Before ESL One Katowice, the last Major that had taken place was way back in November when Team Secret Beat Liquid 3-0 in the grand finals of DreamLeague. Two months later, we had two new finalists in a Major. Vici Gaming and Virtus Pro were the teams that made it to the finals of ESL One Katowice and would be the first ones to fight it out for a Major win in 2018.

In the 2017-2018 season, Vici Gaming have probably been the most consistent team from China, although they were never able to secure a tournament win. But they stepped it up in Poland, beating the TI 7 champions Team Liquid not once, but twice (2-1 on both occasions) to make it to the grand finals). They also defeated Virtus Pro 2-0 in the winner’s bracket final of their group.

This was Virtus Pro’s first tournament with the new position four, Rodjer, who was brought in from Na’Vi instead of LiL in the winter shuffle. Even though they had a new recruit, the team seem to be bonding quite well. Besides their small hiccup against Vici Gaming, VP looked strong against the likes of Evil Geniuses and Fnatic and seemed ready to stake their claim on to a second Major, having won the ESL One Hamburg Major in October.

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

Total heroes picked in the tournament: 84

Most played heroes with win rates: Gyrocopter (64 %), Rubik (50 %), Dragon Knight (72.735 %)

Vici Gaming

Total games played at ESL One Katowice: 9

Games won: 7

Win rate: 77.78 %

Heroes played: 22

Most played heroes: Naga Siren (5 games), Dragon Knight, Death Prophet, Batrider, Gyrocopter (4 games)

Virtus Pro

Total games played at ESL One Katowice: 10

Games won: 7

Win rate: 70 %

Heroes played: 27

Most played heroes: Gyrocopter, Naga Siren, Sand King (4 games)

Game 1 (Vici Gaming first pick – Virtus Pro victory)

Phase One

BANS

Vici Gaming: Enchantress, Sand King, Chen

Virtus Pro: Razor, Naga Siren, Elder Titan

Vici Gaming targeted Rodjer in the first phase and rightly so. He has been a revelation in this tournament. Three wins out of three on Sand King made it a worthy ban. Although Chen was played only once, he is an in meta hero who is a lane winner which was why they banned it. However, Considering VG beat Kuroky’s Chen twice in the semifinals, maybe they could have let it through. Enchantress is a poor man’s Chen but again, VP played Ench just once in 10 games and that too was on Pasha. So even though the reasoning behind it is understandable, the question is, were these two bans totally necessary? Virtus Pro banned out the Razor, which is a meta hero and one that Paparazzi plays exceptionally well. Naga Siren and Elder Titan are heroes on which LaNm has just turned games for Vici Gaming (3 wins out of 5 on Naga and 3 wins out of 3 on ET) and VP were clever enough to recognize that and get them out of the way. Liquid gave VG the Naga in all three games and ended up paying for it. The Chinese powerhouse sure knows how to play around the Song of the Siren and taking that out of the equation would be a major crippling factor for VG before the game even began!

PICKS

Vici Gaming: Bane, Death Prophet

Virtus Pro: Gyrocopter, Omniknight

Vici Gaming opened with Bane, a hero on which they had decent success throughout the tournament (3 wins out of 4). In retort, Virtus Pro picked up the Gyrocopter. Looking at the pre final day stats, Gyro was the most picked hero with a whopping 26 games and 16 wins from it (62.07 %) and considering both Noone and Ramzes play the hero, no information was given on whether they had picked the mid or the safe lane hero. Omniknight was picked up with it which serves a number of purposes. With the Razor banned out, there isn’t a big counter to the hero (which Razor’s undispellable Static Link does). In this scenario, two of Bane’s spells are purgeable with Repel and having it on Gyro enables him to go for damage items instead of the early Black King Bar. VG picked DP, which is an Ori regular, but was a bit questionable with Omni on the other side. Guardian Angel can prevent all damage from Exorcism.

Phase Two

BANS

Vici Gaming: Tuskar, Clockwerk

Virtus Pro: Terrorblade, Keeper of the Light

Tuskar and Clockwerk are heroes that work in great combination with the Gyro. Tusk can Snowball the Gyro onto a target and the Rocket Barrage does the rest. Clockwerk can hold an enemy hero (or multiple enemy heroes) in his Cogs and there is a follow up with the Rocket Barrage and Call Down. The Terrorblade ban was not the most expected one as VG hadn’t played TB at all in the tournament. But that hero is brocken at the moment and with a versatile player like Paparazzi, it’s always a risk. KotL, again not a VG favorite, but a great de-pusher.

