[TD] Grand Finals Preview - Part 1 March 25th, 2013 13:25 GMT Text by TheEmulator Graphics by shiroiusagi

TD S3 Grand Finals Preview - Part 1 Table of Contents



Liquid vs Mouz Battle Report

A game for the ages





Santa Speaks

Santa Interview Translated





More on

A game for the agesSanta Interview TranslatedMore on Liquipedia TD S3 Finals Preview - Part 1

will draw to a close this week, with



In this first installment of our TD S3 Grand Finals coverage, we take you back to the playoffs with



Also, we have



Though that's all for this update, be sure you stay tuned to TL Dota 2 coverage this week, as we bring you more content to get you psyched for the finals. On game day, don't forget to check our Season 3 of The Defense will draw to a close this week, with Fnatic taking on Virtus.pro in the Grand Finals. It's been a long wait for the finals, and we're psyched that it's finally here. Both these teams are looking really strong lately, and we can't wait to see them go head to head.In this first installment of our TD S3 Grand Finals coverage, we take you back to the playoffs with a Battle Report of the now famous game between Liquid and Mouz . Dota 2 writer carbonyl does his best to drill it down for you, taking you through the ins and the outs of the match as he saw it.Also, we have an interview with ex-VPer, Alexander "Santa" Koltan . Please note that this interview, translated by guest writer dfs, was conducted before Santa left Virtus.pro.Though that's all for this update, be sure you stay tuned to TL Dota 2 coverage this week, as we bring you more content to get you psyched for the finals. On game day, don't forget to check our Live Report thread , and say hi to us on IRC





Liquid vs Mouz Battle Report By Carbonyl



Lower Bracket Losers Round 3

Game 3 of 3

Team Liquid vs. Mouz

Match ID: 136061218

YouTube link:







In the first game of the series, Liquid pulled off a victory in one of the safest games we’ve seen in a long while. Both Korok’s Puck and Bulba’s Nature’s Prophet had Refresher Orbs and Sheepsticks, and with another Sheepstick on FLUFF’s Enchantress, Liquid had the equivalent of 5 Sheepsticks per teamfight. The precautions Liquid took were out of the utmost respect for what Mouz is capable of no matter how far behind they get. Their fears were realized in game 2 as the German squad blasted through Liquid’s planned Shadow Demon and Clockwerk ‘disrupt into cogs’ strategy with the perfect counter-pick of Black’s Anti-Mage. Liquid was left reeling and Mouz took a quick 21 minute game off of them, with an early GG from Liquid signaling they wanted to go straight to the next game.







Team Liquid (Radiant)





+ Show Spoiler [Bans] +



mousesports (Dire)





+ Show Spoiler [Bans] + Game 3







Both teams start with trilanes in the top lane. Mouz’s trilane consists of Black’s Phantom Lancer (PL), Alex’s Keeper of the Light (KotL) and KuroKy’s Visage, while Liquid sends TC’s Lifestealer, FLUFF’s Shadow Demon and ixmike88’s Undying to contest Black’s farm. Meanwhile FATA’s Brewmaster faces up against Bulba’s Tinker in the middle lane, and paS’s Clockwerk meets Korok’s Gyrocopter in the bottom lane.



The action starts less than a minute after the creeps spawn, with Liquid’s trilane initiating first. However, some great reactions by Mouz allows for PL to swipe first blood away from Liquid, killing Shadow Demon an instant before Visage goes down to Undying.



As the early game progresses, various heroes are picked off with no major fights happening. Tinker’s kill on Clockwerk combined with the ancient stack he has been working on means that he is riding into a strong mid game. Mouz begins to place a lot of focus onto his ancient stack, and when Liquid eventually tries to clear out Mouz’s sentry, they get more than they bargain for.







Soon after, a big 4v4 skirmish happens in the middle lane while both carries continued to farm. Liquid loses their Tinker and Shadow Demon for Mouz’s Clockwerk and Visage, while PL uses the time to take Liquid's top tower. Liquid is then able to farm their ancient stack, giving Tinker his boots of travel at around 12 minutes. In order to help their Gyrocopter compete with the PL, Liquid has also been stacking their jungle. With Tombstone and some fancy Gyrocopter Flak Cannon usage, Liquid quickly clears these stacks for a big jump in gold and experience.







Mouz ganks Gyrocopter soon after with the help of Brewmaster's ultimate while PL continues to free farm in the top lane. After losing the Gyrocopter, Liquid quickly gathers in the middle lane to initiate on Visage, changing targets to the out of position KotL to get the kill. This forces a reaction from Mouz, but the lack of Brewmaster's ultimate as well as PL's absence from the fight means that they have no chance. The fight ends with a 3-0 trade in favor of Liquid. Liquid then takes out the middle tier 1 tower of the Dire on their retreat, marking the second tower kill of the game.



During this time PL continues to free farm in the top lane with a full Diffusal Blade and Yasha at 17 minutes, forcing out a glyph from the Radiant and even solo killing the Tinker that comes to defend the top tier 2 tower. Mouz then groups up to push the bottom tier 1 tower. Liquid reacts by trying to trade for Mouz's own top tier 1 tower. However, Mouz is too quick and successfully defends their tower after taking Liquid’s.







Mouz then groups up to make a move on Liquid’s middle tier 1 tower. What begins as a simple Illuminate charge up by KotL turns into an all out brawl, with PL and Gyrocopter joining in the teamfights for the first time. However, at the end the big fight only results in a 1-0 trade in favor of Liquid, and the tower remains standing.



In the 21st minute, Liquid moves up through the Dire jungle in another attempt to take Mouz’s top tier 1 tower. However, in what appears to be a huge misclick or lag spike, Korok’s Gyrocopter walks out from the jungle behind the tower straight into a KotL and Clockwerk before remaining stationary for a whole 3 seconds. Anyone familiar with multiplayer games should know that 3 seconds of no reaction in your enemies’ face is 3 seconds too long.



