OG took home their 4th Major championship with a stellar comeback victory against Virtus.Pro in game 5. It was no coincidence that S4 was once again pivotal in the swing, with a million dollar Hoof Stomp to follow his million dollar Dream Coil at TI3, four years ago—the only other instance a grand final series came down to the last game.
OG came back from being down 1-2 in the series, and crawled back to a game 5 win that Virtus.Pro seemed to have had in hand, with a 10k gold lead in the mid game. OG take home another $1 million dollars and continue to write the record books by winning 4 out of 5 Valve Major events since the circuit first started in 2015.
IG vs. Team Liquid kicked off the day’s first series of matches. More than other opponents, iG targeted Lycan in the first round of bans in all three games, ceding some room to Liquid’s favored heroes, Spectre and Nature’s Prophet. Matumbaman on his Spectre was pivotal for Liquid’s Game 2 win, but at the same time also found himself getting lost in the trees. There’s little room for error against a team like iG, who is filled with players who can carry games on their own: Burning on his Morphling in game 1, and Xxs on Dark Seer with on-point Vacuum-Wall combos in game 3.
If Black’s international fanbase wasn’t already large enough, he gained even more love when he shared a personal story about his bout with cancer, when he was 17 years old and told he had less than a year to live.
In game 1, Black’s Slark, leveraging his usual farming acumen, carried Faceless to a game 1 victory, but not banning Naga in games 2 and 3, especially against Notail, proved to be a grave error. Faceless had opted instead to prep against what they knew was an absolute first Naga pick, but OG has time and time again proven how strong they are with the hero, abusing Song of the Siren to the fullest to constantly teamfight with Naga Siren, rather than for its split push and escape tactic we’re often used to when she is played in the carry role.
Up to this point, Virtus.Pro had an amazing run as the final representative of the CIS region. As the home crowd favorite, it was refreshing to hear a three syllable chant from the crowd that wasn’t “U-S-A.”
VP kicked off the drafting phase with targeting all 5 bans on ROTK’s heroes, letting top supports of the tournament, Monkey King and Warlock slip through the first phase and into the hands of one of the top support duos of the tournament: Fy and Fenrir. VP abandoned the ban-ROTK strategy in games 2 and 3, and though VGJ still drafted well, they didn’t respect VP’s team fight enough. 9pasha and Solo orchestrated multiple plays for VP, including a game turning Vacuum and Static field combo.
There’s an argument to be made about the randomness of single elimination tournaments, but without it we wouldn’t have SG in the quarter finals. SG’s success is South America’s success—a region that has long been relegated to the bottom tier of Dota teams. The region still does have a long way to go in developing talent, but the success of teams from less competitive areas—MVP in Korea, TNC for SEA—validates the opportunities that Valve has given them.
SG lost the series 1-2, but they competed enough to convince Dota fans they had a chance to take it. That should be enough to justify to fans the case of holding regional qualifiers in South America.
Virtus.Pro dominated IG from beginning to end, wasting no time and instantly picking their first game lineup. In Dota, the phrase often used is that one team “figured out” another team, as if to say they not only beat them by skill, but by mentally and psychologically dissecting them. VP both outplayed and outpicked iG. iG gave up Magnus twice in the series, and then followed it up with their usual patient and passive play. VP responded in game 1 with a Venomancer push strategy, and the first Venomancer win of the tournament. With VP’s win here they most likely secured a TI7 invite.
OG vs. Evil Geniuses has to be the new El Classico. OG holds the edge against EG in their matchup history at 13-12 and 4-0 in Valve events. In game 2, Arteezy on Slark was under pressure against an unfavorable matchup of Axe and Timber, especially when s4 made some stellar plays on Axe, including a Force Staff to Blink to Berserker’s Call. Despite the loss, it’s a remarkable achievement for EG to compete at this level for so long--top 3 at three Majors and three TIs (one championship). Few organizations, including OG and China powerhouses, can say the same.
“Ana is a good player.”
How good of a mid player is OG.ana? That was the prevailing meme and question throughout the tournament. Does it matter that he stumbles through the laning phase if he wins the game on his own accord? What fans criticize is his potential to be so much more, if he were a better laner, and yet, he already exists as a winner.
With this title, OG have officially become an esports dynasty, if they weren't already when they won 3 Majors. This also includes the two Majors that were played in single-elimination, a format that often lends to upsets and susceptibility for games that are lost due to bad matchups. The only laurel left for OG is a TI championship.
