Samsung Grand

we can see on the main screen that 8 players have joined the game. let's introduce each of them briefly. the first, in the blue slot, ig.zhou. he is the sole player in today's star-studded match-up to don the red jersey, signifying a returning champion. let's reminisce a bit on zhou's long history of pilgrimage to wcg china. those of you already familiar with zhou's career should know that this is his 3rd year of attendance. in 2009, silver. in 2010, gold with nirvana.cn. and now, this year... will he, on the wcg stage, show us a champion's glory? will he defend his title?

let's ask ourselves... has anyone been able to achieve this? to win wcg 2 years in a row? in the realm of dota, i don't think so. in '08, ehome took the championship. and in '09, ehome did it again. so... as an organization they've done it before. but if we look at individual competitors, ehome's roster underwent a complete change between the two events; all 5 players were new. oh... there was gk. i believe ehome's gk was the only player to successfully defend his championship title. i'm not remembering this wrong, am i? in 2010, we saw the rise of a new dynasty... nirvana.cn.

let's look forward now as zhou attempts to realize his dream. we now have all 10 players ready to go. let's get this grand final match started! welcome back to the live broadcast of wcg china 2011 dota grand final. a showdown between teams ig and tyloo. oh we just saw a glimpse of that old veteran we were just talking about, gk. i don't know if you caught that. today he is taking a bit of a backseat. that's right. his identity today is that of tyloo's manager/coach.

before we get into the bans/picks, let's continue with introducing these players. so we've already talked a bit about zhou, let's take a look at tyloo. for today's match, from a purely emotional perspective, i'm really rooting for tyloo. this is because, tyloo's line-up is composed mainly of players that are relatively new to the competitive scene. yes, they are newbies to the professional scene, but they've toiled long and hard in the amateur and semi-pro arenas. we should recall that the team that swept away all of the strong teams from around the world at alienware's tournament... and vaulted chinese dota into the international dota limelight were all amateurs. it was a stage where legends such as lightofheaven and loda were present. it was the first time that chinese teams beat all of the strong foreign teams on the world stage.

right... technically it was the second time, because smm took place before that. let's move on to other players. kabu and awoke came from team sunny; ex-sunny members. after entering tyloo, their skills have seemingly elevated a level. and right now on the screen we have sansheng of team ig. also an old member of ehome as well as cd. a veteran with copious amounts of experience. we can see not just a mature look on his face, but also lots of confidence. years of competitive experience have really given them much.

now showing tyloo's side; we can see a group of very lively youngsters. hao's appearance... it doesn't matter where or how you see it, he is instantly recognizable. yah... that pair of red glasses. let's hear some support from our tyloo fans! although they are a new roster, as long as they invest their passion and love for the game... they will inevitably earn our praise and respect. faith and dd are also new players aren't they? yes... but we should note that faith when he was in chn, already participated in many on-line events. and now on the screen we have... xiao8.

a player native to changsha, hunan, previously played on dream. it just so happens that one of his ex-dream teammates is on the opposing team... dd. ok... after introducing so many players let's go to picks/bans. we see that they've already finished with all 5 of their respective bans. broodmother banned by ig. a hero that's been intensely popular in recent matches and skillfully used by hao, banned right off the bat. windrunner was next. i think they were very impressed with dd's wr play from yesterday. that's right... when he force staffed to dodge weaver's killing blow. very beautiful play. 3rd ban is bat rider.

over on tyloo's side, we can see that their bans are highly focused as well. 1st ban is syllabear. ahh... right he is still ridiculously strong in 6.72c (pre recall nerf). they absolutely cannot let zhou get his hands on sylla. ka'el is the next ban. right... "the pianist". they've directly taken out both 430/ferrari's invoker and xiao8's pugna. all of these bans today are so directed. yes. today before the match, i got the chance to listen in on some of ig's strategy discussion. they've picked clockwerk, lich, spectre, and beastmaster, these 4 heroes. this is something they've carefully prepared beforehand.

i'm sure that both teams have very particular heroes that they really want to get. clockwerk and beastmaster. both heroes, whether you want to talk about initiation, follow-up, aoe, or vision abilities, are highly exceptional. and also, they are not weak laners. yes... they are melee heroes, but in this version we've seen the success of stout shield starting builds. with such high-utility heroes in their lineup, all they have to do is get out of the laning phase with minimal loss... and they can readily control the flow of the game, ensuring a smooth victory. yes... don't fail in the early game, and go aggressive in the mid game looking for openings. in recent matches, we typically see around the 8 minute mark the start of significant ganking plays. over on tyloo they've picked up lycanthrope and shadow demon, these two brothers.

we don't often get to see both of them appear in competitive play do we? which one do you think is the big bro? i think shadow demon is... why? because he's ranged? i think lycanthrope looks a lot fiercer, and he lords it over a pair of underlings. yah... but if you think about it, he has 2 pukes backing him up all the time, whereas sd runs it solo like a boss. ahh... yah that is a stronger lone wolf image isn't it? anyways... sd can occupy a solo lane. a key playmaker/game-controlling sort of role. that is true, but i've also seen tyloo utilize him excellently as a support. faith's support play is stellar. right, but today i have strong incentive to believe that they're going to run him as a solo in this lineup...

seeing as they've just picked up earthshaker as their 4th. yes... with the es pick, sd will very likely play in a semi-carry role. we touched on this previously during the lol player interviews... but at this level of play you cannot live without hard disables (stuns), and lots of them. absolutely, we can see 2 stunners on each side, with cg + bm/vs + es... witch doctor is ig's 5th pick. although his stun time is short, but it should also count as a hard disable. right. in previous discussions, we've concluded that the mark of an excellent wd player... is to count how many times he can cast his cask within a single teamfight. also, how well he can control the battlefield with his ult placement.

a well-placed wd ult can seriously disrupt the positioning of enemy heroes. 1st cask to kite some dpser trying to focus him down... 2nd cask... and if the teamfight is still even, the 3rd cask will end the fight. when trying to judge how good a 5th-position/hard support player is... we need to see how good he is at being a coward in teamfights. hehe... right, make himself as small and unnoticeable as possible. the more cowardly he plays the more effective he becomes. not only do you have to not draw attention to yourself, but you have to do your job (pick up your core, wards). you can't just hide the entire game. talking about this... we can't not bring up an old veteran who regrettably couldn't make it to this event, longdd.

