EPICENTER XL: loss to Newbee
A drawn out series.
The fourth series of 
NAVI.GG.BET was against the Chinese team 
Newbee. The Bo3 ended with a 1:2 score after an incredibly long game 3.
Game 1 - Natus Vincere [0:1] Newbee
Newbee
Kaka
Faith
kpii
Moogy
Sccc
NAVI.GG.BET
Lil
GeneRaL
LeBron
Crystallize
Dendi
The first game of the series started off with a few rotations from both teams, and the kills were traded rather evenly. Crystallize was left alone in the top lane, getting his farm. By 10 minutes, the map control was favoring NAVI and the cores felt fairly well. 13 minutes in we managed to pull off a very good teamfight, taking 4 heroes of the opponent and the T1 tower in bot.
The game did not shift decisively in any direction, though, as Newbee was able to pull off a few successful ganks, including those on core heroes. By 18 minutes Morphling had his Linken's Sphere, allowing him to be a bit more aggressive. However, a series of unfortunate fights allowed the opponents to establish a significant advantage and map control. A failed smoke gank on the side of NAVI let the opponents enter the Roshpit soon after.
By 37 minutes the top 2 net worth heroes were the ones of Newbee. NAVI were unable to do much, as we were locked in our base, unable to do any aggressive moves. The Radiant started the high ground siege, and the Dire had to respond, but without much success - the control on the side of the opponent was very strong, as we drop the first game.
Game 2 - Natus Vincere [1:1] Newbee
NAVI.GG.BET
-
Lil
-
GeneRaL
-
Crystallize
LeBron
Dendi
Newbee
Kaka
Faith-
Sccc
kpii
Moogy
The second game kicked off with a double kill going the way of Slardar. The night time was a rather tough time for NAVI, as enemy Night Stalker was doing a lot of work for his team. By 10 minutes, the game was mostly equal, with occasional pickoffs and towers going both ways.
Still, we were able to realize our potential better than the opponents, and smoke ganks were very fruitful for us, accelerating our cores a lot. NAVI broke ahead in terms of net worth, and a few key artifacts, like a Hurricane Pike for Templar Assassin. Newbee were forced to sit in their base, while NAVI enjoyed an uncontested farm all over the map. We waited for another Roshan and went for the final push, Leshrac holding the Aegis.
Despite the Aegis dropping very fast due to Laguna Blade, that was all in the arsenal of Newbee they had to defend. After losing a couple of lanes and heroes, they conceded the game 2, as NAVI power through the game 2 into the decider map.
Game 3 - Natus Vincere [1:2] Newbee
NAVI.GG.BET
-
Crystallize
-
Lil
GeneRaL
LeBron
Dendi
Newbee
-
Kaka
-
kpii
Faith
Sccc
Moogy
The final game started quite well for NAVI, as Lil was doing a lot of work on all the lanes, saving and assaulting where needed. Dendi had a good time in the midlane, but despite the 5 kill disadvantage Newbee were 2k gold up. The game stalled for a while, as the opponents were farming up.
By 20 minute, the advantage on the side of Newbee was minimal, but the fight in the midlane near Roshan solidified their advantage, as they managed to get multiple heroes. That allowed the Dire to go for the first Roshan of the game, and they continued to roam on our side on the map.
All the while Crystallize was taking the towers in the top lane, getting his due money. The teams were not willing to go for many decisive engagements, and the game was becoming increasingly closer. An engagement in the top lane saw Slardar die after a buyback, which enabled Newbee to go for another Roshan. By 35 minutes NAVI were unable to really go on the offensive, instead preferring to wait out the Aegis in the base.
After a pickoff on our Gyrocopter, the Chinese team decided to push mid T3, forcing the buyback out, which allowed us to survive this attack. The game stalled again, as the teams waited for the third, very important Roshan - Refresher Shard would be equally useful for both teams. We did not manage to contest it on time and gave up the third Roshan.
The Aegis, Cheese and Refresher Shard enabled Newbee to take the first lane in mid, and a fight in the top lane a few minutes later forced us to use all 5 buybacks. As a result, we lost the T3 in the top lane. For the next few minutes, we tried to force a fight, and eventually succeeded, killing the core DPS and forcing a buyback on another hero.
The game was already going on very long, and 55 minutes in another Roshan was taken by Newbee. The high ground siege by them resulted in the Mega Creeps, but the fight did not go all too well for the opponents in general. Despite, the teams disengaged and 65 minutes in, another Aegis+Cheese+Shard went the way of Newbee. 68 minutes in NAVI had to repel the opponents' push, with two Mass Serpent Wards hitting it.
70 minutes in, a mass fight on the Dire side saw us break even in terms of net worth, but the situation was as tense as ever. A pickoff on Shadow Shaman without the buyback enabled NAVI to go for the Roshan - this time the prized set of items was ours! It did not help us too much, unfortunately, as the fight in the top lane turned out to be disastrous for us - Newbee lost top T3 and a barrack, while we lost most of ours heroes, Rapiers, and used up buybacks.
The game broke the 80-minute mark. Shadow Shaman was a real threat to our throne, and as the opponents got a pickoff on Doom, who was without buyback, the game became that much harder. Finally, Newbee was able to approach the throne, and even though NAVI had a Glyph ready, we did not manage to hold on to the game - we drop the series after a 30-minute defence against Mega Creeps.
