[DH] Tide Waits For No Man November 30th, 2012 00:05 GMT Text by riptide Graphics by shiroiusagi

Dreamhack Recap Table of Contents





Said and Done

Tournament Recap





History Repeats Itself

Dreamhack Stories





The Green Eyed Monster

EternaLEnVy Interview





More on





Tournament RecapDreamhack StoriesEternaLEnVy InterviewMore on Liquipedia Tide Waits For No Man

Winter came, and winter went, and what a weekend it was if you were a Dota fan. With so much games going though, it can be tempting to forget the storylines that unfolded this weekend. We're not going to let you do that, though. This Dreamhack Winter has plenty of stories!



Firstly, we saw the return of



Of course, you're here for the recap as well, aren't you? Don't worry, our Dreamhack coverage lead Kipsate



We hope you enjoy the read. Look forward to that Loda interview and more in our next DH dispatch. Winter came, and winter went, and what a weekend it was if you were a Dota fan. With so much games going though, it can be tempting to forget the storylines that unfolded this weekend. We're not going to let you do that, though. This Dreamhack Winter has plenty of stories!Firstly, we saw the return of Jonathan 'Loda' Berg to the big stage, and what a return it was. Fittingly playing a Sven, Loda led his team to a championship at DH Winter 2012. Though we do have a Loda interview lined up, in this first DH coverage piece we introduce you to another member of No Tide Hunter - Jacky "EternaLEnVy" Mao , a young progamer who just won the first LAN he attended as a competitive player. See what he has to say about the experience as TL writer Tephus goes through it all with him Of course, you're here for the recap as well, aren't you? Don't worry, our Dreamhack coverage lead Kipsate has it all written down for you . Finally, our feature writers TheEmulator and shostakovich round up this update with a history lesson We hope you enjoy the read. Look forward to that Loda interview and more in our next DH dispatch.

Said and Done By Kipsate



It's over. (Picture courtesy of Dreamhack.)

After a three-day rollercoaster of a competition, DreamHack ended. Upsets happened, kings were deposed, and an old king reclaimed his throne. Join us as we recap Dreamhack Winter 2012.



Group Stages



Group A



Group A was predictable, with Na'Vi crushing everyone, while aL would lose to Na'Vi and go on 2-1. The match between the two was hard fought, with the Ukrainians were able to come back via some Chen-Pudge fountain-hooking, and a crucial mistake from aL that led to a teamwipe in favor of Na'Vi. The other games were, as many had predicted, a little more one sided, with Xboct even going with a Mask of Madness on Mirana.



Group B



We expected nth and EG to advance and that they did. nth managed to beat EG, placing first in the group. This also meant that EG had to face off against the winner of Group A, Na'Vi.



Group C



While Empire advanced quite comfortably, the group stage marked the exit of Mouz. WhA, by dint a well-fed Void, was able to outcarry Mouz in the lategame and so secure its advancement to the second round of the tournament.



Group D



We expected to see both Dignitas and FnaticEU to advance, and there were few surprises in that regard. However, it was FnaticEU and not Dignitas who advanced in first place. Facing a well-synchronised Fnatic deathball of Luna, Enigma, Vengeful Spirit, Chen, and Undying, Dignitas crumbled. Pulse was Crushed by both Fnatic and Dignitas, with the Dignitas game even featuring a Gyrocopter Rampage.



Playoffs



Team Empire vs Team Dignitas



Game one featured a Gyrocopter from Dignitas once again. The team has clearly taken a shine this hero since of late, and used it to good effect here as well. Dignitas attempted to keep Funn1k's Clinkz under control by sending a Dark Seer against him to farm between the towers. Unfortunately for them, Empire was very much prepared for this, and pooled Clinkz enough regeneration for him to make it to level six.



Once at level six, Clinkz could use his Death Pact on the creeps continuously, outfarming the Dark Seer without too much trouble. Empire's tri-lane, which included a Tinker, traded equally with Dignitas and was able to secure the hero a quick set of Boots of Travel. These boots shut down any form of push anywhere. Fogged, with the help of Sneyking's Dark Seer, demolished Scandal at mid, and yet he was not the problem in the end. Eventually, Dignitas found itself unable to push and, with BKBs up on both Clinkz and the Templar Assassin, the teamfight presence of Undying and the constant counterpush of Tinker meant that Empire was able to secure the win.



Game two was a strong game from Empire. With Bane Elemental, Bounty, Naga Siren, Tidehunter, and Templar Assassin, this was an excellent line-up for Empire to play its aggressive. Yet this game was all about a single player dictating everything, and his name was Funn1k.



Killing WaytoSexy's Windrunner twice and Tracking everyone, he was scary, to say the least. Funn1k was always in the right place, at the right time for Empire. Utilizing Bane Elemental as only Empire does, Goblak, was able to keep Luna down in clever combination with Funn1k. While Naga Siren did not get as farmed as might be expected, neither did Luna. With Scandal on TA winning mid, Funn1k winning top, and Empire trading even bottom, it was a snowball to victory.



An honourable mention goes to WayToSexy on his Windrunner. While he did lose to Funn1k, he managed some amazing midgame teamfight shackles to make up for it.



NoTideHunter vs Absolute Legends



Game one was fairly straightforward; nth won all lanes. Dark Seer middle won out over Batrider. The offensive tri-lane with Sven, Keeper Of The Light, and Vengeful Spirit won their lane. Finally, Admiral ''Syllabear'' Bulldog was able to farm to his heart’s content. Eventually ntf outfarmed its opponents and simply won the game.



Game two had aL's Sven underfarmed and their Gyrocopter was similarly hobbled. AdmiralBulldog on his Bounty Hunter was able to pick up track kills and it seemed as though nothing could stop Loda's Naix. With short ranged heroes on aL, Naix could swipe at anyone he wanted. While aL did have a Batrider, this was shut down by an excellent performance from nth’s Beastmaster. Batrider couldn’t engage for fear or being roared down. Regardless, aL did quite well considering how long ago they added SexyBamboe.



