WePlay AniMajor Group Stage. Day 2 review

The second day of the WePlay AniMajor group stage is over. Below are the results and a summary of all the past matches.

Contrary to expectations, Spirit showed a good game and surprised their opponent. The first map had an equal fight with a slight dominance from VG. Everything was decided in the fight at the 34th minute, in which, thanks to the excellent play of VG supports and confused TORONTOTOKYO on Mars, Vici Gaming were able to save their Medusa. After that, Team Spirit takes Roshan. But when TS went on high ground, they lost Terrorblade 2 times. That was the end for them. 0-1 for Vici Gaming.

On the second map, Vici took almost all the meta heroes: Templar Assassin, Leshrac, Nyx Assassin and Spectre; the Shadow Demon was an exception. Team Spirit responded to this with Death Prophet in mid and Phantom Lancer in easy lane; the innovation was Kunkka from Collapse on position 3. Spirit were able to completely dominate the mid game, and in 30 minute the advantage had already exceeded 10 thousand. But they couldn't push, because of the incredible protection against Leshrac with Aghanim's Shard and Nyx with Aghanim's Scepter. But this only helped TS. In 51 minute, Team Spirit won the fight for Roshan and they were able to draw the match.

On the first map, as expected, EG played much better Beastcoast. Arteezy on Terrorblade was able to farm the necessary slots very quickly, and iceiceice on Mars ended the game with Beyond Godlike. Total domination from EG on the first map.

On the second map, Evil Geniuses pick the signature Naga Siren for Arteezy and Windranger for Abed. Beastcoast responded with Spectre and Ember Spirit. BC made space for K1, making Spectre the top 1 networth and it was getting more and more difficult to stop it by the minute. The decisive fight was on Roshan, in which Beastcoast killed Naga Siren and Skywrath Mage. Because of this they were able to take Roshan and pushed one lane, capturing a significant advantage. EG had some good fights, pressed the buttons well, but Spectre was already unkillable. An excellent bash didn't let Arteezy eat the cheese (46 min) and made him buy back. Then Beastcoast killed him without a buyback and calmly ended the game.

The first map and Invoker from Miracle in combination with Faceless Void against one of the most dangerous Templar Assassin by SumaiL and Bristleback by miCKe. Liquid were able to grab dominance in the early game, but a couple of great ganks on SumaiL and Chronosphere from iLTW prevented Liquid from building up the lead. And in the fight, in the 15th minute, Nigma was able to kill four heroes and seize the advantage. The fight for Roshan was decisive, in which Nigma was able to kill Bristleback and Sand King, thanks to which she took Aegis of the Immortal and finished the game without any problems.

On the second map, Miracle- again took Invoker for himself and GH took IO. Liquid took the carry Omniknight and Morphling in conjunction with Dark Willow. Nigma got a slight advantage early on due to excellent play from GH and iLTW on bottom lane, while Miracle- lost mid to SumaiL, but still managed to come back into the game. Thanks to the great play from iLTW, Nigma was able to increase the lead to 9k and Aegis of the Immortal in the 30th minute. However, when Nigma entered the high ground, Liquid managed to make a teamwipe. But even that did not save them. A great fight next to T3 tower and the rampage from iLTW put an end to it.

First map and early aggression from TNC thanks to Ursa, active supports and Templar Assassin. They were able not only to win early fights, but also to destroy towers. Having won early and mid game, TNC took Roshan and finished the game before 30 minutes, without giving K1 any chance to show himself on Phantom Lancer.

On the second map, fans saw Phantom Assassin by Gabbi under the Magnus buff. The early game of the second map was a repeat of the previous map, full of Filipino domination. In the mid game, Beastcoast were still able to fight back and kill four heroes near their T2 tower, but unfortunately for them it was the last fight they won. Bad play from Beastcoast near the opponent's outpost, 3 dead and TNC again has an advantage. After that, a great fight under t2 tower, rampage from Gabbi and victory.

And another sensation. Despite the easy first map with Arteezy's signature Terrorblade, the evil geniuses were unable to play the streak without defeat. On map 2, EG picked Invoker and Faceless Void, and took Winter Wyvern from the enemy. VG responded by picking Lifestealer and Storm Spirit. And a seemingly simple idea Chronosphere + Cataclysm turned out to be a sheer nightmare for Evil Geniuses. Either Abed didn't farm Aghanim's Scepter in time, then Arteezy was out of position, then Doom was faster than Faceless Void. In general, it did not go well. The cherry on the cake was Arthur's Chronosphere in a pack of creeps. So, victory for Vici Gaming.

And again the underdogs showed themselves. This is not to say that the first map was one-sided. TS managed to comeback a 12K lead to 6k and had a couple of great fights. But the incredible Lina by NothingToSay just destroyed Team Spirit.

On the second map Spirit decided to take Lina themselves, adding Terrorblade and Mars to her. LGD took the pick with strong control: Axe, Leshrac, Grimstroke, Treant Protector and Ursa. The game was equal, fights with constant exchanges, great ganks and decisions from both teams. But after killing Axe and Treant Protector on midlane at the 36th minute, TS were able to enter high ground and, due to Terrorblade and Lina, broke two sides in a few seconds. After that, Yatoro solo killed Axe on the bot and Spirit fought a victorious fight near the enemy outpost.

On the first map, Liquid took their signature Lone Druid and Pugna, with the help of which they were able to seize the early dominance, but the lost fight in Roshan helped LGD to seize the initiative. And after a great fight from the China team at 20 minutes, LGD were able to increase their advantage and methodically finished the first map.

The second map was completely controlled by PSG.LGD. Disciplined DotA. LGD took tower after tower, gradually capturing enemy territory. And when they gained critical mass, they went to the opponents and finished the game. No chance for Team Liquid.

The first map and Miracle- on midlane played on nerfed Beastmaster. Nigma never ceases to amaze with the variety of its picks, though not always positively. Although they managed to seize the advantage earlier and take Roshan in the 14th minute, they could not realize it. An unsuccessful 4v5 fight near opponents T2 tower, and great play from Puck with Snapfire were able to bring TNC back into the game. After that, an unsuccessful fight on the 22nd minute from Nigma due to a bad position and chronosphere, which Miracle- ran into, became a full comeback for TNC. Nigma put up a decent resistance, but dead Miracle- without a buyback and the phenomenal play from Armel on Puck buried KuroKy and his team.

Second map. Invoker by Miracle- and carry Magnus by Gabbi. Nigma is dominated in early and mid game again. Gaining a 7k lead, but an incredibly brazen attack from Gabbi at 32 minutes completely disorients Team Nigma and kills Mars. Then TNC has a good fight and makes Ursa buy back. iLTW was able to take Aegis and was about to end the game, but KuroKy's mistake and Gabbi's excellent attack on Miracle- delayed the push. Aegis ended, and TNC, thanks to a great initiation, were able to kill Ursa without buyback, destroy 2 sides, and then take the map.