PICKS

Vici Gaming: Rubik, Faceless Void

Virtus Pro: Ancient Apparition, Earthshaker

VP picked up the AA as a possible counter to the Death Prophet. DP relies a lot on Spirit Siphon in ganks to keep her alive as the Exorcism does work. If hit by an Ice Blast, there is just no sustain for her. VG got the Rubik and the Faceless Void. Rubik is an understandable pick as it is a well known Omni counter. Any spell stolen is a great spell. Faceless Void is not a meta hero but works great in combination with the Death Prophet. Even if you get her trapped in the Chronosphere, the Exorcism keeps on damaging enemies. VP got the Earthshaker in retaliation. The plausible explanation could be that Earthshaker has a 0 cast point stun with the Echo Slam and if that hits on the Void, can pretty much chain stun him with the team following up with the damage to finish him off.

Phase Three

BANS

Vici Gaming: Broodmother

Virtus Pro: Nature’s Prophet

We have seen Broodmother’s cause a lot of destruction if not dealt with. On top of that, Ramzes boasted of a 100 % win record in seven games on the Brood since the advent of 7.07. Sensible ban. Virtus Pro took out the Nature’s Prophet, a hero on which Eleven nearly won the game single handedly against Liquid in the group stages. In combination with the DP, the team can push towers quite fast.

PICKS

Vici Gaming: Batrider

Virtus Pro: Dragon Knight

Of all the Batrider picks in the tournament, half of them were played by Eleven and VG had won all four games with it. Batrider is also a great pick against Omni as any repelled target can be taken out of the fight with Flaming Lasso and it can’t even be dispelled as Repel is a basic dispel while Lasso requires a strong dispel. Virtus Pro rounded up their draft with Dragon Knight, who surprisingly made it to the last pick phase without getting banned. Along with Gyro, DK has one of the best win rates at ESL One Katowice and can serve as a front liner, something that the VP draft really needed. Dragon Blood gives him high armor which is good to deal with the Death Prophet ultimate and Faceless Void.

Game 2 (Vici Gaming first pick – Virtus Pro Victory)

Phase One

BANS

Vici Gaming: Enchantress, Sand King, Chen

Virtus Pro: Razor, Naga Siren, Elder Titan

All six bans exactly the same as game one. Understandable for VP, but you’d think VG would want to change a few tactics considering things didn’t go their way in the first game.

PICKS

Vici Gaming: Tuskar, Death Prophet

Virtus Pro: Gyrocopter, Omniknight

The way Vici Gaming interpreted the bashing in game one was the lanes not going well. Ori’s DP had a horrendous time and VG decided to do something about it by getting the Tuskar along with the Ghost Lady. Tuskar can help with snowball saves and if DP has already started the Spirit Siphon, she comes out with more HP when the Snowball ends! Ice Shards are also a great way to ensure she isn’t chased down and hunted in the laning stages. Having worked the earlier draft to perfection, Virtus Pro decided to stick with the same first phase picks in Gyro and Omni.

Phase Two

BANS

Vici Gaming: Earthshaker, Ancient Apparition

Virtus Pro: Terrorblade, Keeper of the Light

Vici Gaming straight out banned the two supports that terrorized them in game one. The AA ban was necessary as they were going with the Death Prophet again. VP stuck to their second phase bans, seeing no reason to change anything.

PICKS

Vici Gaming: Warlock, Dragon Knight

Virtus Pro: Disruptor, Nyx Assassin

Virtus Pro picked up the Disruptor, a hero most Chinese teams turn to only if they gave the sleep setup with Naga. But Solo is quite well versed on this hero. Vici responded with Warlock and DK. Warlock is another good save for the DP with the Shadow Word heal and if played right, the Upheaval slow can slaughter enemies trying to get away from the Exorcism spirits. They used this combo to perfection against Liquid in the game Liquid tried to run them over with the Brood. Fenrir dropped the Chaotic Offering and simply stood miles away from the gank, channeling his Upheaval as Liquid struggled to move. Dragon Knight has been played in the safe lane and is favored there mostly by the Chinese teams, who tend to go with an early Bloodthorn build to make him more of a damage dealer even when not in the Dragon form. VP threw a bit of a curve ball with the Nyx Assasin pick for Rodger. Nyx is a great hero against the Death Prophet as DP has a high base intelligence as well as intelligence gain (23 + 3) which means she is vulnerable to Mana Burn. Additionally, while Exorcism is active, Spiked Carapace provides a free stun on her. VP were targeting the Death Prophet knowing that if this hero has a bad laning stage, it isn’t easy to make a recovery on her.

Phase Three

BANS

Vici Gaming: Broodmother

Virtus Pro: Juggernaut

Broodmother banned out again. Not wanting to go behind and end up making a recovery! VP banned the Juggernaut, which Paparazzi played to perfection against Liquid in the group stages. Juggernaut is a good counter to Gyrocopter. A lot of Gyro’s early game damage is magical, which Jugg can just spin off while chasing him and finish him off with the Omnislash, for which again, Gyro has no save. Granted VG had picked up their two cores but considering the fact that the DK has been regularly played in the offlane, VP did not want to take any chances.