+ Show Spoiler +









Crazily enough, somehow Gyrocopter almost escapes after using Manta Style to get out of Clockwerk’s cogs, but a Brewmaster clap puts him down. The other losses in this engagement are Mouz's Visage and Liquid's Lifestealer.



Mouz follows up by grouping up in the middle lane. They successfully catch Undying out while PL takes Liquid's top tier 2 tower despite Liquid blowing their glyph. He then comes across the newly respawned Undying by the Radiant ancients, killing him again before he can even TP out. At this point, PL has a Diffusal, Manta Style, and a further 3500 gold in the bank. Liquid tries to retaliate and bring him down, but he is able to escape, shrugging off the Demonic Purge and Open Wounds. At the end of the fight, Liquid’s Lifestealer pops Rage and tries to TP out, but Mouz’s Clockwerk lands a good Hook Shot to interrupt it and kill him too. Liquid’s only success during this is that their Gyrocopter is able to take out the Dire tier 1 bottom tower while Mouz finishes off Liquid’s tier 1 middle tower.



Mouz then falls back from the middle lane to let their PL finish farming his Heart of Tarrasque. Liquid takes this opportunity to push the top lane yet again, most likely wanting to clear out more towers to restrict PL's farming space. Mouz is prepared, initiating a fight as Liquid begins their retreat. However the ensuing engagement results in a 3-2 trade in Liquid’s favor, allowing Liquid to finally take Mouz's tier 1 tower before falling back.



The teams disengage for a while to let their carries farm up. Black's PL acquires his Heart while Korok's Gyrocopter opts for a Eaglesong instead of a BKB. Mouz manages to grab an uncontested Roshan kill, receiving the first Aegis of the game at 28 minutes. They head to the midlane after Roshan, managing to catch Gyrocopter out of position (who has no buyback due to purchasing the Eaglesong) as well as Shadow Demon, before moving on to take out the middle tier 2 tower of Liquid.



Mouz then takes Liquid’s tier 3 tower down to half health before initiating a fight. The Tinker goes down quickly while the Gyrocopter still has 20 seconds left before his respawn. The Undying is the next to fall, but Lifestealer and Shadow Demon manage to kill PL, thereby getting rid of the Aegis of the Immortal. Mouz regroups and pushes again, taking out the tier 3 tower and getting the melee barracks down to half health before the Gyrocopter finally arrives. This prompts Mouz to retreat, but Liquid manages to pick off Clockwerk and Visage in the process.



After some posturing by Liquid in the middle lane without anything happening, the Mouz squad heads bottom and catches out the Tinker and Shadow Demon under Liquid’s tier 2 tower, forcing a buyback out of Tinker. Liquid loses their bottom tier 2 tower nonetheless.



The Gyrocopter then completes the rest of his Butterfly. Liquid smokes up and head to the middle lane. They find the PL but once again cannot kill him, even with Lifestealer, Tinker, and Shadow Demon working together. Mouz retaliates, and when the smoke settles, everyone save the Gyrocopter has fallen for Liquid, while Clockwerk, KotL, and Visage are dead from Mouz.



It is 35 and a half minutes in, and at this point the PL has just finished his Butterfly, achieving a net worth of 23,300 gold while the Gyrocopter only has a net worth of 16,300 gold. The two teams are still only split by 5000 gold though, in favor of Mouz.



The teams go back to farming, with Brewmaster getting picked off in the bottom lane.

Mouz takes another uncontested Roshan at 39 minutes, giving the Aegis to the Brewmaster this time. The PL then picks up a Crystalys, opting for its critical strike over the True Strike from Monkey King Bar. Meanwhile the Gyrocopter purchases a Demon Edge, aiming for his own Monkey King Bar. Liquid's Lifestealer opts for a Battlefury, to better handle the PL illusions.







Mouz follows up by posturing to take Liquid’s middle rax, initiating with one helluva Hook Shot from Clockwerk, grabbing all 3 of Liquid’s core heroes in his cogs.





Hello, boys!



Tinker, Lifestealer and Clockwerk fall immediately. An immediate buyback comes from Lifestealer. Regardless of this, Mouz successfully takes the ranged barracks. However, while PL is picking off the Undying and Shadow Demon, the Lifestealer manages to catch him out under the Tier 4s. The PL dies without the Aegis (which is on Brewmaster) but he buys back immediately and is recalled in by KotL. Mouz goes for the bottom barracks. They quickly take them both out, and then rotate back to middle, taking the middle melee barracks. At this point all of Liquid has respawned, and Mouz’s Clockwerk is walking towards the fight from base.



Liquid gets in position and is not ready to give up the game yet. Tinker starts things off with a hex on the low HP Brewmaster while Undying throws up his tombstone, sending Mouz into a frenzied retreat. The Brewmaster falls extremely quickly to Gyrocopter’s newly purchased MKB, triggering the Aegis. The Lifestealer is attacking PL, but the Clockwerk Hook Shots in and stops the Lifestealer in his tracks. This saves the PL but costs Clockwerk his life, followed by the deaths of the Brewmaster and Visage, all for only a kill on Undying.



Mouz proceeds to farm up for the next 4 minutes while Liquid plays defensively, holding off two lanes of Mega Creeps. Mouz then decides to push through the top lane, letting PL get a large army of illusions. As the creep wave approaches the base, PL sends in his illusions, doing so much damage that the Gyrocopter is forced to use his Call Down. However, they still manage to take out the tier 3 tower and begin to attack the melee barracks.