longdd, after playing all these years.. even though he shifted from carry to support roles, he wields hard supports like a god. yah... longdd with his tremendous body of experience... ohh... tyloo finishes up with a weaver pick. looks like today's going to be another weaver vs spectre showdown. from the semi-finals, we've already seen nirvana.cn and tyloo face off in such a matchup. what's different is that this time, hao is... ehh, wait a second. hao is not on the weaver he's on the lycan. oh right... i'm afraid i've forgotten, but today is not simply weaver vs spec. there is a lycan in tyloo's lineup.

let's see who's playing what. zhou on spectre. "a case where skill exceeds namesake", it's been said of him. i think a player that we should take special note of is faith. on one hand, he is the strategic mastermind of the team being responsible for their drafting and large-scale decision-making. and on the other hand, he can play a very wide range of heroes extremely effectively. his performance on sd yesterday was exceptional. yah... let me mention at this point that, the tyloo players, faith, kabu, awoke, hao... they've played as a team in the past. back when they played in chn, they were already extremely good friends and teammates. i've asked people who are really familiar with faith, and they all agree his b/p, captaining is extremely stable.

yes i've seen faith play at many offline events, and he gets really worked up in the heat of the moment really shouting out commands. a good team needs this kind of strong and direct leadership. oh ig is making a move! ahh... disruption dodges bm's axes, but there's all 5 of them there. it's first blood! zhou takes first blood. it looks like this lycan wanted to hang around in the fountain as long as possible to send out wolves for scouting. let's save right now after zhou's fb. ig really showing their strength taking the initiative like this. seems like someone is asking for a remake. technical issues or hotkey problem?

if we could resolve the problem without remaking that'd be ideal. we'd really like to keep this match going smoothly. the two teams are now negotiating. this could really influence the players' state of mind. especially seeing as it was the coaches who requested the pause. i think we can safely say that this opening really gives the advantage to ig. here we have awoke saying that they shouldn't remake. 430 agrees. let's see if faith can get his warkeys working again. he cannot.

alright... we'll have to go through with the load game. running into issues with warkeys can really be troublesome. who do you think is coming out ahead in terms of morale right now? i think with spectre picking up fb, ig has already received quite a psychological boost. tyloo might have already been thinking warkeys was being wonky, and now that fb has taken place they feel they must rectify the problem without delay. yesterday's match, we saw weaver pick up fb. so, even a weaver with fb could not outcarry spectre. now today, spectre with fb. can he outcarry lycan? this really puts tyloo in an awkward position.

we should note tyloo's conceptual approach to weaver is a bit unique. they don't think he is suitable as a hard carry in the #1 position. rather, they like to run him in the #2 position. they believe that is optimal. right, they want to capitalize on weaver's ability to generate chaos in teamfights. also, faith is known for playing this type of bait-ish hero role. since weaver is good in teamfights, then let him teamfight. weaver must participate in early-mid fights... to the point of specializing in them. lycanthrope, on the other hand, has many choices. if he wants to eat towers, he can.

if he wants to eat ancients, he can. if he wants to eat roshan, he can. if he wants to eat heroes, he also can. in this way, the hard carry role gains a lot of flexibility and space to develop. however, he is really weak in the lane. as a laner, he'd be wholly focused on self-preservation. all he can do offensively is send out his 2 little wolves to scout. it looks like the players are ready now. after a bit of our analysis, this match will boil down to spectre vs lycan; hao vs zhou. which team is the strongest in china right now?

ahh... a haste rune to boot. a lot of the time, what people look at is just the carries' items in the late game... because that is the most obvious and easy-to-understand thing. but when two teams go up against each other, it's not just about who's carry player is stronger. what a carry does is realize the early game and mid game advantages a team is able to secure. it is the physical manifestation of a team's overall performance. over here at mid, we have a stout shield bm; 430's bm vs dd's eredar. this matchup will boil down to whether or not bm can secure runes. sd's harrassing and laning power is very strong otherwise.

over here we can see that the highly experienced zhou has abused the :00 min haste rune to make a surprise lane switch. again, ig compounding their early game advantage considerably. it looks like tyloo is responding as well, reorganizing their lane setups a bit. earthshaker waving hello at mid, hurriedly rushing over to zhou's lane. because of how the stage is set up today (tl: poor sound isolation), we hope you'll forgive our reserved commentary. what you'll see is mostly what you'll get; we'll move the camera over for you to see stuff. the situation at bot, zhou's spec vs faith's weaver. after the lane swap, zhou should be very comfortable, especially with fb under his belt too. his roh or boots whichever he chooses will come along very quickly.

we can see that he's picked up a quelling blade. he wants to leave as little to chance as possible. looking at his item build, you can tell that faith was expecting a hard lane where he was going to get suppressed. in the jungle, we come across a singularly lonely fellow. in this early phase, a very solitary player. we can see so far, that the emphasis for both teams is on their carries' development rather than outright ganking and kill attempts to win lanes. as long as tyloo doesn't lose its lanes too hard, then they'll come out ahead. why? because they have a dedicated jungler. here is awoke on es. after wandering in circles for a while, he's settled at top lane. they've probably decided that vs is a bit too insecure soloing top.

this is kind of bad news for faith as he'll have to face wd's incessant harrasment without aid. though he started off with an inventory brimming with consumables, it seems like he'll be running on empty soon. back to mid, bm has a haste bottled. this could very well set up for a good gank later. maybe once he reaches 6. we often see this... a solo mid who's picked up a rune, but just refuses to use it. they wait until they hit a certain level... uhh... looks like he popped it when you said it. it's probably because he's still quite a ways from lvl6, and he needed to restore some mana. ohh... an excellent fissure block, but it's obvious vs has already used her magic missile. and if she decided to chase further, it probably would have been bad, what with the creep wave and lich moving up.

a reverse kill would have likely happened. cg's consumables are depleted, though. so tyloo, playing it safe, but also succeeding in burning off cg's regen. whoah... swarm! but it doesn't connect with the wd. worse still.... he's completely dry of mana now. good show from ddc, juking that deftly. tbh though, even if it landed, it probably wouldn't have been a problem. right, because weaver had no mana. if he had mana, then the wd would've been screwed. besides the first blood we saw, things seem to be relatively tranquil. lycan... lord of the jungle, tyrannizing neutrals.