FnaticEU vs We Haz Asians



If you ever feel the need to know why Chaos Knight is less popular than Sven at the moment, look no further than game one of FnaticEU against WhA. FnaticEU utilized Night Stalker to take control of the midgame, giving H4nn1 free farm on his Shadow Fiend. Aside from that, they also had the most brutal teamfight in Enigma, Tidehunter, and Magnus. Decisively taking map control, WhA couldn't give farm to anyone but its Phantom Lancer. At 50 minutes into the game Chaos Knight had treads, drums, a Bottle, wand, and a Vitality Booster. Chaos Knight was reduced to no more than a glorified melee creep with a stun. H4nn1's Shadow Fiend went 13-1-17 and, after an extended farmfest ending in a gold difference of over 30k, WhA had no choice but to leave the game.



Game two felt similar to game one, without the extreme amount of teamfighting that FnaticEU had enjoyed. Although Fnatic had an awkward, shaky start by giving Windrunner two early kills she shouldn't have had, they quickly made up for it as, once again, Night Stalker set the pace for the midgame. Using Broodmother to split-push, as well as H4nn1 on his Shadow Fiend once again, H4nn1 finished the game 12-0-2.



Evil Geniuses vs Natus Vincere



With to EG losing to nth, they found themselves up against tournament favourites Na'Vi. A lot of people thought that it would be a crushing defeat in favour of Na'Vi and boy were there our faces red by the end of the match.



In game one Na'Vi was able to get the Chaos Knight-Wisp combination, but was unable to secure any form of map control. With EG's heroes sticking together well, nothing came out of this. Dendi’s Blink Dagger was unable to secure him the initiation he was looking for. LightOfHeaven's Lich was similarly incapable of making an impact on the game. It felt like a game in which something like a Beastmaster would have been better than the offlane Lich. Nevertheless, Fear's Sven crushed through everyone, going 21-3 in the end and performing a massive Ultrakill cleave combination with Dark Seer's Vacuum.



In game two, EG had Clinkz, Undying, Beastmaster, Sven, and Vengeful Spirit. Na'Vi, on the other hand, opted for a four-carry strategy, with a Lycan in the jungle. Beastmaster traded well against Templar Assassin at mid, while the tri-lane of Sven, Vengeful Spirit, and Undying crushed the opposing tri-lane. Fear was able to secure himself enough farm to snowball with an Orchid into the midgame, picking off heroes left, right, and centre. With Clinkz farmed, Sven farmed, and with only Dendi having farm on the Natus Vincere squad, EG eventually took the win.



The games were one-sided, and it can be argued that they were won at the drafting stage. Regardless, EG won that day and Na'Vi lost. This should be a good thing for Na'Vi. Make no mistake Na'Vi is still the best team in Western Dota, yet it has shown that it is mortal. This should not only be motivation for Na'Vi to up their game, it will also be good motivation for the rest of Western Dota. They can see that even Na'Vi is human, that even Na'Vi bleeds.



NoTideHunter vs Team Empire



As nth progressed, so too did Empire. Game one was a close fought game, inclduing good use of Bane Elemental (a hero it seems more teams should take a look at), a Funn1k Batrider, a Loda Faceless Void, and an s4 Magnus. The game was 54 minutes long, and Empire had a marginal lead. In the end, it was a failed attempt at taking out an Aegis-equipped Faceless Void that snowballed out of control, allowing nth to snatch victory, largely courtesy of a strong follow-up performance by s4's Magnus.



Game two seemed quite odd. Empire picked Juggernaut and Death Prophet, indicating a strategy that they would want to end the game early. However, with Keeper Of the Light on the field, there were few openings to push. It felt like Empire failed either in the execution or the training of this strategy, as they made quite a few mistakes.



Eventually Loda's Naix grew out of control, while AdmiralBulldog was racking up Track kills on his Bounty Hunter. At the 30-minute mark, AdmiralBulldog bought himself a Shadow Blade. Even though the team was well ahead, it’s always fun to see such an item, as Bulldog sliced halfway through Scandal’s Death Prophet in a single swipe.



While Empire did go on to lose to nth, they showed impressive form, except for the last game, with a stand in. It takes five men to be the Empire we’ve come to know, and Socks is simply not a part of that roster. For a team that was, essentially, playing with a substitute, Empire did very well indeed. We’re looking forward to seeing the team’s next LAN performance, for which we can only hope they field a full roster.



Fnatic EU vs Evil Geniuses



Game one saw EG opt for a strong teamfight line-up, a four-protect-one project with Sven at its core. EG used its Invoker, Tide, Enigma, and Vengeful Spirit to control teamfights, while Fnatic's squad hinged on a Faceless Void and a Batrider. Oddly enough Faceless Void was offlaned by Fnatic EU, which ran Clinkz in the freefarm lane. Faceless Void was never ever really able to recover from that rough beginning, and EG eventually took control of Roshan and took a rax off Fnatic.



For Game two, EG once again went for a strategy feared by many, the by no infamous Knight strat. Except this time it was not the Chaos Knight. Those attentive may have seen EG substituting the Dragon Knight for a Slardar in the G-1 league, a strategy with which they found little success. This time the Rogue Knight replaced the Chaos Knight.



A better farmer, a better damage dealer, but the improved Knight strat was off to a shaky start early on against the Night Stalker of Era. Era, however, opted not to go for a BKB and thus in the large teamfights he was quickly disabled. Eventually, the ball of death became too large, became unkillable, unstunnable… unbeatable. Luna was never able to go toe to toe with Sven, who took to two-shotting most of Fnatic's heroes.



Such was the end of Fnatic's run at Dreamhack, and it had been a fine run. Some might say they had an easier bracket, because they were up against WhA, but it was a matchup earned when they beat Dignitas decisively. While FnaticEU still has work to do, it show that stability in a roster is important and that the team is adjusting well to the new patch. Expect FnaticEU to become stronger and a larger force than they are now.



Honorable mentions have to be given in game two of EG vs FnaticEU.



Bdiz played an excellent game with many well-placed stuns on his Leshrac.