Liquid is two buildings away from a loss, as they cannot hope to fight against Mega creeps while having not taken a single tier 2 tower at this point. Shadow Demon disrupts a PL illusion, sending his own illusions back towards Mouz, but they are easily taken out.



Mouz pushes in yet again with the PL illusions sieging the melee barracks down to 300/1500 HP. At this point Liquid will have to make their move soon, for if they don’t, all is lost. Shadow Demon again disrupts another PL illusion, but this time he sends those images - laden with level 2 Diffusal Blade, Manta Style, Heart, Butterfly, Daedalus and Tranquil boots - towards the middle lane. He gets two Juxtapose procs and he is in business.



It is 48 minutes in and Liquid continues to play the defenders game, using Tinker’s March and Lifestealer’s Battlefury to the fullest. Meanwhile...





A legion sprouts from one!



Even with the illusions all but gone, KotL is forced to return home, giving Liquid some respite. But KotL soon returns, and it looks like Mouz is ready to continue their assault.



And assault they do - well, sort of. The PL gets a little close but does not commit. However, Liquid’s Lifestealer pounces on that opportunity to attack, combining with Tinker’s Sheepstick and a Demonic Purge. With PL’s health dropping fast, Mouz’s hand is now forced. Brewmaster blinks in and ultimates while Clockwerk Hook Shots in as well. Gyrocopter is immediately lifted with a Wind Spirit Cyclone. Undying drops instantly after casting a Tombstone while Lifestealer takes out Clockwerk before falling to the PL illusions and a KotL blast. It turns out Lifestealer doesn’t have buyback, and the melee barracks are at 85 HP.



Gyrocopter gets about 3 attacks off before he is cycloned yet again by the Brewmaster. With Visage and his familiars attacking the barracks, Liquid gets off a crucial Glyph of Fortification with the Melee Barracks at below 30 HP. Gyrocopter returns to the playing field as the glyph wears off. Unfortunately for Mouz, it is at this exact moment when Visage and his familiars turn away, and Brewmaster dies whilst still in ultimate form to Shadow Demon and Undying zombies. Somehow, the melee rax is still up!







At this point the PL is still alive, but he is at 500 HP. As Gyrocopter pounds away furiously at the Visage, the PL turns to run, knowing he cannot take the barracks before dying to Liquid’s unstoppable force. All of a sudden, Bulba’s Tinker blinks back in with a hex! He never fell in the initial engagement!







KotL and PL both fall, leading to a furious set of buybacks from Mouz’s Brewmaster, Visage, and PL. Roshan is back up while Liquid is busy defending their previously forgotten tier 4 towers. But what is this?





http://www.dota2wiki.com/images/c/cf/Gyro_items_01.mp3



That’s right, kiddos. Divine Rapier for Liquid. Liquid has been playing no-buyback Dota for the last 15 minutes, why stop now?







It is just about 51 minutes into the game. Mouz takes Roshan, choosing to give the Aegis to PL, who sells his Boots so he has the slot for it. Now, if PL dies, he will respawn thanks to Aegis. And if he were to theoretically die again, he could instantly purchase a Boots of Travel and TP in for a third life (KotL could also use his Recall ability but it’s safe to assume that if the PL dies twice, the KotL probably isn’t alive anymore). However, PL just bought back and the buyback timer is still at 4:15 seconds.



Now Mouz has to make a choice: push now to win the game, which assumes they can take the last barracks and preferably the throne as well (Gyrocopter’s Divine Rapier making a straight shot for Mouz’s throne against mega creeps feasible), or wait the 4 minutes for PL’s buyback to be available again. Then again, Liquid has no glyph to protect themselves with. The choice is Mouz’s. They choose to group up top lane, maybe planning to wait out the 4 minutes by PL illusion siege once again, or perhaps just to end straight away. We will never know their decision.



Liquid knows they have no glyph, no real way to defend against the illusions of PL. But they have one thing in their favor:







A lone dominated range creep - a traitor to the Dire cause.



Liquid sees the movement of Mouz.



Liquid moves out.







With no vision except for a split second glimpse of PL on the minimap, Liquid makes the decision: they need to initiate this fight. They need to catch Mouz with their pants down.



Mouz can’t know. They couldn’t possibly guess. A lone Rocket flare flies out from Clockwerk, revealing the area just above the melee rax, but Liquid has already moved past that area. Maybe if Mouz was paying a little bit more attention, or had waited just a little bit longer, things would be different. But then again, what team in their right mind would initiate on THEM? The team with the PL worth 33,400 gold, AND an Aegis?



Speaking of PL...







There is no way Liquid knows that PL is not with the rest of the team. They’re gambling their life in The Defense on this move, just as Mouz gamble their tournament life with their positioning.



And PL decides to take a coffee break.



The Lifestealer jumps into Tinker as Liquid blindly forges up their top lane. In what must truly be the shock of Mouz’s Defense Season 3 career thus far, they see Liquid coming right for them.



Tinker blinks in.







Brewmaster is immediately hexed as Lifestealer pops out and begins to attack. Quick thinking from Clockwerk spares the Brewmaster for the moment, as his cogs protect the both of them and stop Liquid in their tracks. A bit lower down, the PL comes from behind, Spirit lancing the Shadow Demon.



But Gyrocopter is raining down hellfire. Two attacks on the Brewmaster, and Tinker blinks forward, rocketing and lasering once again, bringing down the Brewmaster instantly before he can even pop off his Primal Split or use the Cheese he was carrying. Gyrocopter’s call down catches Clockwerk, who falls in the next instant.



Lifestealer is on the PL, having been forced away from the rest of Mouz by the cogs. Gyrocopter now turns to help, and the PL falls in a few quick attacks. The Aegis pops, spawning a new PL that falls even faster.



During all of this, Tinker dies to Visage and KotL. He buys back immediately and TPs back to the fight in time to take out the KotL as a revenge kill.



