ESTNN Esports Logo

Dota 2: MDL Paris Major – Day 2 Highlights

| Tags: | Author
Dota 2: MDL Paris Major – Day 2 Highlights

After the dust settled from the first day of the Major, day two turned out to be just as exciting. There were many fantastic moments and clutch plays, let's take a look at what happened.

Group A

Keen Gaming vs. Beastcoast

The first series of the day was between EE’s squad and the Chinese Keen Gaming. Both of them lost to VP and Team Liquid yesterday and now had to face each other.

Game one as one-sided as most people expected it to be. Keen Gaming grabbed an early advantage and just kept it until the end. EE’s team had some glimmer of hope, but their efforts were just not enough.

Beastcoast tried to pick themselves up in the second game of the series. Unlike game one, this one was a lot more even. However, as soon as KG started to do some smoke ganks, the balance of power began to shift. The Chinese timed their items very well as BC just couldn’t fight into that Radiance Lifestealer. Having no way to deal with their opponents, EternalEnvy and his team-mates had no other choice but to GG out.

Team Liquid vs. Keen Gaming

The European powerhouse decided to go with a Drow + Medusa combo, which is one of the strongest right now. On the other hand,  Keen gaming tried to counter it with a Phantom Assassin, a hero that is well known for excelling against Drow.

There was a lot of action going during the early stages of the game. However, after that, both teams went into a farm mode.

As soon as Medusa got a few items, things started to change. The Chinese tried to itemize in a way to deal with her, but their efforts were not efficient. After a failed smoke attempt, Keen Gaming had no other choice but to prepare themselves for game two.

The second game of the series was a beatdown for the Chinese. Team Liquid ripped through their enemies in less than 24 minutes, which gave them the slot in the Upper Bracket.

Group B

NiP vs. Team Empire

NiP had little to no trouble against the CIS Team Empire.

The first game of the series was a bit rough for the Ninjas in the beginning. Despite that, they were able to get the lead at one point and just kept it until the very end.

Unlike game one, Team Empire caused a lot of trouble for the DotaPit Minor Champions. The good old Magnus + Troll combo caused havoc in the team fights, even though NiP had a decent counter initiate.

After securing Roshan, Empire started to slowly begin the siege towards NiP’s base.  However, after several 322 plays, the Europeans were in control yet again. They needed just one push to secure a lane of rax and ultimately, the series.

Even though Team Empire tried, they will have to fight for their survival in the Lower Bracket against Mineski

NiP vs. Chaos EC

Having the momentum from the previous win, NiP carried their this series too.

The first game here was very interesting because it could have gone both ways. The South Americans tried to push earlier and close the game before NiP’s Anti-Mage came online. Unfortunately, that did not happen. Slowly but steadily, Ace got the needed farm, and after securing another Roshan, the game was pretty much over.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. PPD picked another Anti-Mage for Ace, and it was yet again a winner. This time, the European team needed just 26 minutes to secure their victory. Following their success, they will have to play against Vici Gaming in the Upper Bracket.

Group C

PaiN vs. Mineski

This series had tons of crazy back-and-forth action. Probably one of the MVP’s of the game was Mineski’s Earth Spirit. He was all over the place.

The SEA team had the lead in terms of kills for most of game one. Pain Gaming had a very late-game based line-up, which could not utilize its full potential because Mineski was constantly pushing in.

At one point, the SA team had a 14k net worth lead. Despite that, after some serious mistakes by their cores, Mineski was able to push and claim the victory.

Game two of this series was also very close, at least until Spectre became too big to deal with. Pain tried to use Drow’s power start, but after losing several team fights, it became clear that it wasn’t going to happen. The SEA team was able to secure the win here.

PSG.LGD vs. Mineski

As expected, the Chinese team was the better one in both games. In the first one, they were actually behind in terms of kills and net worth. However, after several team fights that went in their favor, they were able to turn things around.

In game two, Maybe got a chance to play one of his signature heroes – Storm Spirit. To make a long story short, the Chinese were dominating the entire game. Mineski’s Meepo had a decent game, but he was just not able to deal with both SS and Spectre.

PSG.LGD will advance to the Upper Bracket to meet their next enemy – Team Secret.

Group D

Fnatic vs. CoL

Many people expected this to be a very one-sided series. However, it was way more interesting than that.

Game one was every even for the first 20 minutes as neither team was able to take a clear advantage. However, a gruesome mistake started the NA’s team downfall. They tried to recover, but Fnatic did not let the victory slip away.

With their back against the wall, CoL had a very solid draft for game two. They pretty much dominated from the beginning and as soon as they got the core items for their TA and Ursa, things were not looking good for Fnatic. Realizing their situation, the SEA team decided to prepare themselves for game three.

Having the momentum on their side, compLexity gaming was able to win the third decisive game. After nearly an hour of epic action, the Morphling pick really paid off.

The loss means that Fnatic will have to fight for their survival in the Lower Bracket tomorrow.

OG vs. CoL

The star of the show in game one was Ana. His Anti-Mage gameplay was godlike yet again as he carried his team to victory. It’s truly amazing to see the change that this player has brought to OG.

The second game of the series seemed like a walk in the park for the TI 8 champions. They pretty much controlled the game since the beginning, even though CoL got one of the strongest mid laners right now – Razor. Sadly, he had to face Ana’s Morphling, who was having a fantastic game yet again.

OG was able to get two lanes of rax just 24 minutes in, which was pretty much the last nail in the coffin for CoL.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter for the latest Dota 2 & esports news.

Dota 2: MDL Paris Major – Day 2 Highlights
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.