Na’Vi rose up from the Loser’s bracket last night in a very convincing fashion. Despite having a one game deficit, they defeated The International 2013 champions “The Alliance” last night.
Every match was intense, with the home crowd of the Kiev Cybersport Arena cheering their home team Na’Vi to the top of their lungs. The Alliance were sort of the underdogs when it comes to crowd cheering; but in-game they always come out the strongest with their consistent and systematic plays.
Below is my Starladder VII LAN Finals recap:
Coming to the LAN finals, Alliance came out undefeated, bringing down Na’Vi to the losers bracket with a one game advantage going in to the Best of 5 finals.
Game 2
Na’Vi came out with guns blazing, with their amazing support players KuroKy and Puppey. They maintained pressure on S4‘s Troll Warlord mid, which helped Dendi secure his dominance in the middle lane. Funn1k started out playing safe in the Dire “Suicide” lane, and when Alliance’s support moved out, he laned well with Loda.
Special mention to XBOCT who was free farming all game with the quick BattleFury rush on his Anti-Mage.
The game ended within 16 minutes, with Alliance giving away their one point advantage to Na’Vi.
Game 3
This game started out very slowly, with everyone trying to secure their core items before they clashed horns with each other. The most noteworthy with XBOCT’s Ursa getting his Black King Bar.
Alliance and Na’Vi clashed near the Roshan pit, constantly contesting the prized Aegis of the Immortal. Na’Vi gave up 6 kills during the engagement and they ended up with nothing and giving away the Aegis to Loda.
21 minutes in the game, Ursa picked up his BKB and started to smash heroes in the clash. Giving a ton of gold through Bounty Hunter’s ultimate ability “Track“, Na’Vi skyrocketed through the gold deficit and gained items that would help them in the next battle.
Funn1k is the MVP of this match–he scouted out heroes in the jungle for some quick Relocate+Ursa action. Constantly spamming the “Track” on enemy heroes during clashes, giving his team a significant advantage through gold and experience. Without him, Na’Vi would have lost this game.
Game 4
Alliance fought back in a very convincing manner with this one. They read the strategy behind the picks of Puppey very well.
They have countered the jungle-farming Doom, as well as the “snowball” potential of Funn1k’s signature Clinkz. This marked the downfall of Na’Vi; truly it was not their game and they tapped out at 29 minutes in, with Alliance stomping Na’Vi 29-10 in kills.
Game 5
The fifth and final game is intense, with the crowd cheering with every kill and dive. Na’Vi secured their trusted support heroes, Crystal Maiden and Elder Titan, and 2 of the strongest heroes in the game with Batrider and Timbersaw.
The early game was even with kills, with each team going neck and neck in a vicious battle reminiscent of the The International 2013 grand final.
It all changed when Alliance tried to sneak in for a Roshan kill, with Dendi’s Batrider snatching out the Aegis of the Immortal from them. Although he died quickly, he helped sway the fight in favor of his team, with Na’Vi coming out of the fight 4-1.
Alliance tried to defend their bottom tower, but Loda’s Juggernaut was to weak for the teamfight. They ended up giving the tower, and another 4-1 team fight loss to Na’Vi.
Spectre and Nature’s Prophet were cautiously split-pushing lanes for the entirety of the match, with XBOCT’s Spectre getting the best of the trade. He was becoming dangerously farmed when compared to Juggernaut and Nature’s Prophet.
Na’Vi eventually pushed up their enemies’ Tier 3 towers and taking their barracks, overpowering the Swedes in the process. Their buildings were swept and left with nothing as the TI3 champions conceded to the Ukrainian powerhouse at 40 minutes.
Picture credits goes to DotaCinema and Gosugamers.net
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I’ll leave you with these viewership numbers just to show how hyped this match was all about.