Less than a minute after the fight began, the Shadow Demon (who bought back) and Tinker defend at home, while Gyrocopter, Lifestealer, and Undying forge a path straight to Mouz’s middle barracks. Clockwerk and KotL are the only Mouz heroes alive as the rest of their friends have their buybacks on cooldown.



Gyrocopter works down the backdoor protection on Mouz’s tier 3, ignoring the Clockwerk and KotL’s futile attempts to try and slow him down. Clockwerk even Hook Shots in, only to earn a swift death from the Tinker who now also has a Dagon. Visage and Brewmaster respawn, running straight to the engagement. Brewmaster splits just before the second tier 4 can be brought down; it seems Liquid is going straight for the throne. There are still 20 seconds left before PL respawns.



Visage, Brewmaster, and KotL are all swept aside valiantly trying to protect their throne.



Finally, the PL respawns.



Liquid doubles back to finish off the middle barracks, momentarily unsure of what the PL will try to do, not wanting to underestimate his capabilities.



He buys Boots of Travel and teleports to creeps in the Radiant base. And with that decision, the game is decided.



The Gyrocopter and Lifestealer react instantly, barreling straight for the throne. The combined output of damage from Gyrocopter and Lifestealer outweighs that of a single PL, and they are also much closer to the Dire’s throne than the PL is to the Radiant’s. The fact that all 3 of Liquid’s other heroes are defending at base assures it.



At 54 minutes in, Liquid destroys the Dire throne, winning the series and moving on in the The Defense Season 3 playoffs!







