ESL One Genting 2018: the first victory
The first series at ESL One Genting Qualifiers ended with a victory
The first game of 
Natus Vincere G2A at ESL One Genting 2018 CIS Qualifiers was against 
Whites. The Bo3 series saw NAVI.G2A emerge victorious with 2:1 score!
Game 1 - Natus Vincere [1:0] Whites
Natus Vincere G2A
SoNNeikO
GeneRaL
RodjER
Crystallize
Dendi
Whites
Storoh
Fezor
Massacre
Ceyler
cutcutcut
The first game of the series started off with 2 kills going the way of the Radiant, and they snowballed during the beginning of the game. As we got some levels, though, we managed to get 9 kills in a row, getting away unpunished. The domination of NAVI continued, as Whites were unable to get much done.
18-19 minutes in, with 10k net worth advantage behind our back, we went for the high ground siege, and without much contest, demolished Radiant T3 top tower, opening up the map for ourselves significantly. Minutes later we re-engaged, and took down mid and the remains of top lane. As Whites tried to go for another fight, they were met with the overwhelming for of NAVI - 4 dead, they had to write GG, as we win the first map.
Game 2 - Natus Vincere [1:1] Whites
Natus Vincere G2A
-
SoNNeikO
-
RodjER
GeneRaL
Crystallize
Dendi
Whites
Fezor
Storoh-
Massacre
Ceyler
cutcutcut
The second game kicked off not too well for us, as Whites managed to get lots of kills early on and continued to do so, while NAVI were not quite able to return the favor, with all the cores lacking the needed items and experience. However, a couple of engagements allowed us some breathing room, and get necessary pieces of the puzzle together.
Despite that temporary comeback, we were still far behind. The macro-decisions, though, allowed us to make some more room around the map, as Whites were not yet going for the high ground siege, while Shadow Fiend kept pushing, making the opponents constantly teleport back to defend. 28 minutes in the first Roshan of the game was taken by Whites, but the Aegis on Viper was immediately used up in the fight.
30 minutes in our T3 in the middle lane fell, and Dendi had to use a buyback to prevent another lane from being taken down. Meanwhile, though, the T3 in ерру bottom lane fell on the Dire, side, and they had to retreat to prevent the barracks from being taken down by siege creeps. The game settled down for a bit, as both were waiting for Roshan to spawn. As it spawned, though, we engaged while Dendi was pushing again, and Whites got lost, not knowing where to go.
That fight allowed us to kill the Roshan ourselves, with Aegis and Refresher Shard going to Shadow Fiend, while Cheese went to Razor. The series of fights that followed, though, did not yield much for us, as no barracks were taken. 53 minutes in, with another Aegis and Cheese in pockets, Whites tried to take down the last lane, but the fight turned out to be disastrous for them - 2 buybacks spent, and the Aegis lost. The game saw many more back-and-forth fights and pickoffs.
63 minutes in the next Roshan was taken again by NAVI, and the game stalled once again, as pushes were repelled by both teams. 71 minutes in, though, after a teamfight, we lost our remaining barracks and were to fight against the mega creeps. 4 minutes after we lost the fight near the Roshpit, and had no way of defending, as we move to the decider game.
Game 3 - Natus Vincere [2:1] Whites
Natus Vincere G2A
SoNNeikO-
Hero 2
-
Hero 3
-
Dendi
-
Crystallize
Whites
-
Massacre
-
Fezor
-
cutcutcut
Ceyler-
Storoh
The last game of the series started off very actively, with plenty of rotations coming in from both sides. We managed to get more done on the map, though, as despite the deaths of our core heroes, NAVI still did not let the lead slip the way of the opponent. As some levels came in for us, the rotations of our cores became much more active and fruitful.
21 minutes in, after a good fight near the Roshpit, NAVI went to take the first Roshan of the game and disengaged, only to reassemble back near Dire T2. 2 good fights followed, and soon we were ready to siege the high ground. Mid T3 and barracks were taken down swiftly, and the map became open wide for us. A bit later Whites tried for the last smoke, but as they tried to initiate on Shadow Fiend, counter-initiation was immediately there, spelling the disaster for the enemy. GG WP, as we move forth.