i think he's related to the veno from last match. ahh... right. kabu's veno. it seems they've switched places. every match there's always an exceedingly lonely hero. but lycan's loneliness is one that venomancer can never understand. heh... veno can only build tank, while lycan can build dps? is that what you mean? veno can farm jungle a bit, then his team will be like 'hmmm... he's useful now' whereas lycan farms jungle... whoah! trying to block him in... but no. it's alright though, they've secured the kill.

yah he gets the xp too, he was present. so a kill for hao's lycan. setting off alarm bells for zhou: 'even though you got first blood, i can still get kills here at top.' not content with exploiting the jungle, he's crashing the lane party too with his wolf lackeys. is there a chance here? guess not. cg is a hero that's strongly capable of self-preservation. he's got his boots already too. let's pan over to see how faith is doing. he's barely hanging in there... can only afford some trinkets from the side shop. zhou, on the other hand, oh boy... at the same time, sd is developing very smoothly.

bot lane is still in contention, but wd can trade hits with you all day long. we can say that the competitive scene has undergone a re-rediscovery of this hero. they've realized that his heal is remarkable for safeguarding a farming carry. on top of that, the midgame skirmishes that occur in the woods frequently are broken by paralyzing cask. it's effectiveness in those sorts of fights is highly apparent. weaver has shipped out a clarity to sip on. a clarity and some tangos. they've made their move at top! lich ult, a fissure. lycan is just charging in. a magic missile, clock is killed off.

a disruption, with damage amp on top. he's dead. top lane is a sweep. let's see, weaver is safe and sound. bm has no angle to enter the fight. thanks to sd's unperturbed development at mid, he strikes and promptly brings about a 3-1 kill lead in tyloo's favour. faith still down here... 'good job, good job teammates'. psychologically, he's probably anxious as heck at this point. yah, he's really in a bind here, playing with fire. he's still going "i'm ok! i'm fine!", but spec's already completed his vanguard, and it's not just any spec... it's zhou's spectre! the pressure must be immense (as tyloo's captain). zhou, as one of the best-performing captain/carry players... ehh... what's weaver trying to do here?!

ahh... he's got his ult. otherwise, a single cask from wd + spec's desolate, he could have easily kicked the bucket there. a professional player would never let himself commit such an obvious error. at the same time, this side is developing viciously quick as well. vlad's up already. should we do a quick comparo of their farm? there's basically 0 difference. over here we've got vlad's, over there we have a vanguard. boots over there, sobi mask over here. the two side's carries are basically neck-and-neck in terms of development. so now, what's the critical point of observation for this match? we have to look to mid. exactly... we have to carefully follow these 2 mid solos actions now.

who will make the next move? ferrari.430 was sort of caught with his pants down. eredar has successfully invigorated top lane's tempo. his playmaker buddy clock was also killed once in that encounter. is 430 going to think about forcing a skirmish of his own? not only is this sd controlling the pace of the match, but his last hitting is superb as well. he's basically guaranteed himself a relevant role in the events that follow, by securing his levels and his item timing. his financial state must be exceptional at this point... we'll keep a close eye on what itemization he decides on. ahh... so he's going for that... i don't know if the audience can see this clearly or not. (tl: mekansm parts) teams nowadays put so much emphasis on the team over the individual. items like that are appearing earlier and earlier.

faith continues to bite the bullet at bot. facing a spec with vanguard... you don't even need to talk about harass anymore. it's a good thing he's melee. if he was ranged he would've long attrition-ed you to death already. this fat a spec... ah well, he's a weaver after all. right... good thing it's a weaver. if he was any other hero, he probably wouldn't be able to stay in lane at this point. haha... seems like clock contributed a long-range rocket to the weaver torture chamber. let's take a look at bot's cs figures. weaver is doing surprisingly well actually. spectre... it's getting pretty high. sd has bottled up a rune.

okay! beast ults, and weaver is focused down in a heartbeat. while at top... at top, nothing's happened. we'll very likely see the 2 teams enter a tower trade scenario. right, because we've got 4 heroes bot, the bunch at top should be contemplating taking a tower of their own. particularly with lycan's crazy tower-destroying speed. heh... it seems like top tower is actually going to fall first. glyph is popped, but it still falls first. they've traded towers, but the difference is that poor faith was roadkill. he's now built 2 rors, a sobi mask, and a magic wand. we can see that he's not interested in fighting any time soon. instead, he's focusing on lane staying power.

he's basically wearing a headband with the word "weakness" on it. 'please have some pity and leave me alone.' did you notice who got the tower kill for bot? ahh... it was zhou after all. when it comes to big final stages, he is absolutely unrelenting. first blood, tower kill, we can really taste his determination. oh! over here. this sd... whenever he makes a move, he gets immediate results, taking out the opposing mid solo. ahh... clock hookshot misses by a hair. zhou has ulted... is he going to port in. nope, he decides not to. he wants an eye for an eye, but the enemy team was too concentrated.

spectre's farm is like this. and lycan's farm is like this. seems pretty even... rocket flare! they see everything. chain frost is casted. lich drops, es drops. will clock make it? zhou is here, zhou is here. full hp spectre. lycan dies to bm roar. weaver is chasing, but wd's heal is on. he's a vg spec, man! this weaver is going all-in. can he beat him? ahh vs turns around and lobs a magic missile! beautiful! both team's carries have died. pretty exciting match, let's save now.

amazing... a 700hp weaver with no gear manages to shukuchi all over that hectic teamfight, and eventually team up with vs to topple the fattest carry on the map. faith is really one of those players who's skill exceeds his fame. we saw for the entirety of this match, him sitting in the hard lane with a dunce cap just rolling with the punches. but when the shtf, even with a massive farm disadvantage, he can still find a strongly contributing role within the team. this is one of the best scenarios to see how skilled/smart a player you truly are. a player given some ideal items, power treads, vanguard... of course, he's going to feel strong and confident and wade into the fight swinging. but when you've got nothing, how best can you exploit your hero to the fullest? that is really tricky. another fissure, and clock is locked out. wild axes to harass a bit. how are they going to fight this one? eredar disrupts!

