GESC E-series: the victorious finish
A tough, but exciting battle!
It was finally time for two teams to find out who is going to for the minor, as 
Natus Vincere faced off against 
Team Spirit in a Bo5 grand final, which proved to be a breathtaking adventure. It was not easy, but the victory was a well-deserved one for us!
GAME 1 - NATUS VINCERE [1:0]Team Spirit
Natus Vincere
RodjER
LeBron
GeneRaL
Dendi
Crystallize
Team Spirit
fng
Illidan
Biver
iLTW
DKPhobos
The first game of the series kicked off with a first blood for NAVI, but after that, nothing much was happening for a while. However, the overall map situation was a good one for us, as we were pressuring all the lanes to the best of our abilities, and it was working out rather well. The engagements were mostly favoring us, and we went into the mid game with a solid advantage behind our backs.
15 minutes in we were 8k net worth up, and created pressure around the map, ensuring the Dire are not able to farm back up. Kills were traded between the teams, but NAVI kept getting better ends of the trades, while Team Spirit only had occasional frags. The situation was maintained throughout the next few minutes, and ultimately, the opponents had to surrender the game 1.
GAME 2 - NATUS VINCERE [1:1] TEAM SPIRIT
Natus Vincere
GeneRaL
RodjER-
LeBron
Crystallize
Dendi
Team Spirit
fng
Biver
Illidan
iLTW
DKPhobos
The second game of the series had Elder Titan overextend at the beginning of the game, which scored our Terrorblade a much-welcomed First Blood boost. There was a fair share of kills for both teams, but NAVI still maintained a small net worth advantage, as Crystallize was farming to his heart's content. The game on both sides was quite active: while the cores were coming online, the rest of the team were creating as much space as possible.
18 minutes in NAVI took a rather heavy blow from a teamfight, which allowed Team Spirit to get some breath and even intercept our Roshan attempt a few minutes later. The game seemed to stall, as nothing was happening outside of a few pickoffs and a Roshan, with Aegis for Terrorblade. 29 minutes in NAVI made the first attempt to breach the highground, but to no avail. We disengaged again, and went for a more pickoff-oriented game, trying to get some kills before coming back.
36 minutes in the next Roshan was slain by us, with Team Spirit unsuccessfully trying to contest it, losing most of the team in the process. A couple of minutes later the next high ground attempt also failed, since the spam on the side of the Dire was too significant. The game was becoming stalled for too long, and Team Spirit managed to catch up to NAVI. Crystallize decided to go for a somewhat risky play and went for the T3 alone, successfully destroying it. That meant more map control for us, as Shrines became destructible.
The fight, later on, allowed us to claim another T3 and a barrack in the midlane, but another engagement allowed Team Spirit to get 3 our heroes and get the third Roshan of the game, with Cheese and Refresher Shard. Despite the Aegis getting lost very soon, Team Spirit had superior damage output thanks to Divine Rapier on Gyrocopter. As Zeus got picked off, the opponent got an opportunity to destroy more T3 towers, which they did immediately, as we had little to match them - ultimately, we had to fight against mega creeps. The only good news was the rapier for Terrorblade.
58 minutes in a big fight broke out next to the Roshpit - many heroes died, but Team Spirit suffered heavier casualties; mega-creeps, though, were doing a lot of damage to our base, forcing us back. The game went on past 1 hour mark, and the task before NAVI was as challenging as ever - Tinker and mega creeps. We did not manage to hold it for much longer, though, and forfeited game 2.
GAME 3 - NATUS VINCERE [1:2] TEAM SPIRIT
Natus Vincere
-
LeBron
-
RodjER
GeneRaL
Crystallize
Dendi
Team Spirit
Biver
DKPhobos
fng
iLTW-
Illidan
The third game of the series had Team Spirit take the initiative almost right away, as they got 3 kills their way very early into the game. Their domination continued throughout the early game, and at 12 minutes NAVI were sitting at 5k net worth disadvantage. They used the advantage to push the towers, and were able to get all our T1's without losing one of their own.
