Dota 2: EPICENTER Major Day 6 Recap

ESTNN's Veselin Ignatov walks fans through the Day 6 of the Dota 2 EPICENTER Major.

Slowly and steadily, the last Major for this DPC season is coming to an end. We will remember this event with some of the most surprising results at a big event recently. Having said that, today was the most important day for Alliance, who managed to prevail against their enemies and secured the last direct invite for the biggest tournament of the year – The International 2019. We got to see Vici make it through the upper bracket, while O.G. looked rough without notail.

Let’s take a look at what happened.

EPICENTER Major Lower Bracket

PSG.LGD vs OG

The opening series of the day was a brutal smackdown between the two TI 8 finalists. It’s important to know that OG managed to sweep through Secret and EG even without having n0tail on their team. As you probably heard, he is still sick. Sockshka, their coach, played in his stead.

Regardless of that, this was a perfect opportunity for LGD to take revenge on their enemies.

OG did not want to take any risks. They ended up choosing one of their most comfortable heroes: Invoker. In fact, we got to see Topson’s Invoker, a hero who has a lot to do with the TI 8 trophy. On the contrary, LGD tried to pull off the classic Wisp-Gyro, a combo which has proven itself countless times.

The Chinese powerhouse completely dominated the early game. They won all lanes and continued to grab kills left and right. Despite that, ana was left unharmed and unbothered during that time, and he managed to get a decent amount of farm on his LS. However, even this was not enough because the Gyro and Wisp were just too strong.

Game Two started very differently when compared to the first one. OG went with another unorthodox pick, this time in the form of a mid-Shadow Demon. This definitely caught LGD off-guard, and Tompson pretty much demolished the mid lane with ease.

The game was very back-and-forth, especially during the mid-game. However, OG made a couple of mistakes that led to their cores dying for almost no reason. Naturally, a team of LGD’s caliber took full advantage and with the momentum on their side, they were able to grab the victory.

Despite the loss, OG had a decent tournament without n0tail. We are yet to see if they will be able to defend their TI trophy.

Alliance vs Gambit

The second series in the Lower Bracket featured two teams which had a ton at stake for this match. In the end, Alliance is the one going directly to TI 9, having secured the direct invite with this win.

We got the chance to see one of the all-time classic mid matchups – Storm vs SF. Despite the fact that it was indeed interesting to watch, Boxi and his Timber stole the show in the offlane. He completely demolished Gambit’s lane and gave his team a decent advantage early on.

Having two of the strongest snowball heroes with a good start is the best recipie to pulling out a win. The Swedish team needed just 30 minutes to grab the lead in the series.

Game Two started in a similar way to the first one. Alliance once again had a solid start, this time due to their Morphling. However, the CIS team managed to take full control of the game and started to claim objectives. It definitely looked as if we would be watching a game three until a crazy fight near the Rosh pit. Unfortunately for Gambit, they were unable to recover after the huge swing there and had no other choice but to call the GG and wish Alliance good luck in the upcoming International.

EPICENTER Major Upper Bracket

Team Liquid vs Vici Gaming

TL vs Vici was the game that everyone was looking forward to, especially after the recent performance from the two powerhouses. Both of them finished first in their respective groups and had yet to taste defeat at this Major.

In game One, Team Liquid picked another Windranger for w33, who has had excellent performances on the hero so far. Despite that, Vici managed to outsmart the TI 7 champions and got the lead in the series.

The game was every even up to the 25th minute as neither team wanted to take any unnecessary risks and give up the game. However, as soon as Vici got the needed farm, the game completely changed. Their tanky cores combined with Omniknight proved to be way too powerful for Liquid to handle, even though they had a decent amount of damage output.

Game Two was very different compared to the first one. Instead of farming, both teams started to go at each other from the beginning. Team Liquid was definitely the more active team, though, mainly thanks to Miracle. He had an amazing game on his Ember Spirit.

The EU superstars got the first lane of rax around the 20th minute, which was a clear sign where this game was going. Vici tried to fight back but around 15 minutes later, GG was called and the teams started to prepare for the final Game Three of the tournament.

Vici and TL give it their all

The final game of the day was very similar to the first one in the series. Until, however, the players started building their first items. After that moment, there were constant skirmishes going on across the map. Having said that, neither team really managed to secure any big advantages until Vici wiped all 5 heroes of Team Liquid. Shortly after that, they got the Aegis and suddenly, their Troll seemed to be nearly unkillable. On top of that, Vici’s Medusa was also having the time of her life.

Even though Team Liquid tried to fight their enemies, their damage was just not enough. The European powerhouse will have to fight for a spot at the Grand Final through the Lower Bracket.

WE ARE VICTORIOUS!
We'll be participating in our second MAJOR Grand Finals this season after defeating @TeamLiquid 2:1
Let's Keep #VGFighting #EPICENTER pic.twitter.com/7310zCIBDD

— VICI Gaming (@VICI) June 28, 2019