Day 6 at Leipzig saw two more teams eliminated and plenty of clutch moments.
With the grand finals fast approaching, the competition at DreamLeague is getting tougher. Today two more of our teams said goodbye to the Major in another day of exciting series.
Invictus Gaming vs Beastcoast
Our opening series saw Invictus Gaming and Beastcoast go head to head in round three of our lower bracket.
Game 1
Invictus Gaming had a strong start to the lanes in game one. Emo managed to claim first blood on his Leshrac, and Invictus had a very nice start to the laning phase. The kills were 8–1 at 6-minutes and IG already had a 3k gold advantage. Things did not get much better for Beastcoast either into the mid phase of the game either. IG were stomping, the kills were 18–7 at 17-minutes in, and Emo’s Leshrac had a 1k lead over K1’s Phantom Lancer pick.
But Beastcoast managed to hold on. Playing well from behind to stretch this game out to 50-minutes. It was a bloodbath though, and Invictus Gaming took the win with a massive 27-kill lead.
Game 2
Invictus came out on top again during the lanes, but over all we saw a much closer game two.
Beastcoast certainly looked a lot stronger with K1 on Doom. He was leading the net worth during the early phase. The kills were 9–11 at 17-minutes, and BC seemed to be pulling into the lead. But Invictus had an Arc Warden pick on Emo which was going to make things difficult for them in the late game.
Although IG still came out on top in the end, Beastcoast made them work hard in game two. The kills were 30–30 at 47-min when GG was called.
IG’s adaptability really shone throughout this series. They played a pair of crisp, polished games, to take the series 2–0.
TNC.Predator vs Team Liquid
Our next series between TNC.Predator and Team Liquid saw some close, back-and-forth action across all three games of the series.
Game 1
Things started out aggressive in our first game, with a very close laning phase. The kills were four a piece at the 4-minute mark, and 5–5 by the time the clock hit 9-minutes. We saw some excellent positioning from Taiga on his Treant Protector which made things difficult for TNC during the early game.
The kills were still only 10–8 at 18-minutes.
But it was Liquid’s itemization that turned this game their way. Micke’s early pick up of the Hurricane Pike helped Liquid push for the Rosh, and from here it was their game. The kills were 15–27 at 32-minutes as Liquid rolled into the pit for the second time. With another aegis for Micke’s Drow Ranger, it was a smooth ride to victory for Team Liquid, who took the first game at 33-minutes.
Game 2
Liquid took the first blood in our game two at the 3-minute mark. But TNC were looking very strong in the lanes. They took all the 5-minute bounty runes and at this stage had already secured a 3k net worth lead. Armel’s Templar Assassin was having a fine time free farming in mid, he had 40 CS by the 6-minute mark. This was an excellent laning phase for the SEA team, and it set them up to take both outposts at 10-minutes and really start controlling the map.
Although Liquid had a kill-lead in this early game, a team fight at 17-minutes gave TNC that advantage too. At 18-minutes they were securing themselves the first Rosh and an aegis on Armel.
We also saw some impressive plays coming out from Tims on Disruptor, with plenty of catch and some nicely placed static storms to prevent Liquid initiating on TNC’s cores. The kills were still just 10–10 at 26-minutes though. It was another close game.
A lucky repair kit drop helped Liquid defend against TNC’s push, but a third aegis plus an Ags blessing for TNC at 38-minutes was too much for them to hold against. At 44-minutes, TNC closed out game two with a 27k net worth lead to equalize the series 1–1.
Game 3
Our first two games had given us some superbly close Dota 2. And game three continued to deliver.
The lanes saw a lot of action for Taiga on Enigma. He had helped Liquid secure four kills by 6-minutes and TNC were yet to draw blood. But the SEA team were focusing objectives, taking both the outposts again at 10-minutes. The kills were 2–8 however, and Gabbi’s Slark was having some trouble.
The team fights coming out through this series were a treat to behold, and we saw both teams turn fights on a dime. Including a double black hole from Taiga at 38-minutes that gave Liquid a window of opportunity to push for the high ground. TNC defended this push and started to bring the aggression back. A beautiful Roshan steal by Tims saw his Earthshaker take the aegis at the 52-minute mark. But the defense from the SEA boys was not enough. At 54-minutes, Liquid broke through the base, taking the win.
But this was not an easy series for Liquid, who had to really bring their A game to knock TNC.Predator out of the tournament in this 1–2 series.
Evil Geniuses vs Invictus Gaming
Our final series of the day saw Invictus Gaming return to the stage to take on Evil Geniuses and see who would go on to the next round of our lower bracket.
Game 1
Our first blood went to EG in this game one of our series. They came in strong in the lanes, and had netted a 6k gold advantage by 14-minutes. Invictus were looking very shaky compared to their series earlier in the day. The kills were 12–7 at 24-minutes as EG pushed into the high ground.
It was all over within the next three minutes. With EG taking game one in a quick 27-minute stomp.
Game 2
It was another fast game in the early phase. This time Invictus took out first blood. They were playing a much cleaner game this time around. Their Clinkz pick on flyfly seemed a little unorthodox, but they soon proved it was the right move for their draft. At 15-minutes, flyfly picked up his Desolator and the Chinese team started making some very offensive plays while EG’s cores were still coming online. Arteezy’s Anti-Mage pick needed more time to farm than IG were giving him.
At 32-minutes Invictus had a 20k gold lead, and it looked like they were cruising toward a win.
EG were still showing signs of life though, they managed a full team wipe on IG at 33-minutes. But they were just too far behind. Invictus Gaming had dominated the pace of game two. GG was called at 37-minutes, with IG the victors. We were headed to game three.
Game 3
After a lot of nail-biting action at Leipzig, our final game of the day saw another straight stomp for Evil Geniuses. They played a dominating game three, finishing it up in 33-minutes. IG’s draft just didn’t have the power to cut through them. And flyfly had an even worse time on his Anti-Mage this game than Arteezy had in the previous one. The Doom pick for Cr1t- gave EG a big advantage through the team fights. He managed 22 assists this game and took out the most for the series over all too, with 38. Abed’s Storm Spirit was on fire as well, his KDA was 15/3/11 at the end of the game.
After an impressive run from Invictus at the Major, they finally fell to EG at 33-minutes who took the series 2–1.
Things are drawing to a close at the DreamLeague Season 13 Major. If you’ve missed out on any of the excitement from Leipzig, catch up with our recaps.
Be sure to catch the last of our upper and lower bracket matches tomorrow on Twitch.
Image via Dreamhack/Adela Sznajder