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Dota 2: StarLadder ImbaTV Kiev Minor – Day 4 Recap

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Dota 2: StarLadder ImbaTV Kiev Minor – Day 4 Recap

After a thrilling group stage which finished yesterday, it’s time to focus on the Playoffs. Unlike the group stage, the playoffs are only two days. This means that tomorrow we will know the name of the winner and the runners up. Those teams will get the slot for the last Major of this DPC season – EPICENTER. EPICENTER starts in just a few days after the end of this Minor.

Let’s take a look at what happened today.

Upper Bracket

Alliance vs. Team Sirius

Like we mentioned before, the Europeans are one of the teams that need a top two finish the most. That’s why they decided to pick some of the strongest heroes at this tournament so far. On the other hand, the Chinese pulled off the good-old Naix + Storm combo.

The laning stage was more or less in favor of Team Sirius. One of the main reasons for that was their Tiny, who wreaked havoc across the entire map.

The Chinese tried to pressure Alliance, mainly because they had to play against the clock due to Anti-mage. However, qojqva and co. managed to deal with the aggression long enough so that mICKe could come into play. Despite that, Team Sirius played exceptionally well and managed to deal with the pesky AM.

With just one game away from the Lower Bracket, Alliance tried to pick themselves up after the loss in the first game.

Even though Alliance had the better start, Team Sirius was definitely not going down without a fight. The Chinese team managed to win a couple of fights in a row, which gave them some advantages.

However, as the game progressed, the strength of Alliance started to kick in. They took full control of the game, despite the fact that ASD’s Broodmother was still a pain to deal with.

After a fantastic play from Taiga in the Rosh pit, the EU team got the victory.

The decisive game of this amazing series started in a similar way to the second one. This time though, Alliance played more cautiously and kept their advantage for the entire duration of the game.

Sylar and his team-mates tried to bounce back, but their efforts weren’t successful. Having no way to deal with their enemies, Team Sirius tapped out and prepared themselves for the Lower Bracket.

Ninjas in Pyjamas vs. Team Anvorgesa

The biggest favorite to win this event had a somewhat surprising opponent – Team Anvorgesa. The South American sensation was able to survive the Group Stage after an epic battle against EHOME. Unfortunately, their luck backfired against PPD and his team-mates.

Game one was all about Ace and his Naga Siren. The talented player was topping the net-worth for the entire duration of the game. NiP slowly but steadily started to suffocate their enemies after destroying all towers on the map. The SA team tried to bounce back with a smoke attempt, but NiP’s advantage was too much to handle.

The second game of the series was a little bit more back-and-forth, even though

NiP still pretty much dominated since the laning stage. K1 and his team-mates went with a Magnus-MK combo, which has proven to be very strong.

There was a point in the game where the Peruvians were left with one lane of Rax, but they managed to win a critical team fight, which could have shifted the balance of power.

At the end of the day, the inevitable happened. NiP won a very messy team fight near Anvorgesa’s base, which secured them their victory.

Alliance vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas

Game 1

The last game in the Upper Bracket for the day was between the two strongest teams in the tournament.

Unlike their last match, Alliance didn’t have the best start of game one. In fact, NiP was able to win pretty much all lanes. Having the advantage on their side, they continued to pressure their enemies slowly.

Boxi and his team-mates tried to slow the pace of the game in order to help their Morph. Unfortunately, their efforts were not efficient enough because NiP continued their march. In the end, NiP’s Spectre reached the immortal state, and they took the lead in the series.

Game 2

Alliance definitely had a better star compared to game one. That was mainly due to the aggressive lineup that allowed them to take fights early on.

As the game went on, the advantage of the Swedish squad slowly started to rise. However, NiP’s Antimage was still a constant threat simply because of Storm Spirit.

However, a very chaotic team fight around the 35th-minute mark went in Alliance’s favor, which forced all of NiP’s buybacks. After losing the next team fight again, GG was called.

Game 3

Having the momentum on their side, Alliance played an outstanding game three and earned their spot in the final. They had the lead since the beginning, despite the fact that Ace had the highest net worth.

Since Fata didn’t really have the best game, NiP focused mainly on their Medusa. Despite that, the core heroes of Alliance were just way too strong, even for the mighty Gorgon.

Tomorrow Alliance will be playing against either NiP or Team Sirius.

Lower Bracket

Team Sirius vs. Team Anvorgesa

The Chinese team was definitely the heavy favorite here, and the results proved it. They managed to win both games in precisely 34 minutes.

The Peruvian squad had a glimmer of hope in game 2 mainly due to Spectre. However, Team Sirius was able to show their prowess again and closed the game before it was too late. Despite the loss, the South American team had a reasonably good run, and hopefully, we will see them again in the future.

Tomorrow they will have to face Ninjas in Pyjamas in the LB final. The winner will have to play yet again against Alliance, who have already secured their spot for EPICENTER.

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Image Via: Starladder.com

Dota 2: StarLadder ImbaTV Kiev Minor – Day 4 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.