Photo Credit: Courtesy of Tigers
The teams for the Kuala Lumpur Major have shaped up in full. Following Tigers victory in the DreamLeague Season 10 Minor against Na’Vi’s reformed Dota 2 roster, the list of attendees to the first Major for the season is completed.
Tigers Claw their Way to Victory
The DreamLeague Season 10 Minor finals took place over the weekend, on November 4. The lower bracket had Na’Vi facing off with Royal Never Give Up, which saw the godfathers of competitive Dota best the Indonesian esports powerhouse. The defeat lead to the outing of RNG member Adam ‘343’ Shah for communication issues, Fox Asia reported.
Following a 2:0 in favor of Na’Vi, the team now had to address an unknown threat, with the entire SEA region mounting a challenge against them.
Na’Vi clashed with Tigers at the finals in a Best of Five (BO5) format, with the teams trading victories all along the way, though the CIS squad secured Game 2 & 3 leaving the SEA contenders on the cusp of elimination.
We are your #DreamLeague10 Minor Champs! ? Hard work pays off, looking forward to the first Major in KL. Thanks for all the support! #RoaringTigers pic.twitter.com/IIwmp2msfH
— Tigers (@tigers_dota) November 4, 2018
The action of the day began with a quick Game 1 and a daring Meepo pick for Tigers as the last hero to be chosen which seemed to fit nicely against Na’Vi own set-up that was heavily reliant on team positioning, with Enigma and Drow Ranger picks.
Picking Earth Spirit, Na’Vi were hoping to benefit the most from the hero’s Magnetize ability against Meepo’s clones, but fell short of the mark with Tigers claiming the first victory of the day before the 30-minute mark.
Na’Vi returned confident in Game 2, securing an early kill on Tiger’s offlaner. The game was intense from the get-go, with teams trading kills and playing aggressively, which cost Akbar “Sonneiko” Butaev and Evgenii “Blizzy” Ri a few times.
The game was a lot of back-and-forth with Na’Vi finally managing to claim 4 kills in 19’31”, sacrificing Sonneiko in the process. It was from that moment on that they started building the momentum that led them to victory.
Game 3 was a quick, worthy game, exemplifying Na’Vi’s ability to dictate the pace of the game and steamroll any opponent that has slipped even for a moment. Blizzy returned on Axe, securing a quick dagger and landing one great Berserker’s Call after another, leading his team to victory.
Returning for Game 4, Tigers were definitely under a lot of pressure. They were close to elimination, so the team responded with an Axe ban. Playing on the Crystal Maiden, Theeban “1437” Siva was quite active around the map. Tigers had decided to quicken the pace, leading them to 6 kills by the 6’. The momentum kept and Tigers won to return for Game 5.
Games such as those weren’t new for Na’Vi, as in its history, the team had attended multiple events that required hours of gaming on end. However, they could have been something new for the reformed roster.
Tigers managed to yet again set the tempo of the game which caught Na’Vi completely unawares and left them fighting for their lives by the 35’ when a second set of barracks went down. This concluded the series, with Tigers eating through their opponents in the two concluding games and qualifying for the Kuala Lumpur Major.
If there were any regrets about the 10th edition of the event those could only do with Team Liquid’s decision to opt out of the competition, which might have led to a different outcome.
? @tigers_dota is going to the Major!!!
Your @CORSAIR #DHDreamLeague Season 10 Champions @MoonMeanderated, @1437x, Ahjit, inYourdreaM & Xepher! pic.twitter.com/0OcamoHy0Z
— DreamHack Dota (@DreamHackDota) November 4, 2018
DreamLeague also took the opportunity to announce that starting next season, DreamLeague 11 will be one of the official Majors, giving hopes that Valve would focus even greater efforts in developing similar competitive structures across the world.
The Kuala Lumpur Dota 2 Major is kicking off on Friday, November 9 at the Axiata Arena in the city bearing the name of the event. The event is the first in the new competitive Dota Pro Circuit season.
