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Dota 2: DreamLeague Season 13 Major- Day 3 Recap

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Dota 2: DreamLeague Season 13 Major- Day 3 Recap

After the amazing Group Stage, it is now time to see what will happen on the first day of the playoffs. Yesterday was a day off for all teams as they needed to rest after a nearly non-stop action in the opening two days.

Nearly every single series today was absolutely amazing to watch. However, we are sad to say that we had to wave goodbye to the first four teams after they got eliminated from the Lower Bracket.

Having said that, let’s take a quick look at what happened.

Upper Bracket

Nigma vs Evil Geniuses

The first series of the day was also the most interesting one. Two of the best teams in the world had to go head to head to determine which of them will continue in the Upper Bracket. After around three hours of epic action, it was the NA powerhouse that delivered their knock-out punch.

Game one started very even but the winner became obvious after just a couple of minutes. Nigma completely outplayed their enemies after dominating the laning stage. Amer “Miracle-” Al-Barkawi’s Phantom Lancer proved yet again his power as Nigma claimed the win in just 26 minutes.

With just one game away from elimination, Evil Geniuses looked a lot more confident in game two. They decided to stick with the Storm Spirit for the second game in a row, despite losing the first one. However, this time Abed was able to shine.

After a couple of very close moments, TI 5 champions gained a significant advantage. As a result, they were able to push their enemies and claim the victory, forcing the series into a final game three.

The last game of the series was also the longest one, despite the strong start from EG. In fact, the NA team looked like a clear winner during the early game. However, a couple of mistakes gave Nigma a glimmer of hope to bounce back.

In the end, Evil Geniuses managed to re-gain their strength and delivered their knock-out punch, sending the Bukovel Minor champions to the lower bracket.

Vici Gaming vs Invictus Gaming

The second series in the Winners’ bracket was between the two Chinese teams. Needless to say, Vici was the big favorite here.

As expected, the One Esports Dota 2 World Pro champions got the lead in the series. Even though iG played fairly well in some moments, Vici’s dangerous pick was just too strong to deal with.

Despite the somewhat easy game one for Vici, the second one turned out to be a complete

disaster. Invictus Gaming crushed their enemies in the laning stage and secured themselves a massive advantage. Despite trying to bounce back, VIci just didn’t have the heroes to do so. Their star player Zhang “Eurus” Chengjun played Razor, who is not the best comeback hero in Dota 2.

Although iG looked very strong in game two, Vici decided that it’s time to end this series and just ran over their enemies in the third game. The start of the show this time was Zeng “Ori” Jiaoyang and his Huskar. He completely dominated the mid lane and then went on to carry his team to victory.

Lower Bracket

After the games in the Winner Bracket, it’s time to check what happened in the deadly Bo1s.

paiN vs beastcoast

As everyone expected, beastcoast was able to rip through their enemies. Since this was a Bo1, both teams picked some of their most comfortable heroes. Although paiN had the potential to shine, beastcoast proved yet again why they are considered to be the best team in South America.

Team Aster vs Chaos Esports Club

The second deadly Bo1 series was between the newly formed NA team and the reformed Team Aster. Both teams ended up here after their mediocre performance in the Groups.

Both teams decided to try out very different tactics. The Chinese rolled out the classic Drow and Shadow Fiend, combined with Centaur. As a result, they were able to ditch out insane amounts of physical damage. On the other hand, Chaos Esports Club picked Slark, one of the strongest carries in the current meta.

The game was very even during the first 20 minutes of it, although Aster had a lead due to SF’s BKB, which allowed them to fight more. That said, they also managed to secure the first aegis, which made the situation for Chaos even grimmer.

In the end, the Chinese got a couple more items and just pushed their enemies, eliminating them in the process.

Reality Rift vs TNC Predator

The SEA battle for survival. Reality Rift made a name for themselves during the SEA qualifiers where they played phenomenally. However, they had a mountain to climb in the face of TNC.

Despite the pressure from RR early on, the game was pretty even for the first 20 minutes. However, after a very rookie mistake from RR near their T2 tower, things completely changed. Suddenly, TNC found themselves with a massive 15k net worth lead, which was enough to eliminate their enemies from the Major.

Team Liquid vs Virtus.Pro

The last Bo1 series of the day was also the most interesting one of the entire Lower Bracket. We saw a 70+ minute deadly battle that was absolutely EPIC.

Similar to the other series before, both teams emphasized on some of their best heroes.As a result, the game was neck and neck as neither team was able to get a clear advantage. Naturally, both teams emphasized more on farming.

However, as the game went on, Liquid became stronger and stronger. Even though VP tried to counter their Naga, TL’s player was still able to get tons of farm.

In the end, the ex-Alliance roster was just too strong to deal with but for some reason, VP didn’t give up. After 70 minutes of crazy Dota, Virtus.Pro managed to kill both of Liquid’s cores without buyback.

Everyone thought that the game was over but Liquid’s Slardar and Willow were able to defend in a 3v5 scenario. After wiping the entire VP roster, the EU team just destroyed the throne.

Be sure to watch day two of the Playoffs tomorrow. We have some pretty amazing series coming up.

Dota 2: DreamLeague Season 13 Major- Day 3 Recap
Zlosterr
Zlosterr has been a fan of esports for many years and mainly focuses on Dota 2. He has more than five years of experience writing Dota 2 content for numerous platforms. Besides being a passionate fan of the game, he's also played for various amateur teams.