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Dota 210 years ago

i-League: Vici Gaming sweep TongFu.OB 3-0 for glory

Today, ImbaTV's i-League saw its conclusion after three days of good Dota. In the finals between Vici Gaming and TongFu.OB, Vici Gaming impressed with a stellar performance and reassured the dominance they displayed lately. 

In game one, Vici Gaming opted for the classic Tiny Wisp combo in combination with a Faceless Void. Tongfu.OB answered with a very unconvcentional Zeus pick for xiao8 and a Slark on top, but iceiceice on his Tiny proved to be too difficult to handle, doubling everyone's networth at the 20 minute mark without a Midas. The pick-off potential of Black^'s Void and the back-up provided by the Wisp relocate gave the Ti4 runner-up the edge, whereas the team around captain Zhou didn't seem to have the right answer and eventually the team lost the game.

In the following game, Tongfu themselves opted for classic combos, picking up a Shadow Demon in combination with a Kunkka and a Mirana. In addition, they even picked up Terrorblade. Vici Gaming responded with a safelane farming Centaur that they already showed off against LGD.CDEC. Together with an offlane Enigma, the team did not have a natural carry outside the Viper mid. The Oldboys gained the upper hand but managed to not trade efficiently in engagements, giving away crucial kills. Fy on his Sandking displayed a strong performance, landing important Epicenters and Burrow Strikes. Vici Gaming fought their way back and forced out yet another GG. 

The third game was once more a one-sided endeavour as Tongfu was not able to coordinate their attacks and ganks properly. A symptomatic moment for that was when OB tried to kill Super's Centaur with three heroes but a simple Fy Lich turned the fight around as he got a triple kill just by himself. Black^ was able to farm uninterrupted on his Morphling, picking up a timely Ethereal Blade. The Oldyboys were not able to utilize their line-ups full potential, whereas Vici impressed with a solid performance, taking them out and sweeping their adversaries 3-0.

Vici Gaming continues their dominance in the Chinese scene, taking out their rivals invictus Gaming. Granted, this tournament was mainly played on the new 6.82 patch, the synergy and the communication between the VG players seems to be top notch as of now. They also seemed to adapt to the new patch quite well, already picking up different heroes such as Terrorblade. Then again, ever since they started playing together, Vici has shown that they don't stick to certain heroes or line-ups. The team has proven to be very versatile, playing a variety of heroes and even rotating the positions and lanes quite often. 

TongFu.OB has shown in this tournament that despite the fact that they are officially all retired, they still have what it takes to play some good Dota. The lack of serious commitment did however show in the final match against Vici Gaming. The team was unable to maintain a lead or coordinate ganks and teamfights properly. Fans will still have been pleased to have seen their favorite players once more on stage and the way to the finals, even if they had the seemingly easier bracket, was still quite impressive.

Final Standings

1st: China Vici Gaming ~ $155,000 (50%)
2nd : China Tongfu.OB ~ $60,200 (20%)
3rd/4th: China Invictus Gaming / South Korea Rave ~ $31,100 each (10%)
5th - 8th: Russia Virtus.pro, Belarus Power Rangers, China Newbee, China LGD.CDEC ~ $7,700 each (2.5%)

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