The third day of the main event sees South-East Asian representative Rave take on Invictus Gaming. Both teams succeeded in the first round of the lower bracket round and will now clash in a bo3.
Main Event Day 3 schedule (CET):
Rave vs. Invictus Gaming 03.30
Cloud 9 vs. HyperGloryTeam 06.30
Big God vs. TBD 09.30
Dendi vs. Mushi 11.30
Secret vs. TBD 12.30
Game One [W: Rave]
Invictus Gaming had a very good early game, effectively winning all three lanes and grabbing an early Blink Dagger on their Axe. Yet, the team failed to initiate properly and wasted a lot of time trying to rotate their heroes for ganks. A few failed engagements in fact gave Rave a lot of room and farm, making the game very even for the longest time. A race ensued in which iG went straight for the TI4 towers instead of going for rax, whereas Rave took down midrax. This took the pace out of the game and both teams sieged slowly, trying to take rax bit by bit. Eventually, Rave pushed in with enough momentum and Jeyo's Medusa was strong enough to punch through heroes and buildings.
Game Two [W: Invictus Gaming]
Invictus Gaming had strong lanes and a strong gameplan: Kill enemies, take towers, rinse and repeat. Despite Rave's inability to depush, the squad's core heroes remained at the top of the networth chart and kept up with iG, but they had no good way of taking on a teamfight, with the thread of Blackhole and the sustain from Healing Ward and a Mek. Rave could only watch as iG took tower by tower and tried to splitpush, but eventually iG sieged highground and swept the Rave line-up, forcing a game 3.
Game Three [W: Rave]
Rave returned to their roots and picked an aggressive draft with a TA and an Axe. Together with a Necrophos and a Chen, the team had the proper pushing power to transition every kill into a push. Invictus Gaming tried to stall for their Tinker with a support Bounty Hunter that had the sole purpose of distracting Rave, sniping two couriers. Rave however managed to stay focus, patiently pushing in and waiting for their opportunities, not overextending and iG got caught off guard multiple times, giving Rave these openings. In the end, Ferrari_430 could not carry his team to victory as Rave take it home.
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