It was an intense final day of competition in Hamburg, with both series going to their full length of games.

Gambit Esports vs Alliance

Game One

Our first game of the series saw a fairly even laning phase. The kills were two a piece at nine minutes in. Then, as our game pushed past the 10-minute mark, it looked like Gambit were pulling into the lead. At 14-minutes they had a 6k gold advantage and were three up in the kills, 6–3.

But Alliance were biting back. A fantastic chronosphere from Nikobaby’s Faceless Void around the 20-minute mark left three down on the side of Gambit. One minute later, Alliance had evened out the kills, 8–8 and they were snatching the net worth lead back.

Although Gambit did their best to hold out on the onslaught from Alliance, they found themselves overrun. The kills were 8–20 at 26-minutes and Alliance had themselves an 11k gold lead. It was all over for Gambit in game one, they called GG at 30-minutes. The final score was 8–28, a 20-kill lead for Alliance.

Nikobaby and Limmp both had outstanding performances this game. Limmp went 10/2/14 on his Razor pick, while Nikobaby’s Faceless Void ended on 10/1/8.

Game Two

Although Alliance had played a clean game one, Gambit didn’t consider themselves out of the fight yet. As game two opened it was clear they wanted to push this series to the full three.

The laning phase was even, but aggressive with the kills at 4–4 at six minutes into the game. Then 6–6 at eight minutes Nikobaby’s Alchemist was working to help secure the gold advantage for his team, but Gambit were not about to let that happen.

Gambit pulled into the kill-lead as the game moved past 10-minutes, 7–6, and they’d managed to deny Alliance the gold lead they’d been looking to farm. Over the next minute another two kills would go Gambit’s way. Things were looking shaky for Alliance, who found themselves unable to effectively defend objectives. Gpk was doing work on his Ember Spirit, but Alliance were still putting up a fight. The kills were 14–9 at 14-minutes, and though Alliance were still in the game, Gambit were starting to look scary.

It was 26–11 at 22-minutes in and Gambit were pushing into the top high ground. At 25-minutes the score was 33–11 and gpk was mopping up Alliance in their own base as Gambit secured the win and equalized the series, 1–1.

Game Three

Both teams had everything riding on this third and final game of the series. Alliance again took the Alchemist pick for Nikobaby, and they were again finding themselves behind in the gold and the kills during the laning phase. It was 4–2 at 11-minutes in, Gambit were already showing their teeth.

At 13-minutes in, Gambit were taking down the mid T2 tower, but Alliance were not bowing out of this game by any means. Kills came thick and fast as the game pushed toward the late phase, with neither side letting the other hold too much of a lead. Gambit managed to snag a free ageis at 47-minutes. But after quickly burning it, and with the kills practically even, Alliance were looking like they were in a good position to close out the game.

What really cost them was a greedy deep dive after their team fight that let Gambit punish their aggression and turn the tables back their way. Another easy Roshan for them and they pushed at the high ground, securing mega creeps and then the GG at 58-minutes in.

We saw Gambit disengage and reset team fights beautifully. It was this careful precision that let them sweep the series from Alliance in the end.

We bow out at 3rd place. Was great to stand in for this event and we'll see you in Chengdu!?‍♂️? GG's @GambitEsports a worthy winner! Now go win the finals!?#ALLfam #ESLOne pic.twitter.com/MWyqxjxhVj — Alliance (@theAllianceGG) October 27, 2019

TNC.Predator vs Gambit Esports

It was a heart-racing Grand Final series between TNC and Gambit that stretched to the full five games as both teams threw down for a chance at the grand prize.

Game One

Our first game of the series saw things open with a fairly even laning phase. Gambit were bringing the aggression and the kills were 6–7 as the game passed 15-minutes. But TNC had plenty of aggressive moves of their own to bring to the table.

As the next seven minutes ticked by, TNC delivered a punishing offense. Snowballing to a quick victory.

This was a fast and brutal stomp by TNC.Predator, over in just 22-minutes.

This was an especially rough game for dream’ who ended with a 2/2/4 KDA and zero tower damage on his Drow Ranger.

Game Two

After the lightning fast performance they gave in game one, TNC came into game two looking like a different team. First blood went to Gambit, and then they also took their second kill by three minutes.

TNC fought back bringing the kills to 2–3 and securing themselves the gold lead, but they were running three hands of Midas, one on each core.

