The PGL Bucharest Major came just a week after the ESL One Katowice Major ended. But the major difference (pun intended) between the two was the change in patch from 7.09 to 7.10, which had a lot of hero changes. The tournament brought back the Swiss group stage format, which was last seen in the Kiev Major in April 2017! It didn’t seem to make too much of a difference for one team though, as Virtus Pro, winners of the earlier Major made it to the final after a hiccup on day one. The other finalists were a surprise package in the form of VGJ Thunder, the team that has been making the news in all the Chinese qualifiers.

Even though everyone was expecting a tough final, VP made short work of VGJ Thunder, winning the series 3-0. Here, we try to analyze the though process behind the drafts for the three games.

Stats before the final day (before third place game and grand finals)

Total heroes picked in the tournament: 87

Most played heroes with win rates: Gyrocopter (55.56 % in 27 games), Sand King (52.38 % in 21 games), Disruptor (42.86 % in 21 games), Death Prophet (63.16 % in 19 games), Witch Doctor (61.11 % in 18 games)

VGJ Thunder

Total games played at ESL One Katowice: 8

Games won: 7

Win rate: 87.5 %

Heroes played: 24

Most played heroes: Disruptor (4 games, 4 wins), Shadow Fiend, Brewmaster (3 games, 3 wins)

Virtus Pro

Total games played at ESL One Katowice: 9

Games won: 7

Win rate: 77.78 %

Heroes played: 26

Most played heroes: Sand King (5 games, 4 wins), Terrorblade (4 games, 4 wins)

Game 1 (Virtus Pro first pick)

Phase One

BANS

VGJ Thunder: Chen, Sand King, Omniknight

Virtus Pro: Razor, Lycan, Death Prophet

Virtus Pro started out with banning the Razor, an odd choice I would say considering not only do VGJ Thunder play the Razor, but also that Razor had done very badly (3 wins out of 10) in the tournament. Lycan is a Sylar specialty, going right back to the days when he played for LGD and DP is strong meta hero which Freeze does play. These two bans were right on the mark. VGJ targeted the position four, much like a lot of teams, as that hero has a major say in whether or not a team wins the laning stage. Chen and Sand King are two of Rodgers staple heroes. Omniknight is strong meta hero which a lot of teams consider difficult to play against. Omni was banned out in 32 of the 51 games played before the grand finals!

A point to note here is that VGJ suffered the same problem against Virtus Pro which were faced by Vici Gaming. They don’t play Chen and Enchantress which makes it kind of necessary for them to ban it. Because not a lot of Chinese play the heroes, there isn’t anyone to practice against as well.

PICKS

VGJ Thunder: Bane, Elder Titan

Virtus Pro: Gyrocopter, Disruptor

BGJ has first pick and went for the Bane. Considering Disruptor was their top hero this tournament and was available in the pool, the Bane pickup was not an expected one. Bane is a baby sitter and ensures the lane is secured, but considering the win rate, not the best hero right now. Virtus Pro stuck to the meta and secured Gyrocopter and Disruptor. VGJ followed up with an Elder Titan, again, a lane winner. ET can be good to lane against a Disruptor as you can throw the Spirit into Stomp form a distance (or from out of vision) and there is no fear of being Glimpsed. A fun fact about Gyro (not really that fun, when you think of it), till this game, he was contested in 100 % of the games at the Bucharest Major! Either picked or banned in all games played. For VP, it provided an added advantage of making their opponents guess where the Gyro goes as both Noone and Ramzes are quite well versed with the hero.

Phase Two

BANS

VGJ Thunder: Naga Siren, Batrider

Virtus Pro: Medusa, Lifestealer

VGJ banned out the Naga Siren and Batrider. Naga Siren is another strong meta hero which VGJ don’t play. Strange, right? Newbee, VG, LGD are all experts with the Naga strat but VGJ have not set their foot in those waters yet. But knowing that Rodger does play it, they had to ban it out. The Batrider ban was a bit of a question mark, knowing the hero really isn’t that favored in the meta right now. VP banned out the Medusa, as VGJ are one of the few teams that still deploy the hero. Freeze plays the mid Medusa while Sylar goes to the safe lane with an early fighting hero. Lifestealer was not played by VGJ at all in their run to the finals, but he did have 7 wins in 11 games, which was probably why the CIS team banned him out.

