Dota 2: DPC Weekly Recap — Eastern Europe April 22-25
| Tags: Dota 2
| Author Zlosterr
We take a look at the highlights from our second week of series in the CIS region.
Last week, we got to see the most interesting series in this region between Virtus.Pro and AS Monaco Gambit. As expected, we got loads of back-and-forth action, but in the end, VP was victorious.
The second week was also pretty fun to watch because Natus Vincere finally managed to show its prowess, at least up to a point. With that being said, let’s check out some of the highlights in the Lower and Upper Divisions.
Lower Division
Danil “Dendi” Ishutin’s team finally managed to show what they are capable of after defeating No Techies. It definitely wasn’t like a walk in the park, but the team managed to show that they will try to enter the Upper Division next season.
The second series that we got to see was between Fantastic Five and HellRaisers. HR is definitely the most dangerous team in the LD, and by the looks of it, it will be one of the main contenders for the title. Roman “Resolut1on” Fomynok and his crew had little to no trouble against F5 and continue to be the most dominant team in their group.
Team Empire vs Prosti Esli was also another amazing series where we saw crazy ganks and epic team fights. We expected Empire to be victorious, but they were unable to deal with their enemies, especially in game one. The second game was somewhat more interesting to watch because the teams were really close for most of it. In the end, Prosti Esli was able to deliver their knock-out punch.
Trident Clan vs Nemiga Gaming wasn’t as close as people thought it would be. Nemiga was expected to be victorious, especially after their performance last week. Although Trident had a pretty good draft in both games, they couldn’t use it to its full potential. As a result, Nemiga claimed two easy victories.
Also Read: DPC Weekly Recap — Western Europe April 20-24
Upper Division
Natus Vincere and Extremum played an amazing series where we got to see numerous team fights. The majority of Dota 2 fans expected Na`Vi to be victorious, so they weren’t surprised when Bogdan “Iceberg” Vasilenko and his teammates won.
The second series of the week was more interesting than the other ones because we got to see three games. Team Unique gained a lead in the series after picking Storm Spirit and Morphling the game one. However, the team was unable to keep its lead because Winstrike ripped through it in the next two. The third game was probably the most difficult one for Unique because they lost in 24 minutes.
Virtus.Pro vs PuckChamp wasn’t as exciting to watch as some of the other clashes because VP are just on another level. Danil “gpk” Skutin and the rest of the team didn’t give their opponents any chances in both games. The second lasted only 22 minutes after VP completely took over the laning stage.
Winstrike vs Team Spirit was a classic CIS series where both teams gave it all out. Thanks to Enigma and Lifestealer, game one went in favor of Winstrike, who played really well. Despite having the momentum on their side, TS managed to bounce back after picking Storm Spirit and PA. The third game between the two was also amazing to watch because it lasted nearly one hour. Needless to say, there were loads of amazing fights and back-and-forth action. In the end, Team Spirit managed to win the game and took the series.
Also Read: DPC Weekly Recap — SEA April 19-24
Highlight Series: Natus Vincere vs AS Monaco Gambit
This was undoubtedly one of the most anticipated series of the week. Natus Vincere are slowly but steadily becoming one of the most dominant teams in the region. The team was able to defeat No Techies earlier this week, but this match was definitely more difficult. Another reason why people were waiting to see the two teams in action is that Roman “RAMZES666” Kushnarev was going to face his ex-teammate Vladimir “No[o]ne”Minenko.
Also Read: DPC Weekly Recap — North America April 19-25
The first game between the two wasn’t as wild as we’d expected it to be. There were several good team fights early on, but the two teams focused on getting their key items. While it is true that Gambit had the lead, Na’Vi was able to win a really important fight and gained a lot of momentum. As a result, they ended up winning the first game.
After losing game one, AS Monaco Gambit was eager to get revenge. The second game of the series was definitely more action-packed. Both teams tried to engage in multiple team fights early on, but neither of them was able to get a good lead over the other.
Despite having an advantage, Gambit was unable to push its opponents, which gave them enough time to recover. Natus Vincere’s Phantom Assassins slowly started to gain a lot of power and managed to rip through Gambit’s lineups.
After losing this series, Gambit is now at the bottom, so they'll have a lot of work to do.