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The International 2018 Open Qualifiers: loss vs ESPADA

Dota 2 / News / 15 June 2018 — 17:34

Loss vs ESPADA

The run of ua NAVI.GG.BET in the first open qualification of The International 2018 is completed. Our team ceded to the team ru ESPADA with a score of 0:2 and dropped out of the qualifying stage.

Game 1 - Natus Vincere [0:1] Espada

Picks and bans
Team
Picks
Bans

ESPADA
  • Immersion
  • 633
  • iLTW
  • Misha
  • Nix

NAVI.GG.BET
  • GeneRaL
  • velheor
  • Lil
  • Crystallize
  • Dendi

In the opening match of the series, Born to Win chose Medusa and Bloodseeker for the core-position, and opponents preferred the less popular heroes in the current meta - Luna and Pugna. The first blood in the game was shed by ru ESPADA players; at the start, they acted more aggressively, actively moved along the lanes and had quite a big advantage, but at the same time ua NAVI managed to maintain the economic balance.

By the end of the laning stage, Medusa moved into the jungle, and its allies tried to avoid head-on collisions until the basic items were acquired. Opponents also had a different game plan: ru ESPADA imposed their battle pace, repeatedly attacking the "yellow-black" on their own territory. Our team lost two battles in a row, and ua Crystallize farm decreased noticeably.

Opponents caught off-guard 2 Dire supports, which allowed them to easily claim the T2 tower on the bottom lane; After that, Night Stalker was picked off, and without him, ua NAVI did not manage to protect the second tower in the midlane. By the 20th minute ru ESPADA broke out ahead by 5,000 gold. Born to Win still managed to make the best use of the key items (Black King Bar for Bloodseeker) and to conduct a successful attack, but the opponents did not lose their heads and counter-attacked the "yellow-black".

Players of ru ESPADA claimed the first Aegis of Immortality and defeated ua Natus Vincere in a major fight - as a result, only Bloodseeker survived. Opponents did not slow down, forcing our team to spend the buybacks to defend themselves. The fight 32 minutes in cost the Dire quite a lot of buildings.

ua NAVI found an opportunity to improve their situation and managed to emerge victorious from the battle for Roshan, but the significant advantage of ru ESPADA was felt - even the presence of additional life and Cheese did not help to reverse the course of the match. Even if they had the lead, the rivals did not hurry to initiate the high ground siege: they held the team on the base and controlled the map, waiting for the right moment for the fight.

As a result, the barracks on the top lane were demolished only in the 46th minute. In the decisive battle for the last side, the opponents were also stronger. The Russian five took the map 1.

Game 2 - Natus Vincere [0:2] ESPADA

Picks and bans
Team
Picks
Bans

NAVI.GG.BET
  • GeneRaL
  • velheor
  • Lil
  • Crystallize
  • Dendi

ESPADA
  • Immersion
  • Misha
  • 633
  • Nix
  • iLTW

In the second match, NAVI chose Mirana as a carry, and for ua Dendi, Tinker was the pick. Lycan, contrary to expectations, shifted to the third position. In contrast, rivals have picked up a fairly tanky pick with a high push potential. Opponents claimed the first blood, and from the first minutes, took matters into their own hands: Chen focused on the middle lane and tried to interfere with Tinker, so ua Lil was forced to come to the aid of his mid player and kill the Persuaded creeps with his Frostbite.

By the 10th minute of the match, the top three heroes based on the net worth were the Dire ones; after a couple of minutes ru ESPADA increased its advantage by destroying all the T1 towers. "Yellow-black" traded two heroes for the enemy Luna and focused on splitting the lanes to buy some time for Tinker. We did not hurry to get involved in mass fights, but 18 minutes in, our opponents picked off Mirana and promptly dealt with the T2 tower of our team.

ru ESPADA players felt confident in their abilities and boldly moved through the enemy jungle - this cost them 2 of their heroes; ua NAVI diminished their disadvantage quite well. In a little while, the teams traded heroes: each side lost a carry and a support. The Russian five used Smoke of Deceit: this gank proved to be effective, as ru ESPADA caught ua Crystallize and, using the hero advantage over ua Natus Vincere, slain Roshan.

29 minutes in, rivals attacked the Radiant base and destroyed the T3 tower, opening access to the Shrines. In the process, the opponents lost Windranger, but retreated safely with the aid of the Underlord ultimate. Regrouping, the guys from ru ESPADA once again sieged the highground of "yellow-black" and broke the barracks on two lines. While this was happening, ua GeneRaL was on the other side of the map; he managed to finish off a T3 of the opponent.

The outcome of the match was decided in the battle for the remaining barracks: in spite of the fact that ua NAVI did their best to keep the buildings, they could not hold back the ru ESPADA onslaught. In this series, the opponent wins.