MVP.Phoenix punches ticket to Seattle, will face Arrow Gaming next
MVP.Phoenix defeated MiTH.Trust 2-0 in the lower bracket finals to put their name in at least the TI4 Wildcard tournament. They will next be facing Arrow Gaming in the best-of-five finals for an outright TI4 position.
MVP.Phoenix, who finished a tied first place in the group stage, handily defeated MiTH.Trust 2-0 in the lower bracket finals. They will not have much time to rest as the Korean team is set to face Malaysian team Arrow Gaming at 09:30 CEST (15:30 SGT). Arrow is currently 3-0 against MVP.Phoenix in the SEA qualifier.
The winner of the SEA qualifier will get an outright slot into the very prestigious The International 4, while the runner-up will get to compete against other regional runner-ups in the wildcard tournament. Both of those tournaments will be held in Seattle this coming July.
These teams have contrasting style, and their drafts reflect how the teams play. MVP went with a strong pushing line-up that features Warlock, Nature's Prophet and Jakiro. Meanwhile, Trust has a farming team, with their hopes pinned on Morphling again. The Thai team was off to a better start as they had their Morphling claim first blood after a wrap around by Shadow Demon.
MVP started to group up, as that is their line-ups strength. It paid dividends, as there were little that the their opponent can do yet. They ended up taking five of the next six towers, and MVP found themselves ahead by 5,000 gold and 4,000 experience twenty minutes into the game. Trust caught up with the lead after Morphling was able to farm his Ethereal Blade. However, the Korean team showed their strength in a battle at the Roshan pit at the 25th minute, where Warlock's Fatal Bonds was doing wonders.
The Korean team took the third Roshan, and this time Trust doesn't want to contest it. They tried to break uphill on the bottom lane, and while they failed to do so, had a better result because of their Aegis and cheese. Despite their big lead however, they committed a big mistake by the 43rd minute. Warlock dropped four Golems on a lone Razor as they try to trade base. It was MiTH who actually took the game's first barracks.
MVP went with another go at the middle lane as they picked-off Razor again. Morphling tried to shotgun one of MVP's supports, but he failed to deal the killing blow. Rubick had a big play as he cancelled the teleport of Morphling, cutting him from the battle and allowing MVP to claim two lanes.
Trust tried to contest Roshan in the 48th minute, but it ended instead with a 1-1 trade. After it settled, MVP easily killed the fourth Roshan of his match. They moved into the top as they try to get mega creeps. Trust attempted to surprise them, but MVP's 15,000 gold lead is just too big and the former lost four of their heroes. Trust called GG after MVP claimed mega creeps and killed their final standing hero.
Draft - MVP went with a strong middle-game line-up that features Nature's Prophet, Slark and Warlock as their core heroes. MiTH.Trust is more equipped in the late game with their cores of Razor, Centaur Warrunner and Morphling. 04:40 - Morphling takes first blood against Nature' Prophet after his teammate Shadow Demon wrapped around the enemy tier-one bottom tower. 08:00 - 3-2 trade in favor of the Koreans. They also managed to kill Morphling and take the top tier-one tower 10:00 - MVP picks off the unsuspecting Treant Protector as they were aided by a sentry ward, They took down their second tower, this time the bottom tier-one, after
11:30 - Slark gets a solo kill against Cenatur. MVP now ahead by 3,000 gold and 1,000 experience 14:00 - MVP continues to 5-man, and they claimed their third uncontested tower. 16:00 - The Korean team takes down Roshan, while the Thail team took down their first tower. MVP was able to get a kill on SD before he can flee. They used that momentum to take the middle tier-two tower. 18:50 - Big 2-1 trade for MVP. They killed the Morphling who already has a Linken's Sphere. They proceeded to take the bottom tier-two tower after. 20:00 - 5,000 gold, 4,000 expeirence, 5-1 tower lead in favor of MVP. Highest net worth is Morphling, but the next three are from MVP.
24:19 - Brief period of farming, which saw Trust took down two mid towers while MVP claimed the final outer tower. 9-6 kill lead in favor of MVP.
25:00 - Morphling introduced his Ethereal Blade as he and his teammates killed Slark for the first time this game. That opened a window for the team to take down Roshan and claim the Aegis. Thy finished it just barely though after a perfectly timed Chaotic Offering by Warlock, and MVP killed three heroes after that. 29:30 - Trust killed two enemy heores and claimed their enemy's tier-two top tower. Score now 12-10 still in favor of MVP, but the Thai team gets some traction in the gold and experience graph.
32:00 - Big play by MVP as they kill three heroes. They had a miscue in the next minute though, whih cost them the death of Slark.