lycan secures the aegis! review spec's status... ahh another fissure. brilliant fissure this! catches 2 heroes. clock's hookshot misses again! what can they do? lycan's dps output is a bit crazy at this point. a nice cogs from clock, bringing lycan to the edge of death, but remember he's got aegis. this battle... tyloo gains the upper hand with 2-for-1 exchange. what's this?! spectre ults in... lycan gets damage reflected to death. dispersion is still burning away! magic missile?! spectre is killed! a complete victory for tyloo.

they manage to kill spectre yet again. he's died twice in a row now. it really feels like awoke's es was trying to tell us... 'hey, i've got no farm either, but witness my impact!' let's check vs's id again, strolling home like a boss... kabu! these tyloo supports each playing better than the next. a relatively unknown player with little claim to fame, but he's been working hard all this time from chn to sunny to tyloo. he's finally arrived at a championship final stage. kabu, in the past, is well-known for his ganker play, particularly clockwerk, but he also played carry role frequently. but right now, he's demonstrating that he can play supports too. awoke's 2 fissures were also impressive beyond words.

we've discussed this in the past... if you want to build the perfect team from scratch... start with 4 or 5 excellent carry players, then gradually transition them into each role the team requires. mechanically excellent carry players... if they settle down and patiently hash out how to play effective support roles, they can develop very strong team strategy and cohesion. coming from a carry background makes support players that are highly sensitive to every little bit of gold and farm they come across which can make all the difference in a match. zhou's farm... oh this isn't looking so good. (tl: still ~1k away from relic) lycan's really starting to flaunt an item advantage. ahh... he's picked this up. (tl: ogre axe for bkb) i think something else to take note of is the level difference between the 2 teams.

ohh! clock misses another hook. nothing but air. hmm... maybe it's alright though. he would've gotten into a lot of trouble if that hook connected. let's see... average level is around 9. i think they're starting to lose their direction. it seems like tyloo is slowly beginning to take the initiative. though they lead only by 4 kills, on the whole, they're in an advantageous position. though clock and bm are some of the most effective gank-initiating heroes, but faced with the current situation, it seems like they can't really show that strength. in these last couple of clashes, lycanthrope's dps output has caused him to be far more influential than spec. at least in the early phases, lycan still seems to be the king of fast dps growth. particularly combined with the good teamplay of tyloo, his effectiveness is very apparent.

look at him take down this tower... once again, compounding his farm advantage. they've used glyph, but it's kind of a waste isn't it. zhou's positioning... he's disrupted! the chain stunning... he can't haunt out. wiped out! their carry goes down... where are our 2 semicarries? ahhh... they're late. lycan wants to continue chasing? he's swapped out, but the lich ult bounce scores anyways. a 3 for 2 trade. it seems like tyloo has ended up with a net loss this clash. although they sniped spec right off the bat, but they ended up giving up their own carry's life in exchange.

i think they got prematurely excited didn't they? right. at first it was a big boon killing off the opposing carry like that, but they threw it away by deciding to chase. professional players can't afford to lose their judgement in the heat of the moment. an important point is that zhou did not buyback. yes, they won that skirmish 4v5. if you want to rush/dive someone, lich's ult "bounce bounce bounce" is very hard to bear. without the creep wave, it just becomes devastating. the average pace of dota is really getting faster and faster. can you remember the time when loh's necrobook 3 beastmaster was the flavour du jour?

nowadays, power treads, half a vanguard, and hurriedly plunge into a non-stop ganking/teamfighting rhythm. yah... that was when bm and na (?) ruled the roost. oh right here, clockwerk thinking about the hookshot, but the sd makes the first move. he's disrupted! a timely cask. vs swaps out sd, and breaks wd's ult. now lycan and weaver enter the battlefield. wd almost immediately focused down. lycan is incredibly dangerous right now. mek is popped... another magic missile and clock goes down. now spectre joins the brawl. he's completely trapped in. finished off with another magic missile.

so even though lycan has fallen, they've still profited from this engagment. spec has bought back! let's see how many he can catch. but... but it feels like it's a no-go. let's take a look at his econ. weaver's over-extending himself! faith going in too far. eredar with the disrupt, and he's saved. oh man... what kind of teamwork is this?? that move, he basically had 100% confidence in his teammate to bail him out. nobody is willing to just escape and run off ditching his team. he stuck around even though his mana was almost depleted. right when we thought he'd bought the farm, a disrupt.

dota is truly a 5-player game. it is its major point of attraction. let's hurry up and monitor the development of each side's carries. lycan is lvl12 now. i think the important point is that these last 2 clashes, he's died along with the spec. can you see this here? (tl: mithril hammer, bkb almost complete) over here, zhou. ahh... it seems like his inventory hasn't changed at all. yah.. the important thing right now is not how aggressive their play is, it's about how stable their play is. let's quickly save right now. 20 minute mark. kill count is 10-15. tyloo has taken a lead.

i think if you look at their match history... tyloo is 4-6 against ig. let's hear some support from the fans of ig. spectre, this kind of hero, is fully capable of drawing the match out into the late game. he is completely unafraid of extended games. on the other hand, we have lycan, who relies very much on momentum to have a strong impact in late game. he absolutely needs to create an advantage for himself during his powerful midgame phase, if he wants to succeed in late. he also needs to factor in countering strategies by the opponent. right... lich's frost armour, bm and cw's bkb-penetrating stuns. these will all dampen his effectiveness as the game drags on. on scourge though, we can't discount vs aura in the late game... already at lvl 3.

there's also this guy here at mid. right... he can make images of spec or lycan. quite scary. it's kinda like a manta style lycan isn't it? either that or spec has to fight his own fat images. we have a tower denied. they've basically evened out the tower count. with the situation like this, i think the match will be very entertaining to watch in the late game. i think we can safely say that the match is still up in the air. no team has a massive upper hand over the other. this year's most strongly performing carry player, zhou-god. it is only in these types of high-pressure situations where he is on the back foot, that we can truly see his potential as a player. we've followed his growth as a player, his path to greatness these 2 years...