PICKS

VGJ Thunder: Brewmaster, Luna

Virtus Pro: Tiny, Juggernaut

Brewmaster came out here, a comfort pick for VGJ’s Yang. Three wins out of three made him a decent choice. VP responded with a Tiny, who’s status resistance comes in handy against everything the Bane or Brew’s Pandas have to throw. VGJ went for the Luna, again a comfort pick but probably not the best for the situation. Luna is a hero that needs farm to come online. Manta Style and Black King Bar are essential for her to stay alive in fight as she is really susceptible to burst damage. Knowing that Tiny can provide that burst damage, VGJ could have gone with a different hero. VP picked up the Juggernaut for Ramsey. A lot of Luna’s damage is magical and Jugg can just spin off and mitigate all the magic damage. This pick revealed VP’s cards, showing Gyro would go mid, Tiny offlane and Jugg safe lane.

Phase Three

BANS

VGJ Thunder: Enchantress

Virtus Pro: Viper

Fear of creep dominating heroes is one which a lot of Chinese teams face. Enchantress is a poor man’s Chen who can have the same effect in the laning stage and later transitions into a pure damage machine and VGJ got rid of it. The Viper ban from VP was something I did not expect nor fully understood. Freeze had played the hero once in the tourney. Maybe they just wanted to make sure Gyro had a good lane.

PICKS

VGJ Thunder: Phantom Lancer

Virtus Pro: Tuskar

VP had pick a position 4 hero and with most of them banned out, there weren’t too many options remaining. Tuskar was picked up, which was a decent hero in the circumstances. Snowball save against Eclipse or Fiend’s Grip is always an option. Also, Tusk works well with Gyro as he can Snowball the two of them together for a Rocket Barrage follow up. VGJ Thunder rounded up their lineup with a Phantom Lancer, which again, raised a few eyebrows. Gyro and Tiny both have a lot of AoE clear and unless there is a Heart on the PL, he can’t stand toe to toe against this lineup.

Game 2 (VGJ Thunder first pick)

Phase One

BANS

VGJ Thunder: Chen, Sand King, Gyrocopter

Virtus Pro: Razor, Lycan, Omniknight

VGJ Thunder had the first pick this game and kept the Omni in the pool, banning out the Gyrocopter instead, after being destroyed by Noone in game one. VP deemed Omni a bigger threat than DP and let DP through.

PICKS

VGJ Thunder: Disruptor, Terrorblade

Virtus Pro: Death Prophet, Naga Siren

VGJ did not go for the DP, they went for the disruptor instead. VP quickly snatched up the Death Prophet, which they play in the mid or the safe lane. Knowing that Naga would get banned out in the second phase, VP picked her up early on in the draft. VGJ responded with the TB, a hero that has been having a lot of success of late. He also fares well against the Death Prophet, as the Exorcism does physical damage and he has a lot of armor. Additionally, Exorcism and Metamorphosis have similar cooldowns so the team has the potential to fight into the ghosts.

Phase Two

BANS

VGJ Thunder: Tidehunter, Batrider

Virtus Pro: Night Stalker, Viper

Tidehunter is a hero good against TB. A good initiation makes everyone around the TB useless while the opposition can focus and finish off TB. In this case, my opinion is that Batrider is a decent ban as a disable that goes through magic immunity is detrimental in getting off a clutch Sunder. Night Stalker was not picked at all at ESL One Katowice. He was picked twice in Bucharest. Both times by VGJ, both wins! VP had done their homework in knowing this was not a meta hero but one that their opponents ran successfully. No team wants to play against the vision disadvantage and he was banned out. The Viper ban. Again, confused me. I guess it’s just a hero Virtus Pro don’t like playing against.

PICKS

VGJ Thunder: Elder Titan, Dragon Knight

Virtus Pro: Lion, Enchantress

VP picked up the Lion, an old school counter to illusions. Hex and one of the Terrorblade just vanishes. On top of that, Lion has two disables and a nuke, the best possible arsenal to finish off TB when he is caught out. ET was picked up by VGJ, which is a safety hero for TB. If TB gets caught out, ET can ensure he puts everyone around the TB to sleep and give him some time to get off the Sunder. Virtus Pro then picked up the Enchantress, for the offlane, not a support. TB offers a lot of resistance to physical damage and is a natural BKB builder as well. But what he has no protection against is pure damage, which Impetus does. Which is the reason why the DK pick was surprising, as DK suffers similar problems against Enchantress. And the untouchable slow makes it difficult for both those heroes to kill her.

Phase Three

BANS

VGJ Thunder: Broodmother

Virtus Pro: Underlord

VGJ knew well how good Ramzes is on the spider and made sure they did not get Broodmothered. VP took out the Underlord, who can root up enemies and setup some good targets for the TB. The magic damage from Firestorm works well against Enchantress, who dies off really quickly to magic damage.