1st
Every member of OG were crucial to their win... Ana despite being harassed at mid, always finds the turnaround. If he fixes his lanning, i think he can surpass Sumail...
ana god
i know ramzes666 is panicking after the 322 moves, but i wonder why he not going abyssal mjolnir and upgrade his sny to manta to escape from treant ult or troll blind. that way, he could manfight troll and with chemical rage attack speed, had a better chance to bash and lock down the troll, instead of depending on lc that not even had blademail to ghost form and duel troll to the death.
lc was dead as og had dazzle heal and living armor to heal troll and shallow grave to keep him alive too. other than that lc would get bursted down by notail timbersaw. and that was issue too. lc just acted as lockdown for troll but the ultimate of centaur and timbersaws dmg kept the team a bit away from troll. so that troll can have enough time to finish duel and turn the fight around
if i have to summarize the finals with one word i would say terrorblade
Ana is not even that bad in lane. At least from the matches I saw in Kiev. He just had bad calls during teamfights or over extensions but the only time he loses in lane is when the match up is unfavorable for him (e.g. troll vs od)
I think Fly and Notail might be the most formidable duo in Dota right now. Fly's drafts and captaincy are second to none. His team confidence-building techniques, his leadership and being able to have such a huge impact and networth on position 5 supports. Notail has gone from playing the sacrificial core to make space or accelerate his mid's impact on the game in one match to being the surprise powerhouse, game-dominating carry in another match. Such a transition is astounding. Despite the roster shuffle after TI, these two have proven they can generate a mentality and win against any other team. And I think the question of whether Ana is a good midlaner or not should long be forgotten. If he weren't one, OG would not have won. He is a 9k player and is one of the best Ember players in the world, a hero that naturally suffers against most ranged mids and roaming supports.
OG played as a team and handle the pressure very well.
Ana better then Miracle-?
That guy black need a win on TI man
Ana is a great team player
Any ideas when the compendium points will be added up to our accts from the predictions and fantasy challenge?? Well played OG
дщшшшшшш
If Ana fixed his laning struggles in tournaments(he'd probably massacre most players, he IS 9K), he'd probably dominate the scene for a long time.
For Liquid to win, they need full team of 9Ks, Kuro and Mind_Control are holding them back. Kappa
Ana still has laning problems. In fact, it was evident throughout the last day. What separates him from the other mids is that he totally knows his strengths and weaknesses and plays around them to perfection. He's the best comeback artist in mid right now and it suits OG's play style of being more focused on their sidelanes. They're confident in leaving ana alone in mid because they know he can make the most of the space they give him during midgame.
-black cancer survivor
-now spreads cancer with his slark
-aysprag plis
Sumail was the MVP of the tournament I think, his play is just unbelievable.
What's the difference between mental and psychological dissection?
^^Ya I saw Sumail great performance when they vs OG.
I think miracle- should change name to 'pub-miracle'
Kappa,fan please don't flame mee .
S4 has 2 majors and 1 TI win under his belt now, what a player
Rooting on OG again later this year at TI7 pogchamp
Can you make "Kiev Major Meta Recap" the day after tomorrow please? :3
i think that ana could play carry and they put s4 on mid and jerax in offlane. notail has a rule as much as a sup in the team. he is really under other carries. ramzesss and burning and mutumbaman and ateezy they are animals of carries and og do not have one. ana is a one of top 4 mid in my opinion but in single lane the noone and sumail will defeat him. but as it mentioned before ana knows his limit and using them as hell.
I don't think any team in China right now can stop OG in TI 17. The odd is good.
Really amazing tournament! I watched as many games as I could and they were so fun, many crazy comebacks and huge swings in XP/gold, even in the final game. Can't wait for the international summer compendium! Had so much fun playing in this meta/ these compendium challenges as well :D I think the addition of the shrines make the games more possible for comebacks. This tournament was on the level of TI3 in enjoyment. Great!
Grand Final's last game could be reduced to a single scene: Alch selling away his Solar Crest. It was all Troll from that moment on.
Wow, Spoilers on the front page. You never heard of a Spoiler Warning before? wow...
fuck qq
Kiev Major is one of the best. Lots of drama, like SGE and hometown heroes VP. Also i doubt about spring major, there is no time left for another Major, because TI is around the corner
when is ti7 Battle pass coming?
I was there :P
ana is bitch. he always sucks my dick