from his early growth on team cd... his metamorphosis in nirvana.cn... the playstyle of a dominant force in ccm, and now finally team ig. is this year the year that he will reap all the rewards of his effort and persistence? especially right now, in what is shaping up to be one of the most tumultuous periods in the history of competitive dota. right now... there are so many factors at play in the scene that are out of the players' control. all they can do for themselves is maximize their performance in-game. i think the first thing anyone entering the competitive scene should ask themselves is: "do i have a future?" speaking as a past professional player... my advice is that whatever stage you're competing on, focusing on your own personal improvement is the most vital aspect.

at this point in the game, zhou's incredible last-hitting consistency has borne fruit. even after dying 3 times in succession and wasting a buyback, his sacred relic is imminent. let's hear some cheers for zhou. lycan meanwhile has taken roshan though! scourge initiates! who will throw the first ult? spec ults! lycan has ulted too! the situation is a confused mess right now. it appears both sides have stepped down from a full-on fight. the key point here is that sentinel managed to bait out an initiation from scourge with bm illusion, but they decided not to follow up on it. for good reason... look at spec's economic situation right now. (tl: 37xx gold) he cannot risk dying in a clash right now, period. it was the correct decision to not fight.

i think he's regaining some confidence with his strong farming. i wonder if tyloo understands spectre's farm state right now. pipe and vit booster on faith now. in this current version, i think a major theme that we need to talk about more and more is how many key teamfighting items your team has completed. let's try to hash it out now. oh! vs swap initiation on clock! clock is instantaneously sniped. pipe activated, lich ult barely scratches. do they have the guts to defend right now? weaver is flexing his muscle right now... still chasing.

there was a small detail during that clash... did you catch it? just then when vs got ulted by lich, eredar immediately force staff'd him out of harm's way. their teamplays are just incredible. check out their items: mekansm, vlad's, pipe, force staff all they're missing now is a janggo. but, janggo is a more personalized item... it suits specific heroes rather than generally. faith! faith! faith! haha i think he heard my desperate cries. 'i'm just poking ahead a bit. don't be so nervous.' tyloo really wants to pick a fight now. ah! bm gets swapped! is vs going to die? he sruvives! a quick force staff and he's safe.

so they've picked off bm... ahh but what's this ... faith has died. they're trying to retreat now, but zhou ults! zhou's not letting you go so fast! so, vs is dead now. zhou's going crazy with the smell of blood! he's chasing really far. es probably ran out of mana. nova, and zhou scoops up another kill. is he still gonna chase? the gem! they're going in for the kill. the frost armour letting him tank the tower hits almost completely. wow, this fight... zhou has not only secured his core item build, but he's successfully defended mid tower. not only did he pick off vs, but he also managed to net 2 more kills for sentinel.

clock's continuous rocket vision, lich's frost armour. very detailed support work. let's save now. tyloo initially scored a tactical advantage, but ig came back with force and won that confrontation. right now... i'm really pitying those friends who aren't watching this live. right... those of you who didn't come out to the venue really can't feel the fiery intensity of this match firsthand. i really have to give props to this team, wholly composed of newcomers to the pro scene. they've given it their all, showing incredible team cohesion. let's hear tyloo's fans! (tl: fawning over faith/zhou, trying to not give away smoke) ig takes the outer top tower, but at the same time tyloo is already knocking on the door. tp, tp, tp.

let's check items again... ahh (tl: mithril for desolator) lycan's holding aegis and bkb... they feel they must force a fight. they're grinding down the tower... weaver picks it off. cask goes off like a ping pong ball. playing more conservatively now, withdrawing for the next creepwave. xiao8 over here is another player who's been patiently waiting for a championship stage like this one. earlier his performance hasn't really been up to snuff, with several missed hooks. i believe though that xiao8 with his strong grasp of cg will find his rhythm. just as we were chatting here... he hits a couple of enemy heroes in the jungle here with a rocket.

zhou has upped his inventory a bit. he ults! ahh... bm too. es is melted instantly. lycan is desperately trying to cut in... he can't find an angle... cogs totally blocking him out. spectre! he's totally isolated... and he's dead. lycan bites wd for half his life. vs swaps over... stuns bm, but lycan's ult is over! zhou has fallen, but i think he's totally brought his team's tempo back to life. 4 heroes camping lycan. the quill pig carrying so hard right now. that's an execution.

can they catch sd?! can lich tag him with nova? drum active anyone? clock hookshot? has it cooled down yet? a fissure! and the chase is over. what a teamfight... with tyloo taking heavier losses. zhou has died, but the teamfight is won. if we check the kill count now, it's 19-18! the score has shifted to ig's advantage. the first time this match. they've succeeded in suppressing zhou's development, but his team has picked up the reins. let's take a look at ig side's farm status.

he disrupts... is there any chance here? can es get the fissure block off? ehh... fissure! and he dies... we're back to 19-19. neither side is letting up an inch. bm's items are like this. lich's are like this. spec's... and then we come to cg... who's cog placement was excellent the last fight. though lycan had just acquired his deso, that cogs almost completely blocked lycan from outputting his massive dps with any efficiency. wd decides to buyback... let's check out this upcoming critical fight. we're seeing former champion zhou's incredibly solid team ig being pushed step-by-step back against the wall here.

fight after fight, defending against tyloo's aggressive blows, who are relentlessly exploiting their lineup's period of peak strength. clock initiates! hookshot scores. spec ults. es fissures. but it feels like ig's positioning is inferior. clock is swapped out. lycan bkb-ults... they're going to focus spec down. he's killed! lycan going crazy here!! a fissure! ig, what are you going to do?! lycan triple-kill! plus a lane of rax. spec only has 800 gold right now. if we review this fight... clock hooks into weaver, but weaver immediately ults out of the cogs. also, it seems that the pipe really defused any attempts from ig team members to enter the fight.

bm's axes, lich launched his ult right in there... and i think they thought they could fight it out. but facing mek + pipe, their impact was almost totally mitigated. also, what was key here, is that all the previous fights, tyloo was charging forward into ig's formation. this time though... tyloo push forward, baited out the initiation, then immediately withdrew back a few steps to clear that nasty choke. it was only after this maneuver that lycan bkb-ulted and went to town on them. right, he waited until many ig heroes had moved forward off high ground. then his first target was zhou. 2nd was clock. this is because ig had no teamfight items up, if they lost zhou, then they've instantly lost the bulk of their teamfighting ability. i think the theme of this match, is that too much of ig's dps potential is hanging on zhou.