Maelk's micro with his Troll Warlord, positioning it outside of the range of the Fnatic Team meant that he blocked a BKBed Enigma's Black Hole and turned a key fight in favour of EG.



Finals



Evil Geniuses vs NoTideHunter



The first game was dictated by Fear on his Faceless Void. At twenty minutes, Fear had been a participant in six of seven kills, had 140cs, a Battle Fury, a Poor Man’s Shield, treads, and an Eaglesong. Fear was basically five minutes ahead of every other player in that game. nth's lineup was built around picking people off while stopping pushes with KOTL. EG's warding, counter-warding, and map awareness proved too strong, as no such thing happened. With EG having the stronger teamfight, they got a Black Hole on three players at mid and teamwiped nth.



In the end Fear got too huge, too strong and nth had to GG.



The opening of the second game saw some of the sickest mind games we have yet seen in Dota 2. Four members of nth smoked, while Bulldog's Natures Prophet warded Roshan and subsequently suicided himself to him. We were all confused until we realized just what was happening...



The only way you will usually die to Roshan is if you are attempting a level one Roshan strategy. With EG presuming that nth was attempting a sly level one Roshan, they entered the river, only to get smoke-ganked by four members of nth, and a Nature’s Prophet with Teleport. Yet the second game was really won by the hero that was used to maximum potential by both EG and nth in the form of Sven.



EG took two very quick towers, but suffered in the experience department for Juggernaut. Meanwhile Loda was able to get levels and farm on Sven. EG's line-up with Omnislash, Reverse Polarity, and Enigma's Black Hole was very much cooldown based. Once Sven got his BKB together, courtesy of ancient-stacking, nth was able to secure itself a couple of strong teamfights, after which they took Roshan. While Juggernaut did not scale well in the late game, Loda had a brutal amount of farm and damage. At 30 minutes, his inventory contained the Aegis, treads, Armlet, Daedelus, Black King Bar, and a Mask of Madness. Cleaving its way through everyone, nth took the fight to EG and tied the series up 1-1.



In the third game nth quickly banned off Sven. They realized that this Swedish Hero was too strong to play against and removed him. S4's Queen of Pain was, impressively enough, able to trade even with Jeyo's Templar Assassin. The top lane consisted of a dual-lane for EG, with Maelk in the jungle on his Chen, and an aggressive tri-lane from nth with Undying, Void, and Jakiro. On the bottom lane Demon's Nature’s Prophet faced off against Admiral Bulldog's Bounty Hunter.



While EG took a quick tower on the bottom lane, it lost two heroes for the trouble, and gave Bounty Hunter level six at five minutes; Demon was still level three at this point. nth went as far as to dive him behind his tier one tower with QoP and Bounty Hunter. Almost a full minute later, QoP waited in the woods for Demon to return only to kill him once again.



EG attempted to take a tier one top tower but overstayed its welcome. Off the back off a very strong QoP and a good Chronosphere, nth teamwiped EG with Track. EG did not break there though, and fought back hard, managing to engineer a good teamfight in nth's jungle and taking a tier two tower into the bargain. EG even managed to break onto nth’s high ground with the Aegis, and was almost able to score itself a rax.



Yet, with each teamfight, nth was gaining an edge. Faced with Track, Queen of Pain, and a Faceless Void, you either win or you all die with Track. EG fought valiantly, but knew only too well that its Juggernaut could never outcarry a QoP and a Faceless Void. Opting for a smoked attempt at the backdoor, they got a rax but paid for it once again in Track kills.



In the end, the Track gold was overwhelming, leading to a 40k gold difference between the teams. EG was defeated as nth won Dreamhack 2012, a home ground win for the team, with the exception of EternalEnvy.



This is the same EternalEnvy as halted his university education to play Dota 2; he followed his dreams and, in the end, it paid off for him. His squad won Dreamhack 2012 and the reward, well aside from prizes, is that everyone in Dota 2 now knows his name.



