Vici Gaming have once again proven that they are more than a match for Newbee, overpowering the TI4 Champions at the StarLadder Season X Chinese playoffs' upper bracket finals.
The upper bracket of the StarLadder Season X's Chinese playoffs have drawn to a close, and Vici Gaming have once again defeated TI4 Champions Newbee, securing themselves a spot at the tournament's LAN Finals in Kiev. With a 2-1 victory, VG bested the TI4 Champs, outmaneuvering and outplaying Newbee in the best-of-three series.
The first game saw VG quickly defeat Newbee, with Black^ on Centaur, Super! on QoP, fy on Skywrath, Fenrir on Sand King, and iceiceice on Enigma squaring off against Hao on Razor, Mu on Puck, Rabbit on Void, Sansheng on a Shadow Demon, and Banana on Mirana.
VG's safelane found kill after kill against Rabbit's Void, resulting in a 0-8 Void, and an 11-1 Centaur by the game's end. Super! was on point with his Queen of Pain, scoring an ultra kill early into the game, while fy and Fenrir's rotations made short work of Newbee's lanes. Soon enough, Newbee surrendered, nearly 18 minutes into the game.
Game 2, on the other hand, saw VG dominate early game, as was expected of their picks, with a Venomancer, a Centaur, a Brewmaster, a Leshrac, and a Rubick going against Newbee's more lategame-oriented Juggenaut, accompanied by a Tide, a Doom, a Disruptor, and a Skywrath Mage.
Mu on Tide in the midgame, however, more than helped Newbee bounce back from VG's early-game advantage. He went a very tanky build with an early Pipe, making it literally impossible for Vici to kill him in the mid to late game. Additionally, Rabbit more than made up for his performance on the Void, achieving an 11-3 performance with his Doom. These factors, combined with Hao's lategame powerhouse Juggernaut, Sansheng's Disruptor and Banana's Skywrath, saw VG admit defeat 49 minutes into the match.
The final game saw VG pick a push-friendly lineup, with Visage's familiars uniting with Drow's Precision aura and Razor's ultimate to bring down towers, whilst Undying and Skywrath Mage rotated and zoned out Newbee's heroes.
Newbee's picks, on the other hand, were defensive supports - Lich and Dazzle, and early-game fighters Doom and Viper, which, in theory, would help their core hero, Void, come online and eventually devastate VG's squad. This mostly defensive lineup, however, was also responsible for Newbee's downfall: the lack of ganks from their supports saw VG slowly but surely accumulate a massive gold advantage, and when VG's inevitable push came, Newbee struggled with an underfarmed Void, and tapped out, 25 minutes into the game.
Vici Gaming's squad is now one step closer to the tournament's now $245,000+ prizepool, having secured themselves an invite to StarLadder's Season X LAN Finals, to be held at Kiev's Cyberarena October 23-26.
Newbee, on the other hand, will fall to the lower bracket, where they will face off tomorrow against LAI Gaming for the second LAN Finals spot.
The Chinese bracket
