DreamLeague Season 10 Open Qualifiers: victory vs Winstrike Team
The key victory secured
The semifinals at DreamLeague Season 10 Open Qualifiers had 
NAVI.GG.BET fight against 
Winstrike Team in a Bo3. The series ended 2:1 the way of NAVI!
Game 1 - NATUS VINCERE [0:1] WINSTRIKE TEAM
NAVI.GG.BET
Treant Protector
Phoenix
Phantom Lancer
Centaur Warrunner
Broodmother
Winstrike Team
Earthshaker
Weaver
Disruptor
Drow Ranger
Lina
The first game started off rather even for us - the lanes were not too confident by either side. The First Blood was spilled by NAVI, as Weaver overextended in the top lane, and got killed. Brood was doing reasonably well - not too amazing, but not too shabby either, even getting a solo kill on Lina. A few engagements here and there slowed down our farm, as Winstrike heroes were able to get more items on their heroes that we did. However, MagicaL took control of quite a big chunk of the enemy jungle, accelerating the farm.
The skirmishes were appearing around the map - 17 minutes in Winstrike engaged us after we took the top T1: we ended up losing the entire team, and the lead of the opponent accelerated. Both teams were trying to push as much a possible, but the lead on the side of the Dire allowed them to push a bit better. By 20 minutes Winstrike were sitting at 7k advantage in terms of net worth. After a good fight in the midlane, the opponents decided to go for the first Roshan of the game, but Broodmother was there to BKB up and snatch the Aegis, taking quite a lot of momentum away.
Teams continued trading - we still had quite the way to go to catch up. A good initiation by Centaur and Phoenix ensured the opponents are not getting away - 4 dead, with Weaver barely making the escape. Calling it a comeback would be, perhaps, a long shot, but nonetheless, NAVI got quite some gold back. Phantom Lancer was becoming quite a problem, but so was Weaver. After a fight in the bottom lane, Winstrike went for the second Roshan of the game, Aegis for Lina.
With that in the backpack, Winstrike started knocking on the NAVI base door, eventually knocking down the entire top lane and T3 in bot. The advantage of the Dire reached 26k net worth. They seemed to be satisfied with that, as they disengaged and scattered around the map. However, NAVI started to pick themselves back up, finding a few kills, some of them quite expensive. Winstrike went for yet another Roshan, and NAVI were there to intercept the attempt - Phantom Lancer took it all. Unfortunately, it didn't help us that much, as the opponent managed to find a good team fight - we drop the first game.
Game 2 - Natus Vincere [1:1] Winstrike Team
NAVI.GG.BET
Io
Ursa
Templar Assassin
Bane
Beastmaster
Winstrike Team
-
Phoenix
-
Earthshaker
Necrophos
Enigma
Clinkz
The second game saw NAVI go for top trilane, while Beastmaster was solo laning safelane. We had a good laning stage, snatching some kills here and there. Beastmaster managed to solo kill Engima, while the top and mid saw their fair share of kills. So, by 12 minutes, we were rather well ahead of the opponent, and a couple of necessary items helped us secure the first Roshan of the game. The Aegis went to TA, and we went on the offensive. Our presence was felt around the entire map, as we were still finding the pickoffs quite well.
NAVI gathered around the top lane, and reaped quite a few very important kills. Our advantage reached 10k by 25 minutes. A little before that NAVI found a kill on Enigma, and with an important team fight ultimate out of the picture, went for the Roshan, claiming it uncontested. The following teamfight, despite being slightly chaotic and bad at first, saw us use a few buybacks and get right back into the fight - the base lay exposed. It was only a matter of a couple of minutes before Winstrike GG-ed out - the third game will decide it all.
Game 3 - Natus Vincere [2:1] Winstrike team
Winstrike Team
-
Drow Ranger
-
Weaver
-
Earthshaker
Winter Wyvern
Zeus
NAVI.GG.BET
Chen-
Phantom Lancer
Rubick-
Clinkz
Slardar
The First Blood was spilled on the bottom lane, as the superior crowd control there allowed NAVI to take advantage of the lane. More kills followed, but not all trades were beneficial for us, especially in the top lane. By and large, some kills helped us, but Winstrike still had a good laning phase, especially in the midlane - Clinkz vs Zeus fight is not too easy to Clinkz.
18 minutes in Clinkz finished off Zeus in mid, and NAVI capitalized on the pickoff, taking the first Roshan of the game. That boosted our economy and confidence right away, as we started gaining momentum. Many kills and some objectives helped us come back into the game, as we started to find a lot more money on the map, establishing solid map control. A fight in mid saw NAVI take more kills and objectives, as Winstrike were practically locked in their base. They were going for the aggressive moves, but rather unproductively.
NAVI were dominating the map, and eventually took another Rosh and the top T3 tower, giving us even more control. The Shrines fell very fast, and Winstrike had very few options - Zeus could defend for a long, but limited time. The buybacks had to be used by the Radiant to stand a chance. Just a few minutes later - another Roshan and the deciding fight - Winstrike lose 4 with no buyback, and drop out of the series - NAVI take the match 2:1!
