WePlay AniMajor playoffs. Day 2 Review

The second day of the WePlay AniMajor Playoff is over. We have made for you a short analysis of all matches and results of the game day.

On the first map TNC picked carry Bristleback. After he gained levels, he was able to stand a lane alone against two heroes. This untied Tims' hands on Lion, who cooperated with Enchantress to destroy the enemy's mid lane and seize the advantage for the team. Aster was able to win one fight, but Bristleback was too powerful to keep pushing and aggressive. He paid for this when TNC decided to fight for T4 towers at the enemy base. They were able to take the lane, after which Aster had 2 great fights in which Winters Curse and Reverse Polarity were casted perfectly. TNC had no buybacks. As a result, 1-0 from Aster.

On the second map, TNC in the first pick stage took Templar Assassin, against which Aster immediately took Razor to the mid lane, and Broodmother. That's why TNC took Batrider at the last pick. Batrider didn't live up to TNC's expectations, and Broodmother on easy lane didn`t let TA to farm. Aster seized the advantage and steadily increased it. It looked like an easy 2-0 for Team Aster, but one Roshan fight and a stolen Aegis kept TNC Predator at the tournament. They were able to win some important fights thanks to good initiations from Centaur Warrunner and Batrider, but even so, Aster was able to take Roshan. The first time they couldn't get to the high ground. But after the second Roshan, it turned out to take two lanes and almost make mega-creeps, if Morphling had not go for Winter Wyvern. TNC knocked out Aegis, after which Aster retreated. Everyone was waiting for the next decisive Roshan, and as soon as the timer was finished, TNC went to get it. But it didn't work out for them. Morphling and Dark Willow were able to knock back TNC out of Roshpit. But thanks to incredible game from Armel on Batrider and Bok on Centaur Warrunner, they managed not only to steal Aegis, but also to fight in which all the heroes of Aster died. Morphling died after the buyback and that was the end for Aster. Phenomenal comeback from TNC.

Yet again, Aster outplay TNC on the lanes and seize the advantage. But they could not realize it, as they decided to play through Faceless Void, which needs a little time to gain power. Meanwhile, TNC's heroes were all strong in the mid game and were able to constantly impose fights, while Faceless Void wanted to farm. In addition, Tims on Winter Wyvern had an excellent counter of the Void Chronosphere. A couple of won fights from TNC and a quick victory on the third map.

A very important match for the CIS team. On the first map, Spirit picked Windranger for the mid lane, which the alliance successfully closed with a pick of Viper. Spirit took Wraith King as a carry, and Alliance took Faceless Void. Viper beat Windranger in the mid lane, but due to the excellent move from TORONTOTOKYO to the top, he was able to make a triple kill and compare with Viper in net worth. It's also worth noting the great performance from Collapse on Mars. He stopped Faceless Void from farming. Due to this, Wraith King quickly overtook Faceless Void in terms of farming. Then Spirit started winning fight after fight. Viper lost its form, and Void did not keep pace with WK. Roshan for Team Spirit, a great fight in the mid and 1-0.

On the second map, Alliance decided to play through Wraith King and got Magnus to him. But Spirit decided to go late with Terrorblade. The game was equal, fights with constant exchanges, and Alliance had a minimal advantage. The team from Europe was able to push down the t2 tower in the mid lane, which became one of the key moments in the game. Thanks to this destroyed tower and the captured outpost, Alliance had a great fight in which they killed Terrorblade and increased the advantage. After catching and killing Terrorblade again at 32 minutes, Alliance finished the game without any problems thanks to a huge gold lead.

On the third map, both teams decided to take a strong midgame. Alliance took Batrider to mid, and Spirit took Tiny. Despite the difficult lane, Tiny was able to wait until his artifacts. Spirit, motivated by the desire not to be eliminated from the tournament, showed an incredible game. They succeeded in everything: from individual skill to macro game decisions. They left Alliance no chance and finished the map with a score of 2:25.

VP got probably the most difficult opponent in the lower bracket, who needed to win. On the first map, VG won their lanes, but thanks to a couple of successful smoke gangs, VP didn't let VG to snowball. Not for long, though. Ori popped in mid, but his entire team was behind him. Vici were able to exchange their Storm Spirit and Dragon Knight for a teamwipe and two buybacks from Virtus.pro. After that VP tried several attacks, one even succeeded, but that was not enough. Spectre with Storm Spirit turned out to be too strong heroes for VP in the late game. 1-0 for Vici Gaming.

On the second map Virtus.pro decided to play in their trademark aggressive style and did not lose. Taking the cores: Luna and Death Prophet, VP were able to win lanes. After that, Luna and DP imposed a pace on VG that the Chinese team could not keep up with. As a result, Virtus.pro won an unconditional victory with a crushing score.

On the third map, Vici Gaming again decided to play through the late core, Terrorblade and Storm Spirit. VP took Templar Assassin and Monkey King for early domination. The game was equal. VG defended all important positions, preventing VP from getting ahead, and Timbersaw was able to create enough space for the cores. On the 18th minute, VG had a great fight for Roshan and was able to take him, and Dragon Knight spent the buyback. VP still managed to win back some of the advantage and kill all opponents. But just like on the first map, it was getting harder and harder to fight against Terrorblade and Storm Spirit. Unfortunately Virtus.pro could not oppose anything to these heroes.

On the first map, Evil Geniuses picked the signature hero Terrorblade for Arteezy and Void Spirit for Abed, but NoPing surprised with the non-standard Sven. EG outplayed the enemy in lanes and took the advantage, but underestimated the enemy and made a mistake. Sven was strong and was top 1 networth. On the 27th minute, EG decides to take Roshan, NoPing realizing this and going to fight, but thanks to the excellent play from Fly on Clockwerk, they cannot get into the Roshpit. As a result, EG took Aegis. And thanks to another great initiative by Fly, EG killed Sven and reached a 10K lead. After that, Sven's gold lead was reduced, and he couldn't fight against Terrorblade with Eye of Skadi.

On the second map, NoPing decided to stick with the plan and picked Sven. EG picked Luna and Ember Spirit to finish the game faster. But it didn't work out for them. NoPing prevented EG from playing according to their plan, constantly going out in fights and defending their buildings. Abed and Arteezy, due to their poor play and underestimation of the enemy, made several stupid mistakes, for which they paid with the side and 10k advantage on the NoPing side. And after losing the fight at their outpost, Evil Geniuses were forced to write GG.

On the third map, NoPing wanted to surprise EG with the carry of Nature's Prophet. Evil geniuses responded to this with a signature Terrorblade for Arteezy, which brought them victory on the first map. NoPing did everything well, killed TB and fought at every opportunity. On the 19th minute, NoPing went to destroy the mid lane, but due to the terrible positions they lost four heroes. EG is a high level team and doesn’t forgive such mistakes. A couple more fights and Nature's Prophet could not oppose anything to Terrorblade. As a result, the victory in the piggy bank of the team from North America.