PICKS

VGJ Thunder: Pugna

Virtus Pro: Morphling

Pugna was a very good pick here by VGJ. He can act as a damage dealer as well as a medic. Lifedrain is a good was to ensure TB stays alive in a fight and the magic damage is great against the DP and Enchantress. VP finished off the draft with a Morphling, which took off the edge from VGJ’s draft. Terrorblade is probably the best hero a Morphling can Morph into as Metamorphosis is not an ultimate. TB also has two other usable skills that Morph can deploy effectively. And probably the most important thing, he is a natural Etheral Blade builder and TB is just so bad against burst damage. In this lineup, Morphling can also Morph into Pugna to pull off a Decripify save.

Game 3 (VGJ Thunder first pick)

Phase One

BANS

VGJ Thunder: Chen, Gyrocopter, Naga Siren

Virtus Pro: Razor, Lycan, Omniknight

VGJ kept changing the bans based on what hero wrecked them in the earlier game. Naga Siren made the list in game three. VP stuck to their bans, seeing as they were working out just fine.

PICKS

VGJ Thunder: Death Prophet, Disruptor

Virtus Pro: Tiny, Ancient Apparition

DP made it though again and this time, VGJ decided to go for it. VBP were ready with the answer with Tiny and AA. The AA works great against DP as Ice Blast Prevents her from gaining any health from Spirit Siphon. AA also works in great combination with Tiny. An Avalange-Toss combo makes sure the target stays in place for the Ice Blast to hit perfectly and ensure the kill. VGJ probably expected the AA pick in retaliation to the DP, which meant they would get their favorite Disruptor.

Phase Two

BANS

VGJ Thunder: Sand King, Nyx Assassin

Virtus Pro: Terrorblade, Night Stalker

Piling on the hate towards Rodjer, SK and Nyx were banned out by VGJ. SK was VP’s most played hero in the tournament and they did not want to face it. Nyx is a great hero against DP. DP has high base intelligence and int gain and Mana Burn does a lot of work against her. Also when the ghosts are out, Spiked Carapace provides a free stun. VP took out the TB and Night Stalker. NS for obvious reasons, mentioned for the game before. They had dealt quite well with the Terrorblade in game two and that was VGJ Thunder’s first TB game of the tournament, so I cannot say what the thought process was behind this ban. One can only assume it is such a strong hero right now that teams don’t want to take a chance.

PICKS

VGJ Thunder: Tuskar, Batrider

Virtus Pro: Earth Spirit, Centaur

In the two Majors that have happened in the past three weeks, Virtus Pro had never picked the Earth Spirit, which made it a sensible decision for VGJ to not ban it. Till game three that is. Just to flex their muscles and show the Dota community how much further they can venture with being versatile, they picked up the Earth Spirit. He is a good hero, no doubt. Stun, Silence, lane winner.VGJ went for the Tuskar, who is a great hero playing along with the DP. Even when Tusk Snowballs with the Death Prophet, the Spirit Siphon continues, which makes the save more potent. Centaur in 7.10? By this point, VP were brimming with confidence, picking up heroes that have hardly seen the light in recent times. Stampede is a good way of disengaging a ghost surrounded Death Prophet and it negates the slow from the Spirit Siphon. A multiple hero Hoof Stomp can also ensure the Ice Blast hits on target. After banning it out for two games, VGJ picked up the Batrider. Good pickoff potential, but bad against Tiny and Centaur who have high status resistance.

Phase Three

BANS

VGJ Thunder: Faceless Void

Virtus Pro: Lifestealer

Chrono is a decent setup for Ice Blast and even follow up stuns from Earth Spirit or Centaur, which was why VGJ banned out the Faceless Void. The Lifestealer ban looked much better this time around, as he had a vehicle in the Batrider. Lasso into Infest combo can kill off most heroes and VP had three strength heroes, which is natural food for an LS.

Picks

VGJ Thunder: Luna

Virtus Pro: Brood

VGJ Thunder picked up the Luna againi for Sylar. It’s clearly a hero they are comfortable with. DP’s ultimate deals physical damage while Luna’s deal magical damage and they have a good combination of the two. Once farmed, the two can also take down building very quickly. But what VGJ disregarded this time was the Ramzes Brood! I’m sure they let it though on purpose, knowing Batrider, DP and Tusk had more than enough AoE damage to deal with the Broodlings. But VP decided to go with it anyways, like they had in Katowice, being 2-0 up and having margin for error.