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MDL Changsha Major qualifiers: the end of the road
A tough series for us
The first round of playoffs at MDL Changsha Major CIS qualifiers pitted 
NAVI.GG.BET against 
GG3333 in a bo3 series. Unfortunately, we did not manage to take down the opponent, losing the series 1:2 and leaving the qualification.
Game 1 - Natus Vincere [0:1] GG3333
NAVI.GG.BET
LeBron
Lil
Dendi
Crystallize
GeneRaL
GG3333
Bobruha
orb1t
PSM
Fervian
Artes
The first game of the series started off rather actively, with the First Blood spilled 2 minutes in. A few more kills went our way, allowing us to secure a good advantage over the opponent and take down the first enemy tower in mid. Occasional pickoffs and small skirmishes kept happening all the time, while the cores tried to get the first big items for themselves.
Despite the presence of Treant Protector on the opposite team, NAVI was very well able to claim the objectives, slowly taking up map control. 22 minutes in NAVI took down the first Roshan, with the Aegis going to Crystallize. Our advantage on the map was growing slowly, reaching 12k gold at that point.
A few picks over the several minutes allowed GG3333 to start a comeback into the game, with Spectre being able to buy a few crucial items, becoming incredibly tanky. Even a 2-3 man gank on that hero was not paying off for NAVI.
30 minutes in the opponents went for the first high ground siege after killing off Lycan, and that allowed them to take down the bottom T3 and barracks. Despite that, we managed to kill off the majority of enemy heroes and turned the game around, reclaiming the lost advantage and taking down top T3. A few back and forth fights allowed the opponents to get back to our base, and as Lycan did not have Shapeshift or BKB, he could not do much after his buyback - megacreeps for GG3333. GGWP, we drop the first game.
Game 2 - Natus Vincere [1:1] GG3333
GG3333
-
Bobruha
Fervian
orb1t
Artes
PSM
NAVI.GG.BET
-
GeneRaL
Lil
LeBron
Crystallize
Dendi
The second game featured a position 4 Alchemist by Lil, who had to stick to the bottom lane to help out GeneRaL, while LeBron was in the top lane, leaving Dendi to his own devices in the midlane. There were a few kills both ways, but mostly they were going the way of GG3333, as NAVI stuck to a somewhat more passive Dota,
Alchemist decided to rush Aghanim's s Scepter for Luna right after Medallion and Blink Dagger, significantly boosting Eclipse damage output against Terrorblade. With the Aghanim's Scepter done, NAVI went for the irst Roshan of the game, giving the Aegis to Luna as well. That enabled NAVI to go for a much more active gameplay, almost taking down bot T3. Right as Aegis expired, though, GG3333 attacked Luna, but we were ready to strike back, killing off 4 enemy heroes.
A little later we had a very good fight, finishing off 5 enemy heroes, and with no buyback on Terrorblade, NAVI went for the high ground yet again, this time taking down 2 lanes right away and forcing a GG call from the opponent - 1:1, as we move to the decider game!
Game 3 - Natus Vincere [1:2] GG3333
NAVI.GG.BET
GeneRaL
LeBron
Lil
Crystallize
Dendi
GG3333
-
Artes
Fervian
Bobruha
orb1t-
PSM
The third game saw a few very interesting picks from NAVI - Tidehunter mid and position 4 Phantom Assassin. The laning stage was a somewhat tough one for us, with the control being stronger on the side of GG3333. By 11 minutes, the Dire were 8 kills above us, yet that gave them little in the net worth advantage. NAVI players were getting their core items.
The game settled down for a while, as teams tried to get some more farm for themselves, yet the occasional skirmishes were still happening around the map. Despite 6 kill lead by the opponents, there was only 1k gold advantage. 23 minutes in after a pickoff on Bane GG3333 went for the first Roshan of the game.
With the Aegis in hand, the opponents went for the high ground push after a fight in the middle lane. Tidehunter bought back - despite not managing to defend T3, we still finished off several opponents. The fights still continued, and 30 minutes in we were 13k gold down. A pickoff on our mid hero allowed GG3333 to go for the second Roshan of the game. With the Aegis and Cheese, the opponents went for our high ground, but NAVI were ready, taking down Aegis bearer twice and 3 more.
A fight near Dire mid was not the best one for NAVI, as we lost 4 heroes very fast. A few more fights forced us to use the buybacks, but the power of the opposing heroes was enough to send us down in the series 1:2 - GG WP.