The honourable mentions for this match must go to EternalEnvy and Bdiz; for both this was their first large Dota 2 LAN experience. Moreover, both performed beautifully in roles that, too often, go unrecognised. Each played the fifth position, and each made the role their own. After a three-day rollercoaster of a competition, DreamHack ended. Upsets happened, kings were deposed, and an old king reclaimed his throne. Join us as we recap Dreamhack Winter 2012.Group A was predictable, with Na'Vi crushing everyone, while aL would lose to Na'Vi and go on 2-1. The match between the two was hard fought, with the Ukrainians were able to come back via some Chen-Pudge fountain-hooking, and a crucial mistake from aL that led to a teamwipe in favor of Na'Vi. The other games were, as many had predicted, a little more one sided, with Xboct even going with a Mask of Madness on Mirana.We expected nth and EG to advance and that they did. nth managed to beat EG, placing first in the group. This also meant that EG had to face off against the winner of Group A, Na'Vi.While Empire advanced quite comfortably, the group stage marked the exit of Mouz. WhA, by dint a well-fed Void, was able to outcarry Mouz in the lategame and so secure its advancement to the second round of the tournament.We expected to see both Dignitas and FnaticEU to advance, and there were few surprises in that regard. However, it was FnaticEU and not Dignitas who advanced in first place. Facing a well-synchronised Fnatic deathball of Luna, Enigma, Vengeful Spirit, Chen, and Undying, Dignitas crumbled. Pulse was Crushed by both Fnatic and Dignitas, with the Dignitas game even featuring a Gyrocopter Rampage.Game one featured a Gyrocopter from Dignitas once again. The team has clearly taken a shine this hero since of late, and used it to good effect here as well. Dignitas attempted to keep Funn1k's Clinkz under control by sending a Dark Seer against him to farm between the towers. Unfortunately for them, Empire was very much prepared for this, and pooled Clinkz enough regeneration for him to make it to level six.Once at level six, Clinkz could use his Death Pact on the creeps continuously, outfarming the Dark Seer without too much trouble. Empire's tri-lane, which included a Tinker, traded equally with Dignitas and was able to secure the hero a quick set of Boots of Travel. These boots shut down any form of push anywhere. Fogged, with the help of Sneyking's Dark Seer, demolished Scandal at mid, and yet he was not the problem in the end. Eventually, Dignitas found itself unable to push and, with BKBs up on both Clinkz and the Templar Assassin, the teamfight presence of Undying and the constant counterpush of Tinker meant that Empire was able to secure the win.Game two was a strong game from Empire. With Bane Elemental, Bounty, Naga Siren, Tidehunter, and Templar Assassin, this was an excellent line-up for Empire to play its aggressive. Yet this game was all about a single player dictating everything, and his name was Funn1k.Killing WaytoSexy's Windrunner twice and Tracking everyone, he was scary, to say the least. Funn1k was always in the right place, at the right time for Empire. Utilizing Bane Elemental as only Empire does, Goblak, was able to keep Luna down in clever combination with Funn1k. While Naga Siren did not get as farmed as might be expected, neither did Luna. With Scandal on TA winning mid, Funn1k winning top, and Empire trading even bottom, it was a snowball to victory.An honourable mention goes to WayToSexy on his Windrunner. While he did lose to Funn1k, he managed some amazing midgame teamfight shackles to make up for it.Game one was fairly straightforward; nth won all lanes. Dark Seer middle won out over Batrider. The offensive tri-lane with Sven, Keeper Of The Light, and Vengeful Spirit won their lane. Finally, Admiral ''Syllabear'' Bulldog was able to farm to his heart’s content. Eventually ntf outfarmed its opponents and simply won the game.Game two had aL's Sven underfarmed and their Gyrocopter was similarly hobbled. AdmiralBulldog on his Bounty Hunter was able to pick up track kills and it seemed as though nothing could stop Loda's Naix. With short ranged heroes on aL, Naix could swipe at anyone he wanted. While aL did have a Batrider, this was shut down by an excellent performance from nth’s Beastmaster. Batrider couldn’t engage for fear or being roared down. Regardless, aL did quite well considering how long ago they added SexyBamboe.If you ever feel the need to know why Chaos Knight is less popular than Sven at the moment, look no further than game one of FnaticEU against WhA. FnaticEU utilized Night Stalker to take control of the midgame, giving H4nn1 free farm on his Shadow Fiend. Aside from that, they also had the most brutal teamfight in Enigma, Tidehunter, and Magnus. Decisively taking map control, WhA couldn't give farm to anyone but its Phantom Lancer. At 50 minutes into the game Chaos Knight had treads, drums, a Bottle, wand, and a Vitality Booster. Chaos Knight was reduced to no more than a glorified melee creep with a stun. H4nn1's Shadow Fiend went 13-1-17 and, after an extended farmfest ending in a gold difference of over 30k, WhA had no choice but to leave the game.Game two felt similar to game one, without the extreme amount of teamfighting that FnaticEU had enjoyed. Although Fnatic had an awkward, shaky start by giving Windrunner two early kills she shouldn't have had, they quickly made up for it as, once again, Night Stalker set the pace for the midgame. Using Broodmother to split-push, as well as H4nn1 on his Shadow Fiend once again, H4nn1 finished the game 12-0-2.With to EG losing to nth, they found themselves up against tournament favourites Na'Vi. A lot of people thought that it would be a crushing defeat in favour of Na'Vi and boy were there our faces red by the end of the match.In game one Na'Vi was able to get the Chaos Knight-Wisp combination, but was unable to secure any form of map control. With EG's heroes sticking together well, nothing came out of this. Dendi’s Blink Dagger was unable to secure him the initiation he was looking for. LightOfHeaven's Lich was similarly incapable of making an impact on the game. It felt like a game in which something like a Beastmaster would have been better than the offlane Lich. Nevertheless, Fear's Sven crushed through everyone, going 21-3 in the end and performing a massive Ultrakill cleave combination with Dark Seer's Vacuum.In game two, EG had Clinkz, Undying, Beastmaster, Sven, and Vengeful Spirit. Na'Vi, on the other hand, opted for a four-carry strategy, with a Lycan in the jungle. Beastmaster traded well against Templar Assassin at mid, while the tri-lane of Sven, Vengeful Spirit, and Undying crushed the opposing tri-lane. Fear was able to secure himself enough farm to snowball with an Orchid into the midgame, picking off heroes left, right, and centre. With Clinkz farmed, Sven farmed, and with only Dendi having farm on the Natus Vincere squad, EG eventually took the win.The games were one-sided, and it can be argued that they were won at the drafting stage. Regardless, EG won that day and Na'Vi lost. This should be a good thing for Na'Vi. Make no mistake Na'Vi is still the best team in Western Dota, yet it has shown that it is mortal. This should not only be motivation for Na'Vi to up their game, it will also be good motivation for the rest of Western Dota. They can see that even Na'Vi is human, that even Na'Vi bleeds.As nth progressed, so too did Empire. Game one was a close fought game, inclduing good use of Bane Elemental (a hero it seems more teams should take a look at), a Funn1k Batrider, a Loda Faceless Void, and an