your bm has a vanguard... so sure you're tanky, but can you run up and hack people? no. clock has a vanguard... ok, you're tanky, but can you run up and hack people up? no! it's a familiar scenario when dual core lineup meets single carry lineup. it seems that weaver + lycan can more comfortably output dps than spectre. man... this sd's play/role is kind of eye-opening. dd's sd. mek, force staff, vanguard. i think this guy should get a nod for this year's best-performing solo mid. he's not a radical player, with flashy plays/micro, but he's always present for those critical moments, teamplay items in hand. those instances when your teammates desperately need help, and when the enemy is completely oblivious to even the possibility of your arrival.

the young player who started out with team dream, has already grown to this point. we used to joke around with him.. "so those group stages, have a good time playing 7 continuous matches of nothing but wd"? he had played a previous match as spec, but he didn't perform very well so he stopped playing carry role. hence, 7 matches of wd. that was a really tough tournament too. i think the breaking point of this match will occur in the next couple of minutes. yah... we're definitely approaching a critical point. both teams have very complete vision of each side. hey! swap... and bm gets instantly focused down.

chain frost bouncing nicely. lycan is dpsing away. clock is fleeing. where are spec? wd's ult is also having a nice effect. spectreeeee! ahh... it's over. he falls... he honestly didn't have a chance. because bm was a critical disable for their teamfight, as well as a lynchpin for the team's dps output. okay now... how many? how many kills can they secure? spec has bought back! clock hooks in! was this zhou's plan all along?? lycan runs off... what about sd? ahh his force staff has cd'd. lycan... what are you still doing here? ahh the dagger misses.

this fight... tyloo stills comes out ahead. another hugely profiting exchange. i think though... that both sides have yet to secure the definitive game-ending advantage. taking out bm like that was a big play, ultimately netting a zhou kill + buyback. we need to check his items... ahh, they haven't changed for a long time now. how about lycan's items? whoah... they're like this. i think we can say it's a leap and a bound ahead. awoke's es... dd's sd... over here, faith's weaver. and their vs, who's already lvl13. that's really high level relative to the playing field.

clock, lich, bm... spec. tyloo gets the 3rd roshan spawn. (vs - cheese, lycan - aegis) whoah what? the courier got ulted i think. was it carrying anything? a smoke. can they use it? yah i think they can. so... they've got aegis, cheese, a lane of megas, a free smoke, and a courier kill. what can you do? where are ig's fans? can they block this falling anvil? the wcg final bo1; this is it. the last outer tower... oh there's still one more. tyloo's deadly intent is obvious. they're not scooping up a tower for the gold, they're carrying out their final crucial attack at the crucial time. ahh... lycan's tower wrecking speed is that of a lunatic now.

take a look at his gold. clock hookshots in! he gets pushed out. spec ults. mek popped, pipe popped, haste popped. lycan tanking it up at the front, vs swaps somebody! huge es ult! es is caught in the middle of everything, getting assaulted by clock. bkb lycan gets roared! keels over. but what about spec! lycan has no more dps... ahh but his ult is still active. weaver is continously dps-ing away in the middle of it all. there's a sentry though. holy cow what's going on? so chaotic.

clock... clock and beast have successfully killed off the lycan. tyloo has lost 2 heroes... hookshot scores!! a 3 for 0 trade. man, i told you, xiao8 is not going let down his fans. let's save now. this last couple of a minutes... it feels like the sky is changing. the wind and the clouds are shifting. during this teamfight... something that stood out to me very clearly was hao's lycan, holding the aegis + bkb, agonising over whether or not to bkb/ult at 1/2 health. he was waiting and waiting for the enemy team to focus him down. but ig did something really smart... ok you've got aegis. if you're not going to ult, not going to bkb, then fine. we're not gonna hit you. no, we're going to attack your teammates. so, going to ult? going to bkb? the instant he pops them, bm instantly roars him... and he's focused down.

i ask you... what can a lycan without bkb or ult do? so what we just saw was a team with aegis advantage get trounced 3-0. what a scary team. zhou and ferrari and xiao8 and ddc and sansheng. this not a disappointing performance. sd forces staff forward, disrupts and ults spectre. es running up for the follow-up. ahh the fissure misses! they're still chasing though. there is still a chance. another stack of poison. the distance is... ahh, they give up. zhou surviving by the skin of his teeth. if the fissure had connected, he'd definitely be dead right now.

whoah... lycan's items... if the last fight was a probing push, then this time it's going to be a do-or-die battle to the death. lycan has exchanged his moc for an ac, complimenting vs's howl. forget past performances. this year, these 2 teams have accumulated massive experience, honing their teamplay execution to perfection. in their eyes, dota is a 5-man game. they've proven time and again, that individual skill is secondary to teamplay. dk has come away from this wcg with a 3rd place finish. i'm sure for many of you that this is an unsatisfactory showing from dk. this result should be described as just adequate. i really hope that they'll be to show better performance in the future.

it seems like the state of the game is undergoing change... bot lane? looking for an opportunity. at this time, zhou is lvl 20, while lycan is lvl 18. this is likely a result of spectre successfully reaping abundant hero kills during the last couple of won teamfights. conversely, we see the abused, hard lane weaver now sitting at lvl 19. what kind of situation is this? both sides are carefully trying to find an opening. this team is patiently waiting for a counter-initiation opportunity. a bold move! straight-up swap, but ghost scepter is insta-popped.

is the snipe successful? es enchant totem, scourge pipe is popped, vs is the first to go down. let's see who's next. i think the opportunity is closing. lycan is ulted, es ults. ig's formation is extremely good. lycan still wants to go in, but he's being given 0 opportunity to dps. the cask connects, but nice fissure blocking a little. dagger flies out, spec is on the hunt. weaver? is spectre just going to give up the chase like that? there's no more opportunities here... the exchange is over. as the clock ticks on, we can slowly see that the team with the late game composition is starting to show confidence. and we also notice that one-by-one those critical teamfight items are materializing. to try and make sure nothing untoward disrupts this match, we'll save after every single teamfight. i really want to see the status of ig's supports.