Lower Bracket Losers Round 3Game 3 of 3Team Liquid vs. MouzMatch ID: 136061218YouTube link:In the first game of the series, Liquid pulled off a victory in one of the safest games we’ve seen in a long while. Both Korok’s Puck and Bulba’s Nature’s Prophet had Refresher Orbs and Sheepsticks, and with another Sheepstick on FLUFF’s Enchantress, Liquid had the equivalent of 5 Sheepsticks per teamfight. The precautions Liquid took were out of the utmost respect for what Mouz is capable of no matter how far behind they get. Their fears were realized in game 2 as the German squad blasted through Liquid’s planned Shadow Demon and Clockwerk ‘disrupt into cogs’ strategy with the perfect counter-pick of Black’s Anti-Mage. Liquid was left reeling and Mouz took a quick 21 minute game off of them, with an early GG from Liquid signaling they wanted to go straight to the next game.Both teams start with trilanes in the top lane. Mouz’s trilane consists of Black’s Phantom Lancer (PL), Alex’s Keeper of the Light (KotL) and KuroKy’s Visage, while Liquid sends TC’s Lifestealer, FLUFF’s Shadow Demon and ixmike88’s Undying to contest Black’s farm. Meanwhile FATA’s Brewmaster faces up against Bulba’s Tinker in the middle lane, and paS’s Clockwerk meets Korok’s Gyrocopter in the bottom lane.The action starts less than a minute after the creeps spawn, with Liquid’s trilane initiating first. However, some great reactions by Mouz allows for PL to swipe first blood away from Liquid, killing Shadow Demon an instant before Visage goes down to Undying.As the early game progresses, various heroes are picked off with no major fights happening. Tinker’s kill on Clockwerk combined with the ancient stack he has been working on means that he is riding into a strong mid game. Mouz begins to place a lot of focus onto his ancient stack, and when Liquid eventually tries to clear out Mouz’s sentry, they get more than they bargain for.Soon after, a big 4v4 skirmish happens in the middle lane while both carries continued to farm. Liquid loses their Tinker and Shadow Demon for Mouz’s Clockwerk and Visage, while PL uses the time to take Liquid's top tower. Liquid is then able to farm their ancient stack, giving Tinker his boots of travel at around 12 minutes. In order to help their Gyrocopter compete with the PL, Liquid has also been stacking their jungle. With Tombstone and some fancy Gyrocopter Flak Cannon usage, Liquid quickly clears these stacks for a big jump in gold and experience.Mouz ganks Gyrocopter soon after with the help of Brewmaster's ultimate while PL continues to free farm in the top lane. After losing the Gyrocopter, Liquid quickly gathers in the middle lane to initiate on Visage, changing targets to the out of position KotL to get the kill. This forces a reaction from Mouz, but the lack of Brewmaster's ultimate as well as PL's absence from the fight means that they have no chance. The fight ends with a 3-0 trade in favor of Liquid. Liquid then takes out the middle tier 1 tower of the Dire on their retreat, marking the second tower kill of the game.During this time PL continues to free farm in the top lane with a full Diffusal Blade and Yasha at 17 minutes, forcing out a glyph from the Radiant and even solo killing the Tinker that comes to defend the top tier 2 tower. Mouz then groups up to push the bottom tier 1 tower. Liquid reacts by trying to trade for Mouz's own top tier 1 tower. However, Mouz is too quick and successfully defends their tower after taking Liquid’s.Mouz then groups up to make a move on Liquid’s middle tier 1 tower. What begins as a simple Illuminate charge up by KotL turns into an all out brawl, with PL and Gyrocopter joining in the teamfights for the first time. However, at the end the big fight only results in a 1-0 trade in favor of Liquid, and the tower remains standing.In the 21st minute, Liquid moves up through the Dire jungle in another attempt to take Mouz’s top tier 1 tower. However, in what appears to be a huge misclick or lag spike, Korok’s Gyrocopter walks out from the jungle behind the tower straight into a KotL and Clockwerk before remaining stationary for a whole 3 seconds. Anyone familiar with multiplayer games should know that 3 seconds of no reaction in your enemies’ face is 3 seconds too long.Crazily enough, somehow Gyrocopter almost escapes after using Manta Style to get out of Clockwerk’s cogs, but a Brewmaster clap puts him down. The other losses in this engagement are Mouz's Visage and Liquid's Lifestealer.Mouz follows up by grouping up in the middle lane. They successfully catch Undying out while PL takes Liquid's top tier 2 tower despite Liquid blowing their glyph. He then comes across the newly respawned Undying by the Radiant ancients, killing him again before he can even TP out. At this point, PL has a Diffusal, Manta Style, and a further 3500 gold in the bank. Liquid tries to retaliate and bring him down, but he is able to escape, shrugging off the Demonic Purge and Open Wounds. At the end of the fight, Liquid’s Lifestealer pops Rage and tries to TP out, but Mouz’s Clockwerk lands a good Hook Shot to interrupt it and kill him too. Liquid’s only success during this is that their Gyrocopter is able to take out the Dire tier 1 bottom tower while Mouz finishes off Liquid’s tier 1 middle tower.Mouz then falls back from the middle lane to let their PL finish farming his Heart of Tarrasque. Liquid takes this opportunity to push the top lane yet again, most likely wanting to clear out more towers to restrict PL's farming space. Mouz is prepared, initiating a fight as Liquid begins their retreat. However the ensuing engagement results in a 3-2 trade in Liquid’s favor, allowing Liquid to finally take Mouz's tier 1 tower before falling back.The teams disengage for a while to let their carries farm up. Black's PL acquires his Heart while Korok's Gyrocopter opts for a Eaglesong instead of a BKB. Mouz manages to grab an uncontested Roshan kill, receiving the first Aegis of the game at 28 minutes. They head to the midlane after Roshan, managing to catch Gyrocopter out of position (who has no buyback due to purchasing the Eaglesong) as well as Shadow Demon, before moving on to take out the middle tier 2 tower of Liquid.Mouz then takes Liquid’s tier 3 tower down to half health before initiating a fight. The Tinker goes down quickly while the Gyrocopter still has 20 seconds left before his respawn. The Undying is the next to fall, but Lifestealer and Shadow Demon manage to kill PL, thereby getting rid of the Aegis of the Immortal. Mouz regroups and pushes again, taking out the tier 3 tower and getting the melee barracks down to half health before the Gyrocopter finally arrives. This prompts Mouz to retreat, but Liquid manages to pick off Clockwerk and Visage in the process.After some posturing by Liquid in the middle lane without anything happening, the Mouz squad heads bottom and catches out the Tinker and Shadow Demon under Liquid’s tier 2 tower, forcing a buyback out of Tinker. Liquid loses their bottom tier 2 tower nonetheless.The Gyrocopter then completes the rest of his Butterfly. Liquid smokes up and head to the middle lane. They find the PL but once again cannot kill him, even with Lifestealer, Tinker, and Shadow Demon working together. Mouz retaliates, and when the smoke settles, everyone save the Gyrocopter has fallen for Liquid, while Clockwerk, KotL, and Visage are dead from Mouz.It is 35 and a half minutes in, and at this point the PL has just finished his Butterfly, achieving a net worth of 23,300 gold while the Gyrocopter only has a net worth of 16,300 gold. The two teams are still only split by 5000 gold though, in favor of Mouz.The teams go back to farming, with Brewmaster getting picked off in the bottom lane.Mouz takes another uncontested Roshan at 39 minutes, giving the Aegis to the Brewmaster this time. The PL then picks up a Crystalys, opting for its critical strike over the True Strike from Monkey King Bar. Meanwhile the Gyrocopter purchases a Demon Edge, aiming for his own Monkey King Bar. Liquid's Lifestealer opts for a Battlefury, to better handle the PL illusions.Mouz follows up by posturing to take Liquid’s middle rax, initiating with one helluva Hook Shot from Clockwerk, grabbing all 3 of Liquid’s core heroes in his cogs.Tinker, Lifestealer and Clockwerk fall immediately. An immediate buyback comes from Lifestealer. Regardless of this, Mouz successfully takes the ranged barracks. However, while PL is picking off the Undying and Shadow Demon, the Lifestealer manages to catch him out under the Tier 4s. The PL dies without the Aegis (which is on Brewmaster) but he buys back immediately and is recalled in by KotL. Mouz goes for the bottom barracks. They quickly take them both out, and then rotate back to middle, taking the middle