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Autumn Brawl: 1 step away
A very tough series
The semifinals at Autumn Brawl featured 
NAVI.GG.BET fighting a Bo3 against 
NoPangolier. The series was tough, and it ended 1:2, as we drop out of the competition.
Game 1 - Natus Vincere [0:1] NoPangolier
NAVi.GG.BET
Crystallize
.Ark
Blizzy
Chuvash
SoNNeikO
NoPangolier
Ceyler
Naive-
Ghostik
Zayac
Slayer
The first game started off not too well for NAVI.GG.BET - our lanes were quite tough; the teams were trading hits almost all the time, but not going for a decisive action. The first skirmish erupted around 5 minutes in - both teams suffered casualties. NoPango were more successful in taking the kills, while NAVI focused on the objectives. So by 10 minutes, the opponent was slightly ahead in terms of net worth, while NAVI led in terms of towers taken. Still, NoPango held on to the advantage, improving their position on the map.
As the game went on, Axe was becoming quite a problem, given the early Blink Dagger. It was troublesome for us to really find many kills, as the opponent was a lot more effective in that. However, the first Roshan of the game was taken rather timely by NAVI, allowing us to take some momentum away from the opponent. More team fights happened, with a lot of dead heroes on both sides. However, our strong suit was the building damage. As NoPango overextended, NAVI were able to take the top lane entirely while losing our own T3. That hurt the opponent quite badly; however, they managed to take the second Rosh soon after.
As the game went on, we started falling back, despite that top lane. NoPango took over the map rather soon, and when the T2 towers fell, our cores had trouble finding farm, while NoPango were getting their farm. Neither team was really willing to go for any decisive action, though, as both wanted to secure something substantial. Ultimately, the opponent managed to take yet another Roshan, and they managed to take mid barrack, subsequently retreating.
46 minutes in NoPangolier went for another Roshan, taking it down pretty fast. The Dire tried once more to take the bottom barracks, but to no avail, as we held on to the lane. As the game went on, neither team was able to really get much done, except for some kills. After a long standoff and a few Roshans, NoPango managed to take the bottom barracks. A little after, NAVI were caught off guard by the Dire coming in from the middle lane - we used the available buybacks, but it was not enough, as the game 1 goes the way of the opponent.
Game 2 - Natus Vincere [1:1] NoPangolier
NAVi.GG.BET
-
Crystallize
.Ark
Blizzy
Chuvash
SoNNeikO
NoPangolier
Ceyler
Naive-
Ghostik
Zayac
Slayer
The second game kicked off without much excitement - top lane was going quite okay for NAVI, but nothing stellar, same with the bottom; midlane was a rather dead even lane, featuring our Sniper versus enemy Pugna. As the game unraveled, there was lots of action going on the sidelanes, with an occasional Phoenix gank in the midlane. By 10 minutes, Sniper managed to get a few kills after successful rotations, and got settled fairly high on the net worth chart.
As both teams hit their levels, both started to look for openings or towers. After an unfortunate fight, when we lost the majority of our heroes, NoPangolier managed to take the top T3 quite early into the game, at 16 minutes. A little after, the Radiant went for the first Roshan of the game, but NAVI were ready to intercept, so NoPango retreated. As Enigma got the Blink Dagger, we smoked up and took a very good fight - the opponent had to commit a buyback to kill 1 hero. However, that fight left us with no means to contest Roshan, but we still made NoPangolier pay dearly for it.
A little after that, NAVI went for the T1 in the midlane, with a few heroes wrapping around in the back. The fight broke up, and we had just the positioning to take it - no prisoners taken, as 4 heroes fall on the side of NoPangolier. NAVI established a solid map control, and the teamfights were going well for us. With some crucial items online, we were all set, and made a move to take Roshan - Aegis for Sniper. With kills on Pugna and Io following, we went for the top T3, taking it down quite fast, and moving to the mid T3. After that, the game settled down slightly.
The final push came from the bottom tower. Chuvash blinked into the trees, attracting attention, and Enigma was swift to follow, getting a big 4-man Black Hole - GG, as the game goes the way of NAVI. Everything would be decided on the final map.
Game 3 - Natus Vincere [1:2] NoPangolier
NAVi.GG.BET
-
Crystallize
.Ark
Blizzy
Chuvash-
SoNNeikO
NoPangolier
Ceyler
Naive-
Ghostik-
Zayac
-
Slayer
The final game kicked off. The First Blood happened a little late, 4 minutes in, but a double kill for Crystallize followed right up. We continued to rack up kills, with the top and bottom lane going very well. A midlane gank onto Huskar further cemented our laning stage. Kills were coming in plenty, and we started to look for the towers to deny the jungle. However, this was no easy feat, as enemy Treant Protector, and our unwillingness to engage into Overgrowth-Supernova slowed us down quite significantly.
18 minutes in, a big fight broke out near our bottom T1 tower - 4 heroes dead on the side of NoPango, while we only lost 2. Thanks to good positioning, Zeus had all the time to spam his spells. The problem, though, was the jungling Terroblade. Even if he didn't have the best lane, he was still able to resort into the jungle and get some farm, ultimately purchasing BKB before 20 minutes. We maintained a net worth lead, which was a good sign, but there was still lots of work to do.
25 minutes in, another fight erupted. This time around, NoPangolier had a Terrorblade with a BKB, and that changed the game drastically - we lost 5 heroes, and that cost us the entire top lane. From there onwards, the game wasn't getting any better. NAVI tried to defend the bottom T2, but it was incredibly tough. We had no response to TB and Huskar, and as the T3 in the bot lane started crumbling, we GG-ed out, stopping 1 step away from the finals.