s4 Magnus. The game was 54 minutes long, and Empire had a marginal lead. In the end, it was a failed attempt at taking out an Aegis-equipped Faceless Void that snowballed out of control, allowing nth to snatch victory, largely courtesy of a strong follow-up performance by s4's Magnus.Game two seemed quite odd. Empire picked Juggernaut and Death Prophet, indicating a strategy that they would want to end the game early. However, with Keeper Of the Light on the field, there were few openings to push. It felt like Empire failed either in the execution or the training of this strategy, as they made quite a few mistakes.Eventually Loda's Naix grew out of control, while AdmiralBulldog was racking up Track kills on his Bounty Hunter. At the 30-minute mark, AdmiralBulldog bought himself a Shadow Blade. Even though the team was well ahead, it’s always fun to see such an item, as Bulldog sliced halfway through Scandal’s Death Prophet in a single swipe.While Empire did go on to lose to nth, they showed impressive form, except for the last game, with a stand in. It takes five men to be the Empire we’ve come to know, and Socks is simply not a part of that roster. For a team that was, essentially, playing with a substitute, Empire did very well indeed. We’re looking forward to seeing the team’s next LAN performance, for which we can only hope they field a full roster.Game one saw EG opt for a strong teamfight line-up, a four-protect-one project with Sven at its core. EG used its Invoker, Tide, Enigma, and Vengeful Spirit to control teamfights, while Fnatic's squad hinged on a Faceless Void and a Batrider. Oddly enough Faceless Void was offlaned by Fnatic EU, which ran Clinkz in the freefarm lane. Faceless Void was never ever really able to recover from that rough beginning, and EG eventually took control of Roshan and took a rax off Fnatic.For Game two, EG once again went for a strategy feared by many, the by no infamous Knight strat. Except this time it was not the Chaos Knight. Those attentive may have seen EG substituting the Dragon Knight for a Slardar in the G-1 league, a strategy with which they found little success. This time the Rogue Knight replaced the Chaos Knight.A better farmer, a better damage dealer, but the improved Knight strat was off to a shaky start early on against the Night Stalker of Era. Era, however, opted not to go for a BKB and thus in the large teamfights he was quickly disabled. Eventually, the ball of death became too large, became unkillable, unstunnable… unbeatable. Luna was never able to go toe to toe with Sven, who took to two-shotting most of Fnatic's heroes.Such was the end of Fnatic's run at Dreamhack, and it had been a fine run. Some might say they had an easier bracket, because they were up against WhA, but it was a matchup earned when they beat Dignitas decisively. While FnaticEU still has work to do, it show that stability in a roster is important and that the team is adjusting well to the new patch. Expect FnaticEU to become stronger and a larger force than they are now.Honorable mentions have to be given in game two of EG vs FnaticEU.Bdiz played an excellent game with many well-placed stuns on his Leshrac.Maelk's micro with his Troll Warlord, positioning it outside of the range of the Fnatic Team meant that he blocked a BKBed Enigma's Black Hole and turned a key fight in favour of EG.The first game was dictated by Fear on his Faceless Void. At twenty minutes, Fear had been a participant in six of seven kills, had 140cs, a Battle Fury, a Poor Man’s Shield, treads, and an Eaglesong. Fear was basically five minutes ahead of every other player in that game. nth's lineup was built around picking people off while stopping pushes with KOTL. EG's warding, counter-warding, and map awareness proved too strong, as no such thing happened. With EG having the stronger teamfight, they got a Black Hole on three players at mid and teamwiped nth.In the end Fear got too huge, too strong and nth had to GG.The opening of the second game saw some of the sickest mind games we have yet seen in Dota 2. Four members of nth smoked, while Bulldog's Natures Prophet warded Roshan and subsequently suicided himself to him. We were all confused until we realized just what was happening...The only way you will usually die to Roshan is if you are attempting a level one Roshan strategy. With EG presuming that nth was attempting a sly level one Roshan, they entered the river, only to get smoke-ganked by four members of nth, and a Nature’s Prophet with Teleport. Yet the second game was really won by the hero that was used to maximum potential by both EG and nth in the form of Sven.EG took two very quick towers, but suffered in the experience department for Juggernaut. Meanwhile Loda was able to get levels and farm on Sven. EG's line-up with Omnislash, Reverse Polarity, and Enigma's Black Hole was very much cooldown based. Once Sven got his BKB together, courtesy of ancient-stacking, nth was able to secure itself a couple of strong teamfights, after which they took Roshan. While Juggernaut did not scale well in the late game, Loda had a brutal amount of farm and damage. At 30 minutes, his inventory contained the Aegis, treads, Armlet, Daedelus, Black King Bar, and a Mask of Madness. Cleaving its way through everyone, nth took the fight to EG and tied the series up 1-1.In the third game nth quickly banned off Sven. They realized that this Swedish Hero was too strong to play against and removed him. S4's Queen of Pain was, impressively enough, able to trade even with Jeyo's Templar Assassin. The top lane consisted of a dual-lane for EG, with Maelk in the jungle on his Chen, and an aggressive tri-lane from nth with Undying, Void, and Jakiro. On the bottom lane Demon's Nature’s Prophet faced off against Admiral Bulldog's Bounty Hunter.While EG took a quick tower on the bottom lane, it lost two heroes for the trouble, and gave Bounty Hunter level six at five minutes; Demon was still level three at this point. nth went as far as to dive him behind his tier one tower with QoP and Bounty Hunter. Almost a full minute later, QoP waited in the woods for Demon to return only to kill him once again.EG attempted to take a tier one top tower but overstayed its welcome. Off the back off a very strong QoP and a good Chronosphere, nth teamwiped EG with Track. EG did not break there though, and fought back hard, managing to engineer a good teamfight in nth's jungle and taking a tier two tower into the bargain. EG even managed to break onto nth’s high ground with the Aegis, and was almost able to score itself a rax.Yet, with each teamfight, nth was gaining an edge. Faced with Track, Queen of Pain, and a Faceless Void, you either win or you all die with Track. EG fought valiantly, but knew only too well that its Juggernaut could never outcarry a QoP and a Faceless Void. Opting for a smoked attempt at the backdoor, they got a rax but paid for it once again in Track kills.In the end, the Track gold was overwhelming, leading to a 40k gold difference between the teams. EG was defeated as nth won Dreamhack 2012, a home ground win for the team, with the exception of EternalEnvy.This is the same EternalEnvy as halted his university education to play Dota 2; he followed his dreams and, in the end, it paid off for him. His squad won Dreamhack 2012 and the reward, well aside from prizes, is that everyone in Dota 2 now knows his name.The honourable mentions for this matchgo to EternalEnvy and Bdiz; for both this was their first large Dota 2 LAN experience. Moreover, both performed beautifully in roles that, too often, go unrecognised. Each played the fifth position, and each made the role their own.