melee barracks. At this point all of Liquid has respawned, and Mouz’s Clockwerk is walking towards the fight from base.Liquid gets in position and is not ready to give up the game yet. Tinker starts things off with a hex on the low HP Brewmaster while Undying throws up his tombstone, sending Mouz into a frenzied retreat. The Brewmaster falls extremely quickly to Gyrocopter’s newly purchased MKB, triggering the Aegis. The Lifestealer is attacking PL, but the Clockwerk Hook Shots in and stops the Lifestealer in his tracks. This saves the PL but costs Clockwerk his life, followed by the deaths of the Brewmaster and Visage, all for only a kill on Undying.Mouz proceeds to farm up for the next 4 minutes while Liquid plays defensively, holding off two lanes of Mega Creeps. Mouz then decides to push through the top lane, letting PL get a large army of illusions. As the creep wave approaches the base, PL sends in his illusions, doing so much damage that the Gyrocopter is forced to use his Call Down. However, they still manage to take out the tier 3 tower and begin to attack the melee barracks.Liquid is two buildings away from a loss, as they cannot hope to fight against Mega creeps while having not taken a single tier 2 tower at this point. Shadow Demon disrupts a PL illusion, sending his own illusions back towards Mouz, but they are easily taken out.Mouz pushes in yet again with the PL illusions sieging the melee barracks down to 300/1500 HP. At this point Liquid will have to make their move soon, for if they don’t, all is lost. Shadow Demon again disrupts another PL illusion, but this time he sends those images - laden with level 2 Diffusal Blade, Manta Style, Heart, Butterfly, Daedalus and Tranquil boots - towards the middle lane. He gets two Juxtapose procs and he is in business.It is 48 minutes in and Liquid continues to play the defenders game, using Tinker’s March and Lifestealer’s Battlefury to the fullest. Meanwhile...Even with the illusions all but gone, KotL is forced to return home, giving Liquid some respite. But KotL soon returns, and it looks like Mouz is ready to continue their assault.And assault they do - well, sort of. The PL gets a little close but does not commit. However, Liquid’s Lifestealer pounces on that opportunity to attack, combining with Tinker’s Sheepstick and a Demonic Purge. With PL’s health dropping fast, Mouz’s hand is now forced. Brewmaster blinks in and ultimates while Clockwerk Hook Shots in as well. Gyrocopter is immediately lifted with a Wind Spirit Cyclone. Undying drops instantly after casting a Tombstone while Lifestealer takes out Clockwerk before falling to the PL illusions and a KotL blast. It turns out Lifestealer doesn’t have buyback, and the melee barracks are at 85 HP.Gyrocopter gets about 3 attacks off before he is cycloned yet again by the Brewmaster. With Visage and his familiars attacking the barracks, Liquid gets off a crucial Glyph of Fortification with the Melee Barracks at below 30 HP. Gyrocopter returns to the playing field as the glyph wears off. Unfortunately for Mouz, it is at this exact moment when Visage and his familiars turn away, and Brewmaster dies whilst still in ultimate form to Shadow Demon and Undying zombies. Somehow, the melee rax is still up!At this point the PL is still alive, but he is at 500 HP. As Gyrocopter pounds away furiously at the Visage, the PL turns to run, knowing he cannot take the barracks before dying to Liquid’s unstoppable force. All of a sudden, Bulba’s Tinker blinks back in with a hex! He never fell in the initial engagement!KotL and PL both fall, leading to a furious set of buybacks from Mouz’s Brewmaster, Visage, and PL. Roshan is back up while Liquid is busy defending their previously forgotten tier 4 towers. But what is this?That’s right, kiddos. Divine Rapier for Liquid. Liquid has been playing no-buyback Dota for the last 15 minutes, why stop now?It is just about 51 minutes into the game. Mouz takes Roshan, choosing to give the Aegis to PL, who sells his Boots so he has the slot for it. Now, if PL dies, he will respawn thanks to Aegis. And if he were to theoretically die again, he could instantly purchase a Boots of Travel and TP in for a third life (KotL could also use his Recall ability but it’s safe to assume that if the PL dies twice, the KotL probably isn’t alive anymore). However, PL just bought back and the buyback timer is still at 4:15 seconds.Now Mouz has to make a choice: push now to win the game, which assumes they can take the last barracks and preferably the throne as well (Gyrocopter’s Divine Rapier making a straight shot for Mouz’s throne against mega creeps feasible), or wait the 4 minutes for PL’s buyback to be available again. Then again, Liquid has no glyph to protect themselves with. The choice is Mouz’s. They choose to group up top lane, maybe planning to wait out the 4 minutes by PL illusion siege once again, or perhaps just to end straight away. We will never know their decision.Liquid knows they have no glyph, no real way to defend against the illusions of PL. But they have one thing in their favor:Liquid sees the movement of Mouz.Liquid moves out.With no vision except for a split second glimpse of PL on the minimap, Liquid makes the decision: they need to initiate this fight. They need to catch Mouz with their pants down.Mouz can’t know. They couldn’t possibly guess. A lone Rocket flare flies out from Clockwerk, revealing the area just above the melee rax, but Liquid has already moved past that area. Maybe if Mouz was paying a little bit more attention, or had waited just a little bit longer, things would be different. But then again, what team in their right mind would initiate on THEM? The team with the PL worth 33,400 gold, AND an Aegis?Speaking of PL...There is no way Liquid knows that PL is not with the rest of the team. They’re gambling their life in The Defense on this move, just as Mouz gamble their tournament life with their positioning.And PL decides to take a coffee break.The Lifestealer jumps into Tinker as Liquid blindly forges up their top lane. In what must truly be the shock of Mouz’s Defense Season 3 career thus far, they see Liquid coming right for them.Tinker blinks in.Brewmaster is immediately hexed as Lifestealer pops out and begins to attack. Quick thinking from Clockwerk spares the Brewmaster for the moment, as his cogs protect the both of them and stop Liquid in their tracks. A bit lower down, the PL comes from behind, Spirit lancing the Shadow Demon.But Gyrocopter is raining down hellfire. Two attacks on the Brewmaster, and Tinker blinks forward, rocketing and lasering once again, bringing down the Brewmaster instantly before he can even pop off his Primal Split or use the Cheese he was carrying. Gyrocopter’s call down catches Clockwerk, who falls in the next instant.Lifestealer is on the PL, having been forced away from the rest of Mouz by the cogs. Gyrocopter now turns to help, and the PL falls in a few quick attacks. The Aegis pops, spawning a new PL that falls even faster.During all of this, Tinker dies to Visage and KotL. He buys back immediately and TPs back to the fight in time to take out the KotL as a revenge kill.Less than a minute after the fight began, the Shadow Demon (who bought back) and Tinker defend at home, while Gyrocopter, Lifestealer, and Undying forge a path straight to Mouz’s middle barracks. Clockwerk and KotL are the only Mouz heroes alive as the rest of their friends have their buybacks on cooldown.Gyrocopter works down the backdoor protection on Mouz’s tier 3, ignoring the Clockwerk and KotL’s futile attempts to try and slow him down. Clockwerk even Hook Shots in, only to earn a swift death from the Tinker who now also has a Dagon. Visage and Brewmaster respawn, running straight to the engagement. Brewmaster splits just before the second tier 4 can be brought down; it seems Liquid is going straight for the throne. There are still 20 seconds left before PL respawns.Visage, Brewmaster, and KotL are all swept aside valiantly trying to protect their throne.Finally, the PL respawns.Liquid doubles back to finish off the middle barracks, momentarily unsure of what the PL will try to do, not wanting to underestimate his capabilities.He buys Boots of Travel and teleports to creeps in the Radiant base. And with that decision, the game is decided.The Gyrocopter and Lifestealer react instantly, barreling straight for the throne. The combined output of damage from Gyrocopter and Lifestealer outweighs that of a single PL, and they are also much closer to the Dire’s throne than the PL is to the Radiant’s. The fact that all 3 of Liquid’s other heroes are defending at base assures it.At 54 minutes in, Liquid destroys the Dire throne, winning the series and moving on in the The Defense Season 3 playoffs!