The game was not becoming easier for us, as we lost our first T3 tower in the bot lane only 22 minutes in. 24 minutes in Team Spirit were at 6k net worth advantage, and we were locked inside our base, which was a rather sticky situation. 27 minutes in, though, as the Dire got distracted, their own mid T3 fell, and that gave us ever so slight map control, opening up the Shrines.
The game stalled for a while, as the opponents were waiting for the Roshan, while we were trying to make them commit a crucial mistake. As all 5 of Team Spirit gathered near our T2 top, Luna went for a solo push down the middle lane, destroying the barracks and forcing the entire team back. The game seemed to stall, as we were buying time for our cores to become a truly formidable force. But we did not manage to pull this plan off, as a decisive fight from the Dire spelled our defeat in game 3.
game 4 - Natus Vincere [2:2] Team Spirit
Natus Vincere
Crystallize
RodjER
LeBron
GeneRaL-
Dendi
Team Spirit
iLTW-
fng
Illidan
DKPhobos
Biver
The fourth game of the series favored us from the start, as NAVI claimed some kills without suffering casualties. But that did not last for long, as Team Spirit roamed the map, focusing the midlane a lot, which created problems for Dendi. When the game became more active, teams started trading more kills, with no certain leader emerging just yet.
The ganks and pickoffs continued, as neither team wanted to allow the opponent to farm unpunished, As the game clock hit 23 minutes, NAVI decided to go for the first Roshan of the game, who was killed quite fast and without interruptions. Slowly but surely, we regained our ground and claimed 6k net worth advantage by minute 28. Tinker has relatively recovered from the stressful early game, hitting top 2-3 net worth on the map. The game was looking up.
Pickoffs was the name of the game for the next few minutes, as NAVI were waiting for Roshan to respawn before engaging decisively. But this plan did not come to fruition, as Team Spirit intercepted the Rosh attempt, resulting in our team being wiped, with Aegis and Cheese going to the Dire. At that point it was our team who had to stay on the high ground and defend against the upcoming push. The teamfight that happened soon saw both teams suffer some casualties, but ultimately, it seemed to work in our favor.
45 minutes in the game was dead even, with an equal amount of kills on both sides and around 1k net worth difference. A couple of minutes later, after Weaver overextended and got himself killed, NAVI went for the Roshan and the high ground siege. Buybacks were forced on the side of the opponent, and we immediately disengaged, narrowly escaping the follow-up on 5-man Echo Slam. With full HP and mana, we were ready to fight and denied Weaver the opportunity to escape, getting rid of the damage dealer of the opponent, moving to map 5.
GAME 5 - NATUS VINCERE [3:2] TEAM SPIRIT
Natus Vincere
-
Dendi
-
LeBron
-
RodjER
GeneRaL
Crystallize
Team Spirit
-
iLTW
-
fng
-
Biver
Illidan-
DKPhobos
It came to the last game of the series that will decide who will move forth to the championship, as both teams have come a long way. We decided to whip out a somewhat unconventional pick, with Dendi going for midlane Lifestealer. 10 minutes in, Team Spirit held a minimal advantage, and the situation held on for a long while. The opponents, though, gained more slowly but surely, Faceless Void being a particular threat.
23 minutes in Team Spirit went for the Roshan, but RodjER blinked in at the last moment, not only managing to stun both cores of the opponent, but also kill the Roshan and take the Aegis, denying this opportunity to the enemy. However, this did little to amend our situation, as we were still down a lot of kills. 31 minutes in, after an unfortunate fight mid, we lost our mid T3, but the barracks were left standing. A few minutes after we managed to pull off a team wipe, losing only GeneRaL in the aftermath.
There were a lot more fights, and they seemed to be leaning our way a lot more. After a particularly good fight, we decided to go for the high ground of the opponent, and claimed T3 in mid, but lost 4 heroes afterwards. Soon the bottom lane fell completely, and in a while 4 heroes got wiped on the side of the Dire, which gave us the opportunity to claim the third Roshan of the game.
With that valuable resource claimed, NAVI went for the final push, and the grand teamfight unraveled at the top lane - Team Spirit threw everything they had at us, but we managed to keep ourselves together and withstand the initial damage, ultimately winning the fight, destroying the base and claiming the game - GGWP!