History Repeats Itself By shostakovich and TheEmulator



Dota Dejavu. (Picture courtesy of Dreamhack.)

The Dreamhack finals between nth vs EG was an unlikely finals. Not because both teams were underdogs or undeserving, as both destroyed their enemies to pave their way to the finals. It's unlikely in purely probabilistical terms.



Let's start by the game being played. Who could imagine that DotA would get huge and become Dota 2? This by itself is very unlikely, judging the state of the gaming industry.



We have players like Fear and Maelk, who have both played competitively from a long time. Fear retired and returned to the game several times, and Maelk has teased his retirement a few times as well. Both eventually got together on the same team and continued playing. Despite the harsh reality of esports - where it's really hard to know if your career will work out in the end - and their personal lives, they are still playing.



Of course, at the Dreamhack finals, it was no Tidehunter that were the epitome of perseverance. Through hard work, dedication, and a continuing love for the game, they were able shine brighter than everyone else, showing that hard work pays off in the end.



When we talk about No Tidehunter, and the fact that they have perseverance, EternaLEnVy is probably the player who first springs to mind. Once upon a time,



Of course, nth is not just about EternaLEnVy. The most popular member of No Tidehunter, Loda, has been through a lot leading up to this point as well. He started his career way back in the original DotA, where he was known as one of the legends. After years of playing for teams like MYM, SK Gaming and Fnatic, and winning many tournaments, Loda decided to quit DotA. The mindset of a true competitor never changes though, and he was back around December 2011 as a HoN player. Eventually he left the HoN scene and went back to Dota with eXperience Gaming (xP) that was later picked up by CLG. The months to follow did not work out for Loda as he saw no success with his team, and even after switching to Zenith and moving to Singapore before TI2, things remained the same. Then, everything changed last month when Loda went back to Sweden and announced that he would join No Tidehunter. If anyone questioned his ability or dedication then, it's safe to say that they've all been silenced now with this win at DreamHack Winter.



Akke's story is similar to Loda's. A teammate of Loda in the original Dota, he too has been through years of struggle and is no doubt glad to finally be in a situation where everything is coming together. AdmiralBulldog and s4, while newer to the scene, also showed perseverence throughout this tournament, and it is this never-give-up attitude that led them to their first major tournament win.



In the end No Tidehunter had made their way into the Dreamhack Winter finals with perseverance, and a little luck, which got them over the many trials and tribulations that they encountered along the way.



While philosophy teaches us that everything that has a beginning has also an end, this month, both these teams wrote yet another chapter in DotA and Dreamhack history, showing us that as far as these two stories go, there is a lot left to be written. This weekend of Dota 2 has been something special, with old teammates and rivals going head-to-head once again in the finals. It was very reminiscent of many previous Dreamhack finals as well, where SK Gaming, The Last Try, T_T or Meet Your Makers played each other. These two teams had several of the same players that participated in those Dreamhack Winter finals of old, so much so that some of those games, despite being on a different platform, were almost like echoes from the past. Their stories forever intertwined, No Tidehunter and Evil Geniuses gave us a great match, and showed us some of the best Dota 2 gameplay this year. For fans of original DotA this is a major déjà vu moment, and for newer Dota 2 fans, it was a fast and furious history lesson, a lesson that we all enjoyed thoroughly.



The Dreamhack finals between nth vs EG was an unlikely finals. Not because both teams were underdogs or undeserving, as both destroyed their enemies to pave their way to the finals. It's unlikely in purely probabilistical terms.Let's start by the game being played. Who could imagine that DotA would get huge and become Dota 2? This by itself is very unlikely, judging the state of the gaming industry. To quote games journalist Quintin Smith , "I want you to imagine a commercial game designer deciding to create a triple-A, action multiplayer game that has just one map. It’s counter-intuitive to the degree that they would never, ever go ahead with it." A game like DotA only exists because people defied conventions and slowly but surely got support from an ever growing community.We have players like Fear and Maelk, who have both played competitively from a long time. Fear retired and returned to the game several times, and Maelk has teased his retirement a few times as well. Both eventually got together on the same team and continued playing. Despite the harsh reality of esports - where it's really hard to know if your career will work out in the end - and their personal lives, they are still playing. Fear went through a lot to continue playing , and so did Maelk. If cold, hard logic had a say here, both would probably retire, but they persevered. Recently, Maelk answered his critics and made it clear that he had a renewed desire to continue playing. "I'll bleed blue for the Evil Geniuses throughout 2013 and I'll do everything in my power to get us on top," he said. Together with DeMoN, Jeyo and Bdiz, the five formed the squad that faced nth in that unlikely final. It is remarkable that these five guys were able to persevere and form a stable team that destroyed the favorites and lost only to the best team in the competition.Of course, at the Dreamhack finals, it was no Tidehunter that were the epitome of perseverance. Through hard work, dedication, and a continuing love for the game, they were able shine brighter than everyone else, showing that hard work pays off in the end.When we talk about No Tidehunter, and the fact that they have perseverance, EternaLEnVy is probably the player who first springs to mind. Once upon a time, EternaLEnVy made a thread right here on TL, asking the community if he should leave university for a few years to become a Dota 2 progamer . Of course, the community had seen hundreds of threads like this, and many of the people perusing Teamliquid laughed at his dreams, saying that it would be a waste of time. This is understandable, of course, considering the many failures of people in the past. In the case of EternaLEnVy though, he persevered through the hard times, and ignored all the negativity spouted his way, eventually reaching his dream of playing on a professional Dota 2 team. This team is No Tidehunter, and as you can see, less than a year after he made that thread, they won the DreamHack Winter finals.Of course, nth is not just about EternaLEnVy. The most popular member of No Tidehunter, Loda, has been through a lot leading up to this point as well. He started his career way back in the original DotA, where he was known as one of the legends. After years of playing for teams like MYM, SK Gaming and Fnatic, and winning many tournaments, Loda decided to quit DotA. The mindset of a true competitor never changes though, and he was back around December 2011 as a HoN player. Eventually he left the HoN scene and went back to Dota with eXperience Gaming (xP) that was later picked up by CLG. The months to follow did not work out for Loda as he saw no success with his team, and even after switching to Zenith and moving to Singapore before TI2, things remained the same. Then, everything changed last month when Loda went back to Sweden and announced that he would join No Tidehunter. If anyone questioned his ability or dedication then, it's safe to say that they've all been silenced now with this win at DreamHack Winter.Akke's story is similar to Loda's. A teammate of Loda in the original Dota, he too has been through years of struggle and is no doubt glad to finally be in a situation where everything is coming together. AdmiralBulldog and s4, while newer to the scene, also showed perseverence throughout this tournament, and it is this never-give-up attitude that led them to their first major tournament win. One thing to note about AdmiralBulldog is his never ending love for Lone Druid. In the end No Tidehunter had made their way into the Dreamhack Winter finals with perseverance, and a little luck, which got them over the many trials and tribulations that they encountered along the way.While philosophy teaches us that everything that has a beginning has also an end, this month, both these teams wrote yet another chapter in DotA and Dreamhack history, showing us that as far as these two stories go, there is a lot left to be written. This weekend of Dota 2 has been something special, with old teammates and rivals going head-to-head once again in the finals. It was very reminiscent of many previous Dreamhack finals as well, where SK Gaming, The Last Try, T_T or Meet Your Makers played each other. These two teams had several of the same players that participated in those Dreamhack Winter finals of old, so much so that some of those games, despite being on a different platform, were almost like echoes from the past. Their stories forever intertwined, No Tidehunter and Evil Geniuses gave us a great match, and showed us some of the best Dota 2 gameplay this year. For fans of original DotA this is a major déjà vu moment, and for newer Dota 2 fans, it was a fast and furious history lesson, a lesson that we all enjoyed thoroughly.