ig's supports... that last teamfight, clock survived, didn't he? it's because of this thing: ghost scepter. clock lived, while vs ended up dying. i was a little confused as to why he wasn't focused down after being totally snared. as for beast master, he's got one too. i think ig's teamfighting strategy is pretty clear at this point. let's finish checking out their other 2 heroes. they're not interested in single climactic waves of bursty fighting, they want to drag out the teamfights and turn them into battles of attrition. they're countering that single point of scary dps output. right... the lycan's itemization is all burst dps in nature. looking at the way this match is unfolding, they can't complete a sheepstick atm. right, that is the key item. without a sheepstick, they are incapable of bursting down a sentinel hero in a single go. whoah... what's this? faith has picked up a mystic staff during this period... he understands. time after time, they find themselves unable to focus down key targets, getting played around with by ig. that's not to his taste.

pro players... they're in the midst of playing so they usually don't have as cool and calculated overview of the match as us commentators do. let's hear zhou's fans in the audience again! i think they're playing really on the edge here. it's been a long time since i've watched such a colourful match. they are truly the top 2 teams in china right now. i think the reason why these 2 teams have had so much success this year... we need to wind the clock back a bit. ig/ccm, these 5 players... their roster has not changed a bit since the start of this year. as for tyloo, they've only switched out their carry player. i really think that tyloo is an exceptional gaming club. i definitely think the most successful club/sponsor this year has been tyloo. building a winning team primarily from new talent. i guess if you're in the scene they would be more familiar, as they're very active. but they haven't been able to find stable sponsorship for a long time now.

tyloo has provided them with an excellent opportunity to show off what they've got. previously, we've often seen top-tier players who are kind of stuck in semi-pro limbo. they can wait up to 1 or 2 years to no avail. a gaming club/organization is doing a great thing by forming a new team of lesser-known players rather than going after established names. right, i don't think that practice is conducive to building a strong, healthy e-sports scene, and it's not what fans want to see. we don't want to see something that's solely about money and profit, with large amounts of drama and poaching. instead, we want to see more and more unique captains and strategies, more and more beloved stars, more and more players that we can respect. the dota pro scene really demands new blood. the match flow has subtly changed now... yah, from a non-stop, aggressive pushing tempo down to more sedate and stable farming. tyloo realizes that what they were doing wasn't working, and must adjust.

i feel that a theme of the last couple of teamfights is tyloo's vs dying too early. a great swap, but ghost scepter, and the target doesn't die, but vs dies instead. the ghost scepter pickup was just too timely. if clock didn't have it, and the swap snipe had worked out... i think an issue is that they don't have any really strong hard disable to follow-up the vs. why is clock such a popular pick nowadays? his cogs... as the game goes late, they just get stronger and stronger. we see lycan decked out with items, but helplessly getting bounced around in teamfights. this is very aggressive. swap initiation... somebody's getting focused down hard. zhou? spectre is sniped in a flash. he buys back immediately. lycan has ulted and bkbs, but he gets cogged, and he's focused down.

a 1-for-1 exchange, i wonder if he's got buyback. es actually escapes. both side's carries complete a trade. lycan has decided to buyback as well. the difference is grey, kabu's vs, so it's currently going to be a 5v4 situation. at this point, vs is going to need 40-50 seconds to revive. his level is not the highest though... we see 20 seconds still on the timer. they should be able to stall long enough. this outer tower... it's being gifted. take it. ooh... xiao8's clock has already completed shiva's. that last fight he got off an excellent cogs eh? trapping lycan, and then manta spec.... i think at this point, power cogs is the most valuable ability on the battlefield in this match. yah, among the non-ultimate skills.

for ults... who do you think has the most important? i think it should be spec's haunt after all. it allows him to freefarm lanes while being able to enter fights seamlessly at any time. if he doesn't need to reality in from elsewhere... the ult is also a really respectable amount of dps. ig is beginning to show off their understanding of the game's flow. at this point, they're strangely not fazed or in a rush at all. a rocket... clock ults in, catching 3 heroes. lycan secures the aegis, es has fired off all his abilities. bounce, chain frost, bounce! whoah... sd falls, clock activates ghost. man... this lycan is now 1vx! he kills off the clock. weaver now... they're going after sheep'd spec! spectre! spectre returns to max hp! he must've stolen the cheese!

weaver's gonna get burned to death! is there a dagger? ahh... he chooses the wrong direction, weaver escapes. back over here... lycan, vs, lich. are they still chasing? what about here? can he catch him? disruption!! over here... a duel? whoah whoah whoah, yah!! back here... lycan's 2nd wolf form has cd'd. lets hear some applause! ok... let's take some time now to tally how many heroes are standing on each side. whoah... check out the kill score... 30-30... sentinel has 3 heroes up. scourge everyone is already alive. check out sd's items... man... i'm starting to fatigue a little.

did spec buyback last fight. no, he didn't. but his economic development is less than expected. i'm starting to think that xiao8 and ferrari are better-suited to playing heroes with more potential for micro superiority. it's apparent that after scourge acquired a sheepstick that their ghost scepter have dropped in effectiveness a ton. if you asked me to name an mvp this match, i'd pick this guy first, faith. as a rookie, as a captain. i shouldn't say captain... but the person responsible for b/p. b/p is a big part of determining how a match will play out. being the youngest player among the 5, and taking up the responsibility of b/p, that's commendable. if you screw up your b/p, the pressure you will face in the match is not going to come solely from your opponents. the more i watch, the more i feel that tyloo's lineup is just so complete. the later the game goes, the stronger it gets.

we're back to a full 5v5. this early mid rax... nowadays, the impact of losing a lane feels much bigger. like in the past, losing 2 lanes of rax... that was really tough. but now, even losing just 1 lane is really tough when the teams are of even strength. what's going on here? this is called teamwork, is it not? he's tanking the wave with his body, to let his team's carry develop more. dd has brought tyloo so much today. let's take a look at lycan's farm... he's picked up a messerschmidt's reaver. look... if he didn't let him take that wave, check out his gold, and now check out the bird. just enough (tl: for heart).

each side's carries are exhibiting a moderate gulf in farm again, but zhou is working hard too... his savings. this 54-min match... i think when gk proffered a 6:4 odds, he was taking into account the gulf in experience ig had over tyloo. i think he was also comparing their results for the year. actually... we have seen 54-min+ matches lately, but not one that is this closely matched. not for a long time. this tower is really low... the second lane is in trouble now. the pressure is on! clock has cogged somebody, i think it's vs. vs is sniped, there are so many spectre images. they catch sd with roar, lycan turns around immediately! 1 down... who's the second? lich! lich gets mowed down.

