MDL Changsha Major qualifiers: the loss vs Vega Squadron
More to fight!
The next game for 
NAVI.GG.BET at MDL Changsha Major qualifiers was against 
Vega Squadron. The Bo3 ended with the defeat of Natus Vincere 1:2
Game 1 - Natus Vincere [0:1] Vega Squadron
NAVI.GG.BET
GeneRaL
Lil
LeBron
Dendi
Crystallize
Vega Squadron
Undershock
CeMaTheSlayeR
Zayac
Palantimos
Blizzy
The first game was off to a somewhat shaky start for us, as Vega Squadron got plenty of kills early on. There were many rotations all around, but Crystallize kept on farming. That let him get his items timely, and despite a decent kill advantage, Vega were only 1k gold above Natus Vincere.
A few key levels and items allowed NAVI to get more aggressive and start realizing the pushing potential of the lineup, in particular, Chen and Terrorblade. Still, there was a solid teamfight and pickoff potential on the side of the opponent was a very strong one, and by killing Dendi and Crystallize a few times, they'd secured themselves an opportunity to go for the high ground.
We lost our bottom lane in a tough fight. The opponents disengaged, allowing us to get some farm, even if the space was quite limited. There was a series of pickoffs from both teams, but Vega still had the upper hand on the map. Ultimately, as the Dire tried to take down Roshan, NAVI made a move to contest it, but without success, as Terrorblade died after the buyback - we move to game 2.
Game 2 - Natus Vincere [1:1] Vega Squadron
NAVI.GG.BET
Lil
LeBron
Crystallize-
GeneRaL
Dendi
Vega Squadron
Palantimos-
CeMaTheSlayeR
-
Zayac
Blizzy
Undershock
The second game saw a few skirmishes pop up here and there, but we maintained the upper hand in kills, getting all the way up to 4, while Vega Squadron had 0. As the clock hit 10 minutes, the scoreline was 7:2, and NAVI had a 1k gold advantage. The game stabilized, as both teams sought to buy some early items to fight. Neither team really made a decisive move, as the map situation was till even up to a certain point.
Crystallize managed to take down the first T3 tower of the game while the opponents were busy chasing heroes and farming on the other side of the map. The loss of that tower weakened the map control of Vega Squadron, and Natus Vincere were swift to capitalize on it, engaging in a fight in the top lane, which resulted in the entire top lane taken down.
A few more fights saw Vega Squadron lose even more heroes, as our cores were becoming increasingly stronger. The last decisive engagement took place in the bottom lane, and almost the entirety of the opposing team got wiped very fast - gg, and we go to the decider!
Game 3 - Natus Vincere [1:2] Vega Squadron
NAVI.GG.BET
-
Dendi
Lil
LeBron
GeneRaL
Crystallize
Vega Squadron
-
CeMaTheSlayeR
-
Zayac
-
Undershock
Blizzy
Palantimos
The final map of the series started off with a few kills for each team, Lil being active around the map as usual. Dendi did not have a very good game in the middle lane, but the overall flow of the game seemed to be going the way of our team, as we pulled off more successful ganks, score being 12:8 by 12 minutes. 14 minutes in Vega took the first Roshan of the game, but the fight they took subsequently cost them a fair bit. A couple o pickoffs on core heroes of NAVI allowed the Dire to take 2k net worth advantage.
Some more kills happened meanwhile, and the game stalled for a bit. However, as the opponents' cores got stronger, we had to take some unfavorable fights, which led to the loss of the entire midlane and the T3 and a barrack on the top lane. This significant;y weakened our position on this map, but we still had all the shots at coming back. 27 minutes in Vega Squadron went for the Roshan, and despite our attempt to intercept, we did not manage to either kill the Roshan or snatch the Aegis - Vega Squadron led by 7k net worth.
The Roshan fight gave the opponents a sizeable momentum, and they decided to go for the final lane, but the attempt was stopped by NAVI, as Vega Squadron disengaged, waiting for all their heroes to respawn. Crystallize had to use his buyback, and that came back to bite us, as the next fight, Sven got kited and killed very fast - having 2 heroes against the opponent's 5, we couldn't defend - GG! NAVI lose this series 1:2.