PICKS

Vici Gaming: Enigma

Virtus Pro: Faceless Void

Vici Gaming, if you look at their drafts though out the tournament, really like to play with team fight heroes that have long ultimate cooldowns. DP, DK, Naga Siren, Warlock, ET and now Enigma. If the combos work, they can make short work of their opponents. But if they fail, the team has to wait out the cooldowns during which period the opponents get more confident. The Enigma pick here was good in the laning stage as he is someone who can control the lane well and is also a good laner against the Omni. But VP had so many ways to cancel the Blackhole – Homing Missile, Glimpse, Impale. There was another skill added to that list when VP picked up the Void. A well placed Chrono can completely negate a Blackhole, even if the Enigma has a BKB. Additionally, Midnight Pulse can be used by the Nyx Assassin to stun the Enigma with Spiked Carapace. The last pick here by the Chinese team was really questionable.

Game 3 (Vici Gaming first pick – Vici Gaming Victory)

Phase One

BANS

Vici Gaming: Enchantress, Sand King, Omniknight

Virtus Pro: Razor, Naga Siren, Elder Titan

It took them two games but Vici Gaming finally realized that the Omniknight was the main thorn in their side and they banned him out. This however, kept the Chen open to being picked and as VG don’t play the Chen themselves, there wasn’t even a chance to block pick it. I feel they should and could have kept the Enchantress open instead of the Chen. Virtus Pro stuck with their bans.

PICKS

Vici Gaming: Tuskar, Keeper of the Light

Virtus Pro: Chen, Gyrocopter

Vici Gaming had first pick in all games but surprisingly, they did not go for the Gyro in any of the games even though Paparazzi is well versed with the hero. They picked up LaNm’s Tusk again. VP took the Gyro for a third game in a row (Noone went Beyond Godlike in the first two games, it was clearly working for them) and now with the Chen left open, it was time to pick it up for Rodger. Knowing VP have a trend of banning out KotL in the second phase, VG picked it up in the first phase.

Phase Two

BANS

Vici Gaming: Night Stalker, Tiny

Virtus Pro: Beastmaster, Dragon Knight

Vici Gaming banned out the biggest counter to the KotL in the Night Stalker. No point in getting the hero if he is going to be countered. Tiny was completely ignored in the first two games of the series but VG saw it fit to ban him out here. KotL is a hero that needs to farm and teams will usually devote a lane to him from the 12-20 minute mark. A quick Blink initiation by Tiny is all it takes to kill the old man with a Stun-Toss combo. Virtus Pro sensed a push strat coming to life with a KotL to heal everyone up and banned out Beastmaster and Dragon Knight, two heroes that can really sustain high ground pushes with the Illuminate heal to back them up.

PICKS

Vici Gaming: Puck, Terrorblade

Virtus Pro: Witch Doctor, Jakiro

Witch Doctor has suddenly risen in popularity after LGD’s xNova started playing it on a regular basis. But it is more effective against heroes like Lycan, Beastmaster or Chen who have summons or controlled creeps or Wisp, who is close to a tethered target. Nevertheless, VP decided to go for it. VG needed a change in mid hero after DP had bitten the dust two games in a row. They went for the Puck! Puck is a hero who had suffered a bit after the change to the Dream Coil, but surprisingly in this tournament, recorded 8 wins out of 11 (72.73% win rate) before the final day. The Dream Coil serves as a way to cancel the Death Ward and Dream Coil into Blinding Light is a combo that can turn around a fight with the Coil breaking. Like I’d mentioned before, Vici Gaming aren’t connoisseurs of Terrorblade, but with Paparazzi’s versatility in mind, they picked up the demon who has been terrorizing opponents this past week.

Phase Three

BANS

Vici Gaming: Faceless Void

Virtus Pro: Death Prophet

Faceless Void can turn out to be a good counter to TB, catching him in the Chrono when he’s low on HP to prevent him from Sundering. VP also had the potential Chrono-Death Ward combo and VG were clever enough to recognize that and prevent it. VP banned out the DP, thinking the Puck could go offlane. That’s how good Ori’s Death Prophet can be. Even though VP beat it in two games, they saw it fit to ban it out.

PICKS

Vici Gaming: Batrider

Virtus Pro: Broodmother

Vici Gaming revealed that the Puck would in fact be going mid as Batrider was picked up for Eleven. With the Brood still in the pool for the first time in the series, Virtus Pro decided to go for it. But looking at Vici’s draft, the game wasn’t really suitable for a Brood. Tuskar, Keeper of the Light, Puck and Batrider, all of them are good at clearing out spiders. Maybe it was for a psychological threat that they picked her up, also knowing they had some margin for error being two games up.

