was clear that VG wanted to test Fnatic by going for a heavy-push oriented draft.
Fnatic do an admirable job to gain a lead and ultimately are able to keep up with the pace sneaking in a cheeky Aegis snatch and delaying the match in one of the longest drawn out games, to make a comeback and drawing the series.
Fnatic successfully claw back into the game and overcome the deficit against VG.
Team Secret vs Team Spirit
Team Spirit made their intentions clear from the beginning as they got five early kills on Team Secret. Both teams picked unusual heroes with Secret going for a well diversified set of push, nuke and scale draft, and Spirit going for a tri-core in Storm Spirit, Bloodseeker and Weaver.
For the longest time, game one was dead even as both teams managed to find pick-offs every now and then, but ultimately Matumbaman on his Phantom Lancer aka the Cancer and Yapzor’s Monkey King, providing all the vision in the world, became too hot for Spirit to handle as Puppey and Co. marched on to their first victory.
In game two, Secret goes for a unique draft with evasive heroes in Clinkz and Puck while Spirit takes the risk by going all in on Medusa – an ultra late game carry. Secret plays it smart by not giving Medusa any space to farm; courtesy of Zai’s Tiny, but somehow Spirit manages to keep it even.
However, at the 22nd minute mark, Secret sneaks in a clutch kill on Roshan and gains momentum all the while gaining the advantage at 25th minute where they wipe out 3 of Spirit’s heroes in the Dire jungle. That sets the tone in Secret’s favour and eventually end up winning the series in a clean fashion.
PSG.LGD vs Quincy Crew
The age old battle between the East vs the West started with a bang. Both sides opted for a dual-core draft, the timings for which would determine the outcome of the game. As has been the norm, LGD picked five different heroes that showed no signs of cohesion while QC picked scalable heroes. LGD got the upper hand as NothingToSay shined spectacularly on Ember Spirit and didn’t give QC any chance to win the game.
The second game also showcased both teams’ ability to prioritize their draft as it was turning out to be the battle of wits and grit once again. QC went for the Gyrocopter-IO combo while LGD went for a heavy burst damage aligning with AOE disables such as Magnus-Snapfire-Lina.
Turns out, LGD have a superior draft as compared to QC, and take away the series in a stunning fashion with a clean sweep.
Elephant vs Beastcoast
This series was bound to be a different one and expectedly so it was. In the first game, both sides went for an ultra passive-aggressive draft with Elephant picking the classic Gyrocopter-IO combo while Beastcoast put faith in K1’s Naga Siren.
Intentions were clear; take it to the late game and until 30 minutes, both teams were neck-to-neck as Naga Siren was unable to scale as fast as she’d like to. Turning point was when BC got caught off-guard at 32nd minute and Elephant were able to ramp up the pace, secure an Aegis and eventually the game.
Beastcoast go for ChrisLuck and K1’s signature heroes in game two; WindRanger and Sven respectively while Elephant go for a split-push, magical and durable draft. Elephant gain the upper hand in the early stage and continue with the same momentum later into the game although the balance of the game hangs on to the team that deals the most damage.
Elephant’s lockdown, stuns, physical damage and juking capacity overwhelms Beastcoast as they register their first series win.
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