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Dota 210 years agoAndreas "drouks" St

iG moves to the Upper Bracket through the Starladder group B tiebreakers

Taking down both Na'Vi and RoX.KIS during the Group B tiebreakers, Invictus Gaming will be moving to the Upper Bracket of Star Series playoffs to face DK. As for the Lower Bracket, Na'Vi will battle MVP.Phoenix, while RoX will take on Team Empire.

Evil Geniuses managed to secure their advancement to the Upper Bracket of Star Series IX playoffs earlier today, with three convincing victories against their opponents in Group B. However, the remaining three teams of the group were tied with a game score of 1-2, and they were forced to go through a tiebreaker round. The purpose of the extra games was to determine the team that moves to the Upper Bracket, and the opponents of the two teams that go to the Lower Bracket.

With two victories against Na'Vi and RoX.KIS, the Chinese powerhouse Invictus Gaming managed to secure the Upper Bracket spot, and they will have to overcome the obstacle of DK in the best-of-three series. The other match of the UB will be between Alliance and Evil Geniuses.

When it comes to the Lower Bracket, Natus Vincere defeated RoX.KIS and finished second in the tiebreaker group, which leads to MVP.Phoenix. Losing both games, RoX.KIS will have face the third team of Group A, Team Empire. The best-of-one matches of the LB are very important, because defeat equals elimination from the tournament.


 

The Tiebreakers 

iG vs RoX.KIS

Showing a completely different face compared to the first day of the playoffs, RoX.KIS decided to select a familiar and safer strategy to battle against Invictus Gaming. Sedoy's early global presence helped the Russians win some early clashes, helping them abuse the strong pushing capabilities of their line-up to take down several early towers. However, iG was not overwhelmed, and showed more patience than their opposition. With well-timed rotations and ganks, they managed to regain the lead. Ferrari_430's impressive farm on Ember Spirit (three Divine Rapiers) was just too much for RoX.KIS, and they only managed to delay the inevitable defeat.

 

iG vs Na'Vi

Na'Vi once again selected the Templar Assassin for Dendi, the same hero they deployed against Evil Geniuses yesterday. With a similar strategy, iG selected Outworld Devourer and Wraith King, giving YYF his favorite Batrider. The Ukrainians attempted to find an early lead with several rotations by Puppey and KuroKy, but iG's supports did not allow the desired pick-offs. On the other hand, YYF's early Blink Dagger allowed the Chinese to grab a significant amount of kills, completely shutting down the Templar Assassin. As the game progressed with iG controlling the map, it was very difficult for the gank-oriented line-up of Na'Vi to get back on their feet. In the end, Puppey was forced to surrender the match and give iG their second victory of the tiebreakers.
 

Na'Vi vs RoX.KIS

For the final match of the tiebreakers, RoX.KIS selected the exact same core heroes they played against Invictus Gaming. They aimed to apply pressure through continuous pushing and early teamfights, preventing Dendi's Outworld Devourer and Funn1k's Ember Spirit from farming efficiently. Their strategy did not go as planned though, as they did not forsee the exemplary support play by Kuroky and Puppey, allowing Funn1k to snowball out of control. With quick purchase of Battle Fury and Deadalus, Funn1k gave no chance to RoX.KIS. The Russians could only watched as their pushing line-up was torn apart by the Ember Spirit, just like first tiebreaker game against Invictus Gaming.

 

Headline image by SLTV.

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Andreas "drouks" StThere's really not much to say about Andreas 'drouks' Stavridakis, except that he sleeps two hours a day, plays the guitar and survives solely on Diet Coke. He also writes about DotA sometimes.

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