Game 4 (Vici Gaming first pick – Virtus Pro Victory)

Phase One

BANS

Vici Gaming: Enchantress, Sand King, Omniknight

Virtus Pro: Naga Siren, Razor, Keeper of the Light

This time, it was Vici who stuck to their bans considering they had worked out. The CIS team knew what they had to do after being demolished in game three and that was to ban the KotL. Naga Siren and Razor were left out of the reach of VG, like in the first three games.

PICKS

Vici Gaming: Elder Titan, Terrorblade

Virtus Pro: Chen, Gyrocopter

LaNm must have smiled when he saw that ET wasn’t banned out. Vici picked it up first thing. VG had won all three games they played with ET at Katowice and they were hoping this to be the fourth. For the fourth game in a row, VP went for the Gyrocopter. Even though they lost game three with Chen, he wasn’t really the problem (Jakiro maybe? And Fenrir’s KotL). Rodger got his Chen back and Paparazzi was thrust upon the TB for a second successive game. Elder Titan pairs well with Terrorblade. The Stomp into sleep can prevent TB from being burst down and give him some time to get off the Sunder. Team Liquid can get away with such an early TB pick, but could Vici?

Phase Two

BANS

Vici Gaming: Tinker, Timbersaw

Virtus Pro: Puck, Death Prophet

Noone played a crazy Tinker against Evil Geniuses in the quarterfinals and that was probably VG had in mind as they banned out the Tinker. TB is susceptible to burst and Tinker definitely has the potential to do it. That is exactly what he did to Arteezy! With an Aghanim’s Scepter, not only can Tinker make TB miss but also clear out his illusions. Knowing Ori has a limited hero pool, VP banned out two of his heroes in the form of Puck and Death Prophet. VG banned out Timbersaw, because they didn’t have too much magical damage on their team and looking at the draft ahead, they did not plan to get it.

PICKS

Vici Gaming: Witch Doctor, Dragon Knight

Virtus Pro: Tiny, Disruptor

VP finally picked up the ignored Tiny to give his shot at the limelight. Again, a hero that provide that bit of lockdown and burst to prevent the TB from using Sunder. VG picked up the Witch Doctor, a good pick in this scenario against Chen and his army. Bounces are guaranteed on the cask and it keeps the controlled creeps at bay. This time, VG went for the mid Dragon Knight. VP picked up the Solo Disruptor again. Glimpse is a great way to cancel the Death Ward as it is in sending Back a DK who Blinks and Dragon Tails an ally. If TB can be caught in the Static Storm before his BKB, there is a high chance he doesn’t make it out of there. So the Disruptor pick seemed to fit in well here.

Phase Three

BANS

Vici Gaming: Abyssal Underlord

Virtus Pro: Faceless Void

Thinking of the Tiny as the mid or safe lane hero, Vici banned out the Underlord. Pit of Malice followed by Firestorm and all of Gyrocopter’s skills can wreak havoc. It also serves as an easy setup for Disruptors Kinetic Filed into Static Storm. The Field prevents enemies from getting out while the Pit of Malice keeps on rooting and damaging every few seconds. This time, it was VP’s turn to prevent the Void-Witch Doctor combo by banning out the Void. An offlane Void who gets off a great Chrono also serves as good lockdown for Terroblade pulverize enemies while having used Metamorphosis.

PICKS

Vici Gaming: Batrider

Virtus Pro: Pugna

Vici Gaming went for the Batrider again, although it isn’t a very good pick against Tiny due to his Status Resistance. But there is the factor of a comfort pick, which is what Batrider is to VG. Virtus Pro picked up Pugna to complete their lineup. Most of VG’s damage is physical in the form of TB, DK and the Death Ward. A quick Decrepify serves as a great way to save allies taking damage. If TB Sunders someone, the Pugna can act as a medic to keep the hero alive and prevent the TB from getting that quick kill. DK has a lot of physical damage mitigation thanks to Dragon Blood, but until he gets a BKB, magic damage is a Dragon Knight’s natural enemy. In the laning stage (Pugna ended up going mid), DK dominates by reducing the opponent’s damage with Breathe Fire. For a Pugna, that’s not an issue as most of his creeping is though Nether Blast.

Virtus Pro ended up taking the series 3-1, out drafting and out classing Vici Gaming in the process. They become the first team to win two Majors this season. We are around the halfway mark and there are still 11 tournaments to go. The one coming up next is the Bucharest Major starting on the 4th of March, but I expect to see a lot of new heroes as we will be getting a new patch on Thursday, 1st of March.

Till then, check out this giveaway from VPEsports!