Despite a stompy first game, Cloud9 could not prevent their elimination from the tournament against Team Secret. The next two games of the Lower Bracket, along with the Upper Bracket final will be held tomorrow, and we will find out the two finalists of DAC.
Main Event Day 3 schedule (CET):
Rave vs. Invictus Gaming 2-1
Cloud 9 vs. HyperGloryTeam 2-0
Big God vs. Rave 2-1
Dendi vs. Mushi 1-2
Secret vs. Cloud9 12.30
Game One [W: Cloud9]
Cloud9 deployed the Io-Tiny combo along with Magnus and Shadow Fiend, in response to Secret's common pushing strategy. MiSeRy's Bane managed to prevent s4's Puck from farming in the lane, preventing the quick Blink Dagger required for a mid-Puck to shine. With s4 out of the picture, EternalEnvy decided to rush a Blink Dagger himself on his Tiny, and join the early engagements as a nuker more than a physical damage carry. The result was unprecedented - Team Secret did not know what hit them. Using the sustainability provided by Io, EternalEnvy turned into a hunter, killing hero after hero with ease. 23 minutes into the game, both FATA and Envy had a Beyond Godlike streak, in an absolute stomp of a game that certainly astonished both Team Secret and the crowd.
Game Two [W: Team Secret]
Much like the previous game, Cloud9 focused on shutting down s4 and Team Secret's supports, this time using a roaming Vengeful Spirit and the Abaddon-Axe combo. The lineup seemed to work well, as only Zai's Enigma managed to get enough farm during the laning stage. The successful execution of the strategy allowed Cloud9 to fight head-to-head with Secret, despite Secret's pushing strategy. With a well-farmed Shadow Fiend and Juggernaut on their side, Cloud9 decided to abuse their advantage and push for the victory. However, their continuous attempts against the middle barracks met strong resistance, allowing Arteezy's Lycan to split-push very effectively. During the last push of the game, Cloud9 were caught off-guard, as s4 and Arteezy sneaked into their base and went straight for the Dire Ancient. Due to their earlier confidence, Cloud9's players did not carry a TP scroll, and they could not react in time - the Ancient went down, giving a very awkward victory to Team Secret, reminiscent of the finals of The International 3.
Game Three [W: Team Secret]
Team Secret used an armor-reduction strategy with Vengeful Spirit, Slardar and Shadow Fiend, a direct counter to FATA's Axe selection. The two teams had an even start, with Cloud9 having a stronger presence in due to their first blood against Arteezy's Shadow Fiend. Zai's Broodmother proved too difficult to handle by bOne7, forcing Cloud9 to switch their lanes several times to deal with the nasty spider. However, Zai's dominance was the key to Secret's strategy, as he transfered his Webs inside the Radiant jungle to become a serious threat against anyone who dared to farm the neutral camps there. With both EternalEnvy and Juggernaut having little space to farm, Secret's cores topped the networth chart with ease, giving a huge lead to Secret Team. Slowly but surely, Puppey's gang sieged the Radiant base through every lane, trapping Cloud9 inside their own base for several minutes. The breakthrough came around 55 minutes into the game, with bOne7's sloppy positioning resulting in an untimely death - Secret Team abused their numeric advantage to force C9's buybacks before their time, destroying the bottom barracks in the process. The top barracks soon followed, and EternalEnvy called the GG.
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