A great team fight by Gambit at the 12-minute mark started to stretch their kill lead, the score was 3–8 and that gap was only going to get larger. By 22-minutes it was 4–20, as Gabbi’s Slark finally took his first kill of the game. Slark just didn’t come online fast enough to help them catch up in the kills. Gambit delivered an absolute thrashing to TNC.

Gpk took a triple kill at 35-minutes to bring the score to 4–28. And again, we again saw some beautiful disengagements from Gambit, who kept resetting the team fights to keep TNC on the back foot.

Although they did their best to hold out, it was CIS who triumphed over SEA in game two. Gambit took the win at 41-minutes with a 31-kill lead over TNC. The series was equalized 1–1.

Game Three

Gambit came in aggressive again for our third game, once again taking out first blood and putting on a very dominant show during the laning phase. Kills were 0–5 at 12-minutes.

But although Gambit had the lead on the kills, this game saw a much slower pace than our first two. The score was only 5–7 at 26-minutes. Ten minutes later, that score was 10–10, but TNC had a 16k net worth lead.

Unlike the blood baths of our first two games, game three saw a much more objective focused TNC systematically shut down Gambit’s map control, allowing themselves plenty of freedom to roam and farm. They launched a series of offensives against the dire high ground from the 30-minute mark, taking the mid and bottom T1 towers.

Gambit held their mid high ground rax admirably against a series of pushed from TNC. Keeping the melee barracks up until 44-minutes when they finally called gg.

Game Four

Gambit got the early lead, taking the first two kills of the game before the two-minute mark. They were playing like clockwork, taking another two kills in return to bring the score to 1–4 at six minutes. As the laning phase came to an end, TNC hadn’t taken another kill, and Gambit had a slight lead in the net worth.

Armel finally took their next kill at 18-minutes as Armel’s Legion Commander claimed it, bringing the score to 2–6. At 20-minutes, Gambit snatched all four bounty runes, securing them a comfortable 4k gold lead.

Gabbi’s Night Stalker pick getting his Aghanim’s Sceptre was the expected turning point for TNC. But gpk and dream’ didn’t seemed threatened by him. TNC just didn’t have the initiation they needed. Gambit were taking objectives, pushing for the Roshan at 27-minutes. TNC’s attempts to contest got them some much needed kills, bringing the score to 4–11 at 28-minutes. But Roshan was still standing, with both teams in a stand off in front of the pit. Another team fight started to even the kills out a little more, 7–13 at 30-minutes. But when Roshan eventually fell, it went to Gambit and the dream’ took the aegis.

At 39-minutes the kills were 7–15 and TNC were falling behind again. It was a slow march to victory for Gambit, but they’d had the clear advantage for most of the game. TNC bowed out at 45-minutes. With the wins at 2–2, the series was going to the full five games.

Game Five

As we opened our final game, TNC looked like they were running a comfort draft with Gabbi on his Bristleback and Armel on Alchemist. But Gambit had gpk on Ember Spirit and a Lifestealer for dream’ again, so both drafts were looking snug.

The lanes moved slow. First blood went to TNC at four minutes in, with kpii taking a kill on fng in the bottom lane. Gambit took the next two kills, but at 6-minutes in, TNC had already established themselves a 1k advantage in the gold. Gambit managed to stay one up in the kills through the laning phase. But Armel secured his radiance at 10-minutes and 22-seconds into the game. Armel was earning 990gpm by 15-minutes and had already added a Black King Bar to his items. This was definitely an Alchemist game.

Gambit needed to shut him down, but TNC were not leaving them the chance. They pushed for the Roshan at 17-minutes, and Armel’s Alchemist now had an aegis too. Kills were 8–8 at 19-minutes, but that was the last time they looked so even.

The next ten minutes were a stomp reminiscent of our first game of the series, as TNC just ran at their high ground. First taking down the mid, and then the top lane and shrine by 23-minutes. Then racking up the kill-count as they overran Gambit to secure the series by 29-minutes with a final score of 22–8.

TNC.Predator first SEA team to win at ESL One

It was a well-earned victory for TNC.Predator who became the first South East Asian team to take home the ESL One trophy. They put on an outstanding performance throughout the entire tournament, dominating through the groups and securing themselves victory through the upper bracket.

You can keep up with all the action leading up to the start of the new DPC season over on our Twitter, or check out our Facebook, or YouTube for daily esports updates.

Images via ESL Dota 2