photo courtesy of DotaPit
In the upper bracket final, Ninjas in Pyjamas continued their hot streak through the bracket and routed Alliance convincingly in a 2-0 sweep.
After their middling performance in the group stage, Ninjas in Pyjamas seemed unstoppable in the bracket. Dropping zero games, Peter 'PPD' Dager's squad had some solid momentum coming into the upper bracket final. their opponents, fellow Swedish organization Alliance, had a similar story with only a stumble against BOOM ID.
Game One
Alliance went with a late-game draft, last-picking an Alchemist for Max 'qojqva' Broecker much to the surprise of the panelists. Along with a Tidehunter and Sandking, Alliance looked to have a solid combination for the later stages of the match. NiP countered with their own late-game power in a Medusa for Marcus 'Ace' Hoelgaard as well as some great mobility and catch in the rest of their lineup.
Early on, both teams were content to farm and trade kills as the match remained relatively even for the first 10 mins--although an early death from Ace's Medusa put a damper on NiP's own momentum. It would be Alliance to push the scales first as they found three from NiP's lineup around the 18-minute mark. Yet, while Alliance seemed to be in control, qojqva's Alchemist had to be a part of much of this pressure, putting a damper on his farm while Ace simply farmed. To make matters worse, Adrian 'Fata' Trink's Ember Spirit dominated the field, which not only created space for Ace, but also a huge threat to deal with--Fata would go flawless at the end of the game.
Alliance would continue to build their lead into the middle and endgame, going up 10k in the networth charts, but they lost it fairly quickly in one engagement around the 36-minute mark, which saw qojva, Omar 'Madara' Dabachach, and Tommy 'Taiga' Le fall. The gold quickly equalized as NiP turned the fight into an aegis and cheese and only 10 mins after, the victory.
Game Two
In game two, Alliance had much more map presence this time around, especially with Taiga's Doom, which partnered well with Samuel 'Boxi' Svahn's Beastmaster to pressure Ace's Meepo. Taiga would be all over the map, strong-arming the NiP squad and making use of the great vision and wards provided by Aydin 'Insania' Sarkohi. Alliance's early pressure would seemingly pay-off as they picked up a kill on Ace, setting him back. Ace would recover quickly, however, as Alliance seemingly satisfied with that pressured the other lanes.
Letting off Ace turned out to be a huge problem for Alliance, as around the 10-minute mark (and a number of minutes of free farm) he would pick up two solo kills with relative ease. It would be a similar story to game one as NiP found a huge fight a few minutes after, turning around a four-man rotation from Alliance in the bottom lane to four kills for them and the lead.
In the game's final stages, NiP remained extremely disciplined despite their huge lead, and simply pushed Alliance's high ground with an aegis in hand. The game finished in just under a half-hour as NiP move on to the grand finals. Alliance falls to the lower bracket final where they tackle Chinese squad EHOME for a shot at redemption.
The lower bracket final takes place tomorrow at 0600 CEST.
OGA Dota PIT Minor Format:
- Playoffs
- Double-Elimination
- Lower Bracket Round 1-3 are Bo1. Grand Finals are Bo5.
- Other games are Bo3.
OGA Dota PIT Minor Groups:
Group A:
Ninjas in Pyjamas
Royal Never Give Up
Gambit Esports
BOOM ID
Group B:
Alliance
EHOME
Forward Gaming
Majestic Esports
OGA Dota PIT Minor Prize Pool Distribution:
The total prize pool for the event is $300,000 split between all eight teams. In addition to the handsome financial reward, teams will be awarded DPC points as well.
1st place: $125,000 + 120 DPC points + Spot to MDL Disneyland Major
2nd place: $65,000 + 100 DPC points
3rd place: $35,000 + 90 DPC points
4th place: Majestic Esports $25,000 + 70 DPC points
5-6th place: BOOM ID/Forward Gaming $15,000 + 40 DPC points
7-8th place: Gambit Esports/Royal Never Give Up $10,000 + 20 DPC points