38:00 - Uncontested Roshan by MVP. This is the third one so there also was a cheese. Trust did not contest because of Warlock's strength in a pit battle.16-11 kills in favor of MVP, and they also have a 10,000 gold and 7,500 experience lead
41:00 - Big exhange as MVP tried to go uphill in the bottom lane. Despite picking off Nature's Prophet before that happened, MVP had the advantage in the aftermath because of the cheese and Aegis. 43:22 - MVP dropped two Warlock ultimates to take down the lone Razor. They had a mistake of tryring to go for a base trade though, and they ended up losing their top melee barracks. They were only able to get the enemy middle tier-three tower in return. 45:40 - MVP picked off Razor in the middle lane. They used that to try take down the middle lane barracks. Morphling went with a shotgun but failed to kill his target. Rubick had a big play as he cancelled Morphlings's teleporation, and that gave an opening for MVP to claim the middle lane as well as the bottom mell barracks. 48:30 - MiTH tried to contest ROshan, but it ended up with a 1-1 trade. MVP proceeded to kill the fourth Roshan of the game after the clash. 25-17 in favor of the Koreans, and they also have a 15,000 gold advantage. 50:20 - The Thai team tried to surprise their enemy in the top lane, but instead they lost foour heroes. MVP was able to acheive mega creeps and the gg was called soon after that.
Game 2
The teams went with familiar heroes, both retaining 3/5 heroes from their game 1 line-up. This time, Trust went with a Slark and a Death Prophet, with the Razor going into the carry role. MVP picked a Naga and a Tidehunter, which means another big team fight line-up for them. The Thai team challenged their opponents trilane, leaving a solo battle at top between Slark and Tidehunter
As the last game, the first blood was initiated by a Shadow Demon disruption. The victim this time was the Rubick. As their line-up suggested, MiTH raced off to an early lead. They were able to force Jakiro out of the lane, and Nature's Prophet moved into the jungle. Ten minutes into the game, the Thai-team already had a 4,000 gold lead.
MiTH, hoping to tie-up the series, continued pounding their opponents. With Naga Siren just farming and the other heroes under-leveled, MVP was losing battles and towers. By the 20th minute mark, Trust has just claimed Roshan and is enjoying a 10-6 kill lead and a 7,500 gold advantage. The good news for the Korean team is that Naga was able to farm her Radiance at this point.
That proved to be the pivotal mark, as MVP suddenly found themselves winning the ensuing fights. MiTH tried several times, but their attempts were always interrupted. Defending the Koreans' base were long range skills by Jakiro and Rubick, while a blinking Tidehunter with a blade mail deals massive damage to the fragile Krobelus.
MVP had a questionable play in the 40th minute mark was made by MVP as they went in for the middle lane. They lost four of those heroes for a range barracks. They had another go a few minutes later, but they failed to take the melee barracks again. As consolation, they were able to destroy the bottom tier-3 in the confusion, exposing two sides of MiTH's base.
After an uncontested Roshan for MVP, the Korean team went on finally destroy the middle lane. MiTH tried one last counterpush, but as the previous ones, they were halted. Trust had no real reliable source of DPS at this point aside from the squishy melee-hero in Slark. MVP went with a final push in the bottom lane, and that they did to claim a 2-0 victory.
Draft - The teams went with familiar heroes, both retaining 3/5 heroes from their game 1 line-up. This time, Trust went with a Slark and a Death Prophet while MVP picked a Naga and a Tidehunter. 1:00 - The duo of Shadow Demon and Tidehunter were again instrumental in taking first blood, taking down the Rubick in the latter's jungle 3:00 - Trust took the second kill of the game as their aggressive trilane dived Jakiro. MVP was forced to adjust, and they sent Jakiro top and Nature's Prophet to the jungle. 10:00 - MiTH claimed the middle tier-one tower, their second of the game. They were ahead 5-3 in kills and 4,000 in gold.
13:10 - The Thai team is getting breaks, this time a 3-1 hero trade. Slark was also starting to get solo kills versus the supports because of his Shadow Blade. 16:20 - Tidehunter missed his Ravage as he tried to catch the fleeing Slark. Their enemy tried to take advantage of this with a push, but Rubick stole Exorcism to negate it. 20:00 - Trust easily claimed Roshan. The hero kills was 10-6 in favor of them, with 7,500 gold lead. Naga was able to get her Radiance at this point.
22:08 - MVP bursted down Slark as they tried to push the top lane 24:15 - MiTH surprised their enemy and killed Rubick. MVP prevented more losses by using Naga's sleep and then teleporting out 26:30 - 3-1 trade for MVP as their enemy attempted to push middle lane. Among the heroes they killed are Razor and Krobelus. 28:50 - Another attempt by Trust in the middle lane, and they failed again. The Blade Mail on Tidehuner is really hurting Krobelus
33:39 - Trust killed Roshan, but lost another teamfight right after. MVP was starting to take control of all clashes. 36:00 - MVP was able to get the middle tier-3 tower at the expense of Tidehunter
40:30 - A questionable play by MVP had them taking the opponent's middle lane ranged barracks at the expense of four heroes 44:00 - MVP picked off Razor, but they failed to take down the middle melee barracks. They were however able to destroy the bottom tier-3 tower. 47:15 - Uncontested Roshan for MVP. They used it, along with the lives of two of their heroes, to take the middle lane barracks after 49:46 - Trust tried to push, but as the previous attempts, they failed. Two of their heroes died 53:00 - MVP just overpowers into the Trust's base, and the Thai team really had no reliable source of DPS. The Koreans had a teamwipe and their enemy called GG right after.