Santa Speaks Translated by dfs



This is a VP.Santa interview that wasPlease note that this interview was done before Santa left VP.



VP.Maelstrom and VP.Sneg got hold of VP.Santa after the match to talk about the game.









So what can I say? I am really glad we won. Also, our opponents are very strange. They were picking the same heroes over and over again, even though AA and Visage are not very strong heroes. Dignitas picked similar heroes against Empire and lost as well.





Was it your idea to pick Bounty Hunter in game 2?



Yes, I asked for it. We thought they would lane the same way as in game 1, a weird easy trilane without any disables. Bounty Hunter would lane great against it. But Dignitas realized that they couldn't lane like that again, and thought that they should play an aggressive trilane and prevent Gyrocopter from freefarming.





Do you think you played poorly that game or that the Bounty Hunter pick was incorrect?



I played fine. I went and killed and killed and killed. Bounty Hunter is not a hero who can do a lot in team fights without the wonderful item we call the BKB. We were dominating the game for quite some time… and then BAM, we gave away a few kills, then gave away Roshan and it was over. We couldn't do anything without a BKB and Dignitas had started to push. We needed to finish our BKBs but we couldn't farm. Dignitas had map control, wards, Hawk, Beastmaster with Blink Dagger, Clockwerk, and great vision all over. The game was over. If not for those deaths, we'd have had our BKBs by then and finished the game.





What was the team morale after the second game? Did you guys lose morale?



Of course! We started the third game with a different mindset. Also, the coin toss was in their favor. Ultimately though, it didn't matter. We were mad because they picked the same heroes again.





Why do you think they picked those heroes? Do you think they trained it so well that they wanted to pick them in any situation?



Dignitas are picking very weird stuff lately. I guess they think these heroes are very good. However, there is no point in picking them all the time unless, for example, they stomp us in the first game thanks to the AA and Visage, stomp us in the second game, and then pick the same heroes in the third. But they got crushed in the first one, and in the second game they only just squeezed out a victory. I am sure they would have picked the same exact heroes in the third game if not for the Beastmaster and Luna bans. AA and Visage are bad supports if they go on an easy lane. They have no disables and any hero can come and do anything he wants against that lane. Someone like Darkseer can probably kill them all.





Who do you expect to meet in the Grand Finals?



Fnatic are very strong nowadays, but not as strong as few weeks ago because they lost their winning streak. They're still strong though.





What server did you play on?



My first game was on EU. I am sure AA missed a couple of ultimates because of it. Second was on US-East. On the coin toss Dignitas picked tails (tails always prevails), so they won the server pick. The host abuses are always pissing me off. I hate to play against US teams. Dota 1 was a complete nightmare at that, and Dota 2 is much better. But it is still annoying. 200ms ping is just… Anyway, the scariest hero to play against on this ping is Batrider. He throws his Sticky Napalm on your hero and you just can't turn. When you click to turn, the server delay causes it to think for half a second before turning, and then there is the Napalm slow which takes another second to turn, so it basically takes 1.5 second to simply turn. So, in team fights it is impossible to do anything.





NTH played a few very good games lately, what do you think is the reason of their improvement?



I did not think about it. Well… they had EternalEnvy who is obsessed about neutral stacking and NTH's whole playstyle revolved around farming these stacks. Every single game Loda on Gyrocopter or on Sven just stays on lane while EE is running around at lvl 1 and stacking neutrals. At min 10 he is still lvl 1 but it is fine, because Loda will come to farm those stack and EE will just steal some exp from that. I am exaggerating a bit, but playing the same very specific style over and over is wrong. When you play the same strategy over and over your opponent will eventually figure you out and will get used to your style.





What about Fnatic? They are splitpushing in most of their games and you can't stop them.



Fnatic know their splitpush. They play it very well. With every game they improve. If you play splitpush a lot, you will improve your map awareness, and if you play teamfight oriented strategies, you will improve your teamfight coordination. If you play gank a lot, you will improve your micro skills. And so on.





What do you think about boot camps. Will they help your team improve? Are you eager to gather for an extended boot camp yourself?



I love boot camps. Meeting people in real life is awesome. 2-3 week-long boot camps are great. Boot camp is like preparation for a LAN, and it is always important.





What do you think is lacking in your team's play right now? Or everything is fine and are you the best?



Hmm… "The best" does not exist. I do not know what is lacking… hmm… hmm… I have no idea, it feels like everything is fine but clearly something is lacking. OK, I'd say we lack moral stability. In Russian Dota, morale is everything. For example today we play well, but tomorrow we play bad. Why? Because today everyone is feeling great and we have great communication, but tomorrow someone has a headache, someone didn't get enough sleep, or someone is in a bad mood so our communication is worse. It's almost like we are two completely different teams at those times. If we always had high morale we'd always play well. When the team is winning they improve their morale. Every consecutive win increases it further, so they play even better. If a team wins the game, but for some reason loses morale because someone is upset, or not satisfied with something, then they in fact "lose" the game. The other way round is true as well. if a team losses the game but keeps, or even gains morale, then they "win" the game.