is there going to be a 3rd? he's still chasing. bm! bm is the third! number 4... here comes the fourth... has sheep cooled down yet? where's spec? whoah dd, still dragging zhou around. he finally falls... what about the main fight... lycan's ult wears off. what's the situation now? the pressure on bot lane is still there. spec is chasing away people. lycan... lycan ults again! they sniff out the real spec... he's sheeped! he's killed off!! weaver is traded, but it's still worth it, killing spectre. save now. check out the score... 34-34. and people say dota is a poor game to spectate, that dota matches are slow-paced. they're tricking themselves.

playing a team game... don't ask yourself, "is the pace slow?". ask yourself, "am i playing well?". "do i understand dota?", "do i understand the groundwork of team vs team?" vs finally hit lvl16, picking up her lvl3 ult. xiao8 and 430... some slight updates to their items, but something has been bothering me for a while now... why is nobody building a vlad's for zhou's spec? why did nobody build a pipe for the team? a lot of the aoe potential from the enemy team is coming from this guy. a pipe would have a pretty impressive impact. tyloo is brimming with team items, but it seems like ig has built very few. the pushing pace of tyloo may have crippled them for much of the early game, or lycan was too large a threat that they had to ditch everything for fast ghost scepters.

can't fight if you get bitten to death in a couple of hits. let's check sd's items again... hmmm... how about courier? it's okay... circle of power? hmm can't see it. does anybody know how to see what item this is? if they had 2 sheepsticks up... it hasn't been easy for faith. i've actually known him for 5 years now... at the earliest he was playing in a team, lostp. there really weren't that many people paying attention to dota at that time. faith has finally left his hometown, come all the way to shanghai, and finally appeared on this wcg final stage. really, let's hear some more encouragement from the crowd. the path of dota for many newcomers has not been easy. there's the big 3, and many other strong teams ahead of you. but what's most important is to have belief, to prove the strength of your desire. camaradarie. right, anything is possible.

it seems like both teams have changed their attitude towards this match. this side is shifting from defense to offense... and this side is shifting from offense to defense. the next opportunity... i think it's mainly because of this thing. ok... it's been a while now, i can't help myself, got to save. 34-34. 59 minutes. at this moment, who's got the advantage? it's tough to say. for me, it feels like tyloo has a small advantage. it's small enough though that a single mistake could result in their swift defeat. we see this scenario often. the team that first thinks they have the upper hand will overextend and get humbled. i hope that someday this e-sports scene grows to the magnitude and scale of korea's kespa, such that the 5 players can wear sound-isolating muffs and 'phones seated in sound-isolating booths, such that we have the fairest playing ground. for e-sports to grow however, it's not just about teams and sponsors... more importantly, we need all of your support.

imagine the day when you can watch dota on cctv (tl: the chinese state tv broadcaster)- clock hookshots into 2 heroes! lycan is trapped in cogs. lycan bkbs, but bm roars him immediately. this is so chaotic. es ults, but he's being stunned by cask. lycan diving back in... lycan! es dies. support vs support on the side... vs autos down wd. lycan falls... but he's rich, and buys back instantly. he's slowly walking out from the fountain. they're still chasing... weaver in a dangerous position. he gets force staff-ed to safety, spec is disrupted. weaver turns around and lets off a swarm. there's a vs lurking around in the back! he's caught by clock! zhou scores another kill. manta and now lycan is back in the fight. stop chasing, lycan!

lycan running away. weaver, weaver! they've killed zhou! spectre dies, decides to buy back. these 2 guys are still on the run, and tyloo is still chasing. weaver leading the charge. is hex ready? godly cogs! but he's still chasing. ahh... the hex goes off. whoah!! but... they're still chasing! ahh... why would you tp?! they have vision! he's forgotten... sd's shadow poision gives constant vision ehh! but still, the critical factor is here. the 4th roshan spawn. and this time they're not letting their cheese get stolen. ok... we need to calm down a bit.

the score is 37-38, but lycan bought back. spectre also bought back. i think this will go down as one my most memorable matches. it really feels like dota teams are just getting stronger and stronger over time. this match tyloo and ig are bringing to us today will not be a letdown for anyone that supports dota. the dota of today is a completely different beast from the dota of yesterday. the game theory between opponents has also become more complex. the situation right now... i don't think anybody's in a hurry. take a look at sd... check his inventory. ahh... our judgment of the situation probably differs from the players... it's not the most accurate, but we're just sharing some of our thoughts. i bet you that this match is going to come to a conclusion before the 80-min mark.

why... you wanna know why? okay... tell me. who are you looking for? i'm looking for an excuse to segue me out of this bind. actually i don't know what to say anymore... they really might drag this one out. ahh... it's here. ohh.... and another ohh.... two 'ohh's. a lot of ohhs. (tl: sheepstick completed on sd, heart on weaver) this is it... shit's going down. notice the tower hp too. and over here... we see this. how are they going to fight this one out? weaver runs right up and starts tearing down the tower. and it's gone. "come at me... come on.", he's saying. xiao8's hookshots these fights have been beautiful.

right now it's not just bot lane in trouble. mid is pushing in hard too. check out the 2 towers by the world tree. so it's like that... clock hooks forward. spec ults, es blink ults. lich ults... es is the first to die. there's a bit too many spectres. so many spectres. 2 of them are the enemy's! lycan has found the real spec, he gets sheeped. he is focused down. no buyback. spectre has no gold for buyback. weaver is still full health. high ground is completely breached. also, there are no towers covering the ancient! ig's teamfighting finesse totally crumbles in the face of double sheepstick. if it's like this... lycan is even returning to the battlefield. ig is still persevering, stalling with their ghost scepters.

the ancient's hp is dropping. it seems like they're actually hanging on here. still trying to delay the weaver... lycan ults, charging in. bm is hexed, but lycan gets caught up in the cogs and clock is safely ethereal. they're going straight for the world tree. they're still fighting, still fighting. tyloo is gonna force it. 700hp, 600, 500, 300... congratulations to tyloo!

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