The Green Eyed Monster By Tephus



EternaLEnVy and nth front and center at DH Winter 2012. (Picture courtesy of JoinDOTA.)

Team Liquid caught up with Canadian gamer Jacky "EternaLEnVy" Mao after he returned from Dreamhack. Read on to find out what he has to say about his first LAN experience!



TL: How was your first LAN? How did it compare to your expectations?



EE: It was much more fun playing at LAN than at home. The games are much higher stake and I can feel the adrenaline every single game. The change in setup sometimes affected my games as the tension of the keyboard/mouse/headset wires were different. The height of the chair/monitor plus size of the monitor was also annoying to deal with. I barely got any sleep throughout the entire trip so my memory is fuzzy but the free coke kept me awake :D.





TL: In your game against Rigg3d, you picked a Kunkka, a hero used against you earlier that day by 4FC. This hero rarely sees competitive play, why did you choose him here?



EE: We felt that in order to win the entire tournament, we would have to conceal our strategies and keep opponents guessing. We wanted an aggressive trilane as bat rider can take on BH fairly easily in the save lane. With KOTL/SD already picked, Kunkka was a perfect fit for the trilane. The hero is also quite nice to have against Wisp, to keep him or his tethered unit from escaping after a gank.





TL: You faced Empire, considered a favourite to win the tournament, in the semi finals and beat them 2-0. What was your mindset going into those games, and how did the team feel coming out of them?



EE: Our team gets really excited when it comes to playing against Empire or NaVi. We could feel our spirits burning when we saw the brackets as it would mean playing Empire in the semis and NaVi in the finals. However, EG was very strong and took out NaVi . We were confident against Empire as we have already beaten them 2-1 in TPL and we prepared some ridiculous strategies for the semis/finals. The team was happy/pumped after defeating Empire but not nearly as much as one would imagine. We came to DH in order to become champions or die trying. Just getting into the finals wasn't the goal so we maintained our focus.





TL: You had about an hour break after game one, and ended up using the Roshan bait play in game two versus EG. Where did this idea come from, and why did you decide to use it?



EE: This idea came from S4 a few months back when him and I were theory crafting random things. It was a strategy I never planned to use for this tournament as it is too risky. The risk isn't from the strategy itself as you lose nothing dying to roshan, but rather risky in the sense that your picks/bans may become very weird. However, we decided to use this strategy in order to get the crowd on our side and to crush the confidence in EG.





TL: What are your thoughts on the current balance of the game? What would you change, and how?



EE: Sven and Magnus are too strong.



Magnus is a fun hero and I would not want his concept to be changed. Instead, change the numbers on his spells. Perhaps nerf skewer by 200-300 range, the cooldowns on his shockwave and ultimate. The hero also has too much burst dmg, you can nerf the ultimate/skewer dmg.



Sven is a silly hero. He is strong in lane, at roshan, at neuting, at split pushing, at team fighting, at tanking, at burst damage, and out lasting the opponent. His cleave damage and armor from warcry should be nerfed. Perhaps changing the warcry armor from 0-3-6-9 instead of 4-8-12-16 and cleave to 50%.





TL: Now that you have won a premier Dota 2 event, can you reflect back on your decision to take a break from school and go pro?



EE: I will never regret this decision no matter what happens. Had I just stayed in school I would of just continued my life wondering "what if," I rather try my best and fail so I can live my life without regrets. From an objective standpoint, it's still a little early to tell, as important things such as stream numbers aren't known to me yet.





TL: Do you still follow your thread on Team Liquid?



EE: I heard the thread exploded during the event. I have not followed it but will read it all tomorrow.





TL: How did Loda and Akke end up joining your team?



EE: Loda rated s4 very highly after watching him play for the old MYM (Copenhagen wolves) and spoke to him about possibly forming a full Swedish team with a good sponsor about two months ago. S4 told Loda he would never leave the team without me (happy momment), and so Loda started having discussions with me. After a long, complicated discussion for many weeks, we came to a possibility of creating the current team. However, this decision would mean replacing Black/Kizzles, two good friends and players I highly respect. In the end this very difficult decision was made because our team believes that in order to win TI3, everyone on the team needs to be 100% dedicated, something Kizzles/Black who were still in school could not fulfill.





TL: What does your team's practice schedule look like, and what teams do you most frequently scrim with?