How can you keep morale high?



I don't know. People are complicated creatures. How can you constantly keep someone in a good mood? It is impossible, right?





What are your top 3 teams in Europe, leaving VP aside?



Na'Vi, Empire, Fnatic, in no particular order.



I want to say one last thing. Today I came to a conclusion. Today is the 8th of March, International Women's Day, and I was congratulating and giving presents, etc. So I concluded that spending money on someone else is far more pleasant than spending them on yourself. Especially when the present is expensive, and when people are like "oh, no need, no need" and you're like "c'mon bro, take it".



This is a VP.Santa interview that was conducted by VP.Maelstrom and VP.Sneg after their match vs. Dignitas in the The Defense 3 WB Finals on 08.03.2013.VP.Maelstrom and VP.Sneg got hold of VP.Santa after the match to talk about the game.So what can I say? I am really glad we won. Also, our opponents are very strange. They were picking the same heroes over and over again, even though AA and Visage are not very strong heroes. Dignitas picked similar heroes against Empire and lost as well.Yes, I asked for it. We thought they would lane the same way as in game 1, a weird easy trilane without any disables. Bounty Hunter would lane great against it. But Dignitas realized that they couldn't lane like that again, and thought that they should play an aggressive trilane and prevent Gyrocopter from freefarming.I played fine. I went and killed and killed and killed. Bounty Hunter is not a hero who can do a lot in team fights without the wonderful item we call the BKB. We were dominating the game for quite some time… and then BAM, we gave away a few kills, then gave away Roshan and it was over. We couldn't do anything without a BKB and Dignitas had started to push. We needed to finish our BKBs but we couldn't farm. Dignitas had map control, wards, Hawk, Beastmaster with Blink Dagger, Clockwerk, and great vision all over. The game was over. If not for those deaths, we'd have had our BKBs by then and finished the game.Of course! We started the third game with a different mindset. Also, the coin toss was in their favor. Ultimately though, it didn't matter. We were mad because they picked the same heroes again.Dignitas are picking very weird stuff lately. I guess they think these heroes are very good. However, there is no point in picking them all the time unless, for example, they stomp us in the first game thanks to the AA and Visage, stomp us in the second game, and then pick the same heroes in the third. But they got crushed in the first one, and in the second game they only just squeezed out a victory. I am sure they would have picked the same exact heroes in the third game if not for the Beastmaster and Luna bans. AA and Visage are bad supports if they go on an easy lane. They have no disables and any hero can come and do anything he wants against that lane. Someone like Darkseer can probably kill them all.Fnatic are very strong nowadays, but not as strong as few weeks ago because they lost their winning streak. They're still strong though.My first game was on EU. I am sure AA missed a couple of ultimates because of it. Second was on US-East. On the coin toss Dignitas picked tails (tails always prevails), so they won the server pick. The host abuses are always pissing me off. I hate to play against US teams. Dota 1 was a complete nightmare at that, and Dota 2 is much better. But it is still annoying. 200ms ping is just… Anyway, the scariest hero to play against on this ping is Batrider. He throws his Sticky Napalm on your hero and you just can't turn. When you click to turn, the server delay causes it to think for half a second before turning, and then there is the Napalm slow which takes another second to turn, so it basically takes 1.5 second to simply turn. So, in team fights it is impossible to do anything.I did not think about it. Well… they had EternalEnvy who is obsessed about neutral stacking and NTH's whole playstyle revolved around farming these stacks. Every single game Loda on Gyrocopter or on Sven just stays on lane while EE is running around at lvl 1 and stacking neutrals. At min 10 he is still lvl 1 but it is fine, because Loda will come to farm those stack and EE will just steal some exp from that. I am exaggerating a bit, but playing the same very specific style over and over is wrong. When you play the same strategy over and over your opponent will eventually figure you out and will get used to your style.Fnatic know their splitpush. They play it very well. With every game they improve. If you play splitpush a lot, you will improve your map awareness, and if you play teamfight oriented strategies, you will improve your teamfight coordination. If you play gank a lot, you will improve your micro skills. And so on.I love boot camps. Meeting people in real life is awesome. 2-3 week-long boot camps are great. Boot camp is like preparation for a LAN, and it is always important.Hmm… "The best" does not exist. I do not know what is lacking… hmm… hmm… I have no idea, it feels like everything is fine but clearly something is lacking. OK, I'd say we lack moral stability. In Russian Dota, morale is everything. For example today we play well, but tomorrow we play bad. Why? Because today everyone is feeling great and we have great communication, but tomorrow someone has a headache, someone didn't get enough sleep, or someone is in a bad mood so our communication is worse. It's almost like we are two completely different teams at those times. If we always had high morale we'd always play well. When the team is winning they improve their morale. Every consecutive win increases it further, so they play even better. If a team wins the game, but for some reason loses morale because someone is upset, or not satisfied with something, then they in fact "lose" the game. The other way round is true as well. if a team losses the game but keeps, or even gains morale, then they "win" the game.I don't know. People are complicated creatures. How can you constantly keep someone in a good mood? It is impossible, right?Na'Vi, Empire, Fnatic, in no particular order.I want to say one last thing. Today I came to a conclusion. Today is the 8th of March, International Women's Day, and I was congratulating and giving presents, etc. So I concluded that spending money on someone else is far more pleasant than spending them on yourself. Especially when the present is expensive, and when people are like "oh, no need, no need" and you're like "c'mon bro, take it".



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