EE: Our practice schedule is starting at 17 CET everyday (sometimes earlier) and playing about 6-8 hours a day (depends if other teams are scrimming). However, sometimes members have RL obligations and we take a day off. Sadly it's very hard to find scrims against Empire/NaVi, and we rarely ever scrim other top teams like Dignitas, EG, or Complexity. The teams that scrimmed a lot during November were WhA, xx5, IGTN, eVO and Shakira. We sometimes scrim against other teams like mTw, Complexity, 3dMAX, EVO, ICCUP, etc.





TL: What impact, if any, has the large time zone difference between you and the rest of the team had?



EE: None really, as scrims start at 11 am est which is fairly easy to wake up for. The few weeks before DH, I woke up at 4-6 am est to pretend to be Swedish and incase the DH games started at 11 cet (they never gave us schedule DFJKSDKLFSDKF). Think I woke up earlier than Loda everyday. Well, my sleep schedule backfired on me once jetlag hit.





TL: Outside of No Tidehunter, who would your ideal team consist of? (Assuming everyone would work well together: no language barriers etc.)



EE:

2 Bulba or Dendi

Funnik (no idea which role)

EternaLEnVy (no idea which role)

PowerNet (carry)

FluffnStuff (4 or 5)



If I studied the Asian players more carefully or players in general, this list may have changed. But for now it's the best list I can offer. I am in no way biased towards any country or, NA!





TL: If you still follow other esports, what players/teams outside of Dota 2 are you a fan of?



EE: I haven't been following other esports for awhile. Jaedong is probably my all time favorite player though :D.





TL: To wrap up, is there anything you would like to say to your fans?

EE: Thank you for cheering me on! It was great reading all the supportive comments after the win.





TL: Thanks for your time!

Team Liquid caught up with Canadian gamer Jacky "EternaLEnVy" Mao after he returned from Dreamhack. Read on to find out what he has to say about his first LAN experience!EE: It was much more fun playing at LAN than at home. The games are much higher stake and I can feel the adrenaline every single game. The change in setup sometimes affected my games as the tension of the keyboard/mouse/headset wires were different. The height of the chair/monitor plus size of the monitor was also annoying to deal with. I barely got any sleep throughout the entire trip so my memory is fuzzy but the free coke kept me awake :D.EE: We felt that in order to win the entire tournament, we would have to conceal our strategies and keep opponents guessing. We wanted an aggressive trilane as bat rider can take on BH fairly easily in the save lane. With KOTL/SD already picked, Kunkka was a perfect fit for the trilane. The hero is also quite nice to have against Wisp, to keep him or his tethered unit from escaping after a gank.EE: Our team gets really excited when it comes to playing against Empire or NaVi. We could feel our spirits burning when we saw the brackets as it would mean playing Empire in the semis and NaVi in the finals. However, EG was very strong and took out NaVi . We were confident against Empire as we have already beaten them 2-1 in TPL and we prepared some ridiculous strategies for the semis/finals. The team was happy/pumped after defeating Empire but not nearly as much as one would imagine. We came to DH in order to become champions or die trying. Just getting into the finals wasn't the goal so we maintained our focus.EE: This idea came from S4 a few months back when him and I were theory crafting random things. It was a strategy I never planned to use for this tournament as it is too risky. The risk isn't from the strategy itself as you lose nothing dying to roshan, but rather risky in the sense that your picks/bans may become very weird. However, we decided to use this strategy in order to get the crowd on our side and to crush the confidence in EG.EE: Sven and Magnus are too strong.Magnus is a fun hero and I would not want his concept to be changed. Instead, change the numbers on his spells. Perhaps nerf skewer by 200-300 range, the cooldowns on his shockwave and ultimate. The hero also has too much burst dmg, you can nerf the ultimate/skewer dmg.Sven is a silly hero. He is strong in lane, at roshan, at neuting, at split pushing, at team fighting, at tanking, at burst damage, and out lasting the opponent. His cleave damage and armor from warcry should be nerfed. Perhaps changing the warcry armor from 0-3-6-9 instead of 4-8-12-16 and cleave to 50%.EE: I will never regret this decision no matter what happens. Had I just stayed in school I would of just continued my life wondering "what if," I rather try my best and fail so I can live my life without regrets. From an objective standpoint, it's still a little early to tell, as important things such as stream numbers aren't known to me yet.EE: I heard the thread exploded during the event. I have not followed it but will read it all tomorrow.EE: Loda rated s4 very highly after watching him play for the old MYM (Copenhagen wolves) and spoke to him about possibly forming a full Swedish team with a good sponsor about two months ago. S4 told Loda he would never leave the team without me (happy momment), and so Loda started having discussions with me. After a long, complicated discussion for many weeks, we came to a possibility of creating the current team. However, this decision would mean replacing Black/Kizzles, two good friends and players I highly respect. In the end this very difficult decision was made because our team believes that in order to win TI3, everyone on the team needs to be 100% dedicated, something Kizzles/Black who were still in school could not fulfill.EE: Our practice schedule is starting at 17 CET everyday (sometimes earlier) and playing about 6-8 hours a day (depends if other teams are scrimming). However, sometimes members have RL obligations and we take a day off. Sadly it's very hard to find scrims against Empire/NaVi, and we rarely ever scrim other top teams like Dignitas, EG, or Complexity. The teams that scrimmed a lot during November were WhA, xx5, IGTN, eVO and Shakira. We sometimes scrim against other teams like mTw, Complexity, 3dMAX, EVO, ICCUP, etc.EE: None really, as scrims start at 11 am est which is fairly easy to wake up for. The few weeks before DH, I woke up at 4-6 am est to pretend to be Swedish and incase the DH games started at 11 cet (they never gave us schedule DFJKSDKLFSDKF). Think I woke up earlier than Loda everyday. Well, my sleep schedule backfired on me once jetlag hit.EE:2 Bulba or DendiFunnik (no idea which role)EternaLEnVy (no idea which role)PowerNet (carry)FluffnStuff (4 or 5)If I studied the Asian players more carefully or players in general, this list may have changed. But for now it's the best list I can offer. I am in no way biased towards any country or, NA!EE: I haven't been following other esports for awhile. Jaedong is probably my all time favorite player though :D.EE: Thank you for cheering me on! It was great reading all the supportive comments after the win.



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