TI4 Grand Finals Preview: Newbee vs Vici Gaming July 21st, 2014 12:36 GMT Text by TheEmulator TI4 Main Event Day 4

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Vici Gaming vs Newbee







Newbee vs Vici Gaming is not the final most people wanted. In many ways it is unjust. By far the two best teams of the past year, DK and iG, are not present, condemned to a much smaller prize due to a single nightmarish day. In terms of popularity, it is also lacking. TI4 is a western tournament, and all the western teams are out. Much to the dismay of many insular fans, the only western victory in cross-ocean matches was EG over an out of sorts DK. Otherwise, it fell to the Chinese to knock out their fellow countrymen, and it is to little surprise that two of them remain in the finals. The only problem is that for many, it’s the wrong two.



But for those true fans willing to look beyond superficial complaints, Newbee and VG can be extraordinarily exciting to watch. On a basic level, their games are very action packed: you won’t have to worry about DK’s 70 minute Naga farming wars. Instead, barring RoX.KIS vs Empire, this is the closest you will get to true bloody Russian Dota. They may be Chinese, but they don’t play safe; they go for the jugular.





56 kills in 30 minutes. Stereotypical Chinese Dota, right?



For those who claim to love watching high level Dota and seeing pristine plays, their movement is precise, their teamwork immaculate, and individual skill exceptional. Neither team turtles and relies on their opponents making unforced errors like EG. They don’t suddenly implode, nor make serious drafting oversights as iG did vs LGD, or fail to even use their best drafts like DK. Neither do they have that magical ability to lose on command as only C9 can. They don’t even depend on RNG smokes to win the early game like EG or Liquid. In contrast, VG and Newbee are the only two teams of the tournament who have shown some level of resilience to unlucky early game smokes. In particular, the group stage match between the two saw VG taking rax at 15 minutes despite starting the game 0-4.



Though both teams are the masters of 5 man maneuvering and deathball pushes, they are each quite flexible: Hao and particularly Sylar have shown some dominating Morphling games, to the point where Morphling should be an auto second ban for Newbee. Even when running late-game carries, both teams prefer dual or tri core lineups in general to pushing towers early and keeping the pressure off their primary farmer. Expect to see multiple concepts by each team, whether it may be defensive AOE teamfight Luna multi-cores, space creating initiation and pushing to secure farm for a Morphling, or epic 5 man clashes under towers.







Strategic Innovation



Perhaps most importantly, VG has been the most creative team of the tournament, though it has been passed over by most. It may not be as flashy as some of the ideas by DK or C9, but unlike the former, it can be used almost every game, and in contrary to the latter, it has real backbone. VG’s deathball pushing strategy may seem like nothing new, though it is without precedent. To understand why, first we must remember why so few teams attempt such strategies. Ever since 2010 when buybacks had no cool-down, teams have been terrified of breaching high ground. Teams that were 25k ahead with a better late-game could be defeated by one hero buying back multiple times. Though buyback was severely nerfed afterwards, having to gain a significant lead before breaching high ground remained a constant. In 2012 at the height of Chinese dominance, drafts were made with primary regard to one question: “can this lineup breach high ground?” If it couldn’t, why even bother? In general, the required advantage to assault the base is 10k gold+ and an aegis.



Some teams have tried to go high ground with less of a lead, but never with good results. In Alliance’s famous level one TP to Roshan, they started the game with a massive advantage and attempted to breach high ground at 11 minutes with a powerful Leshrac/Lone Druid pushing combo as well as an aegis.







Despite their major lead and having good heroes for it, Alliance’s rash attempt was adroitly repelled by “The Great Wall of China” and gave the initiative back to DK. Despite gaining a 10k and even 20k lead later in the game, Alliance would continually bash their head against the great wall with little success, only winning the game with Roshan fights. In direct contrast to this firmly etched precedent, VG has won a series of extremely quick games at TI4:



VG vs LGD: 18 minutes



VG vs DK: 18 minutes



VG vs Newbee: 17 minutes



VG vs Liquid: 16 minutes



VG vs Alliance: 14 minutes



VG vs EG: 16 minutes



VG vs EG: 15 minutes





While the extreme rapidity is unheard of, what’s more shocking is that VG did not have a very large advantage in many of the games. In some of the games, they were barely ahead at all, if even that.





The score is 0-0, the enemy is 4k ahead and we have no aegis. Nevermind that, it’s time to breach high ground!?



In short, VG was achieving the impossible, or somehow cheating. Teams simply do not lose in 15 minutes unless the laning stage is a disaster. Yet while VG experienced several good laning phases, many of their breakthrough victories were from seemingly even laning. On top of all this, VG did not run all-in push lineups. They only rarely employed Pugna, and always had a reasonable late-game option like Nature’s Prophet or Luna/DK/Doom tri-core. Lastly, they were too manly for Necrobooks. These were not minion pushes, they were assaults fueled by Rotk’s heart and passion.



Vici Gaming (Radiant)







Evil Geniuses (Dire)







By first sight, EG has a more deathballish lineup than VG with much better counter-initiation; VG’s lineup does not peak more at controlled 5v5’s during 10-20 minutes. Yet VG took high ground when the score was 3-3. Normal logic did not apply to them. Instead, a number of subtle factors were at work here.



1) From 6-15 minutes, VG maneuvers in such a way to take every outer tower and potentially Roshan while cramping their opponent and limiting farming space. Despite grouping up as 5 for most of this time, VG’s players magically keep up or pull ahead on farm. Though they do get a tower lead, VG often takes much more than the 6k~ gold advantage from taking all the towers due to their greater efficiency and precise movements.



2) VG hits a very specific timing window where teams do not have crucial items required for a successful defense. For example, Newbee did not have all the Blinks and Forces they needed to properly initiate when running Batrider/Brewmaster in their group stage loss to VG. Similarly, EG did not possess a Mek nor key Blinks in both of their losses. EG could not defend any outer towers because VG’s supports blocked Zai’s (Sand King) jungle stack in game 1. In game 3, Mason’s Void was so far behind due to Rotk’s early lane pressure that he was essentially a support. This timing also punished teams who tried to invest in the late-game, most notably Arteezy twice getting a 12 minute catchup Midas only to lose a rax 2 minutes later. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, many heroes simply would not have buyback so early in the game. As buyback is one of the most crucial ingredients for successfully holding high ground, VG would hit a very narrow window where teams had to choose between key items like Blinks or Meks, or buyback. Either way, they’d lose.



3) VG boasts of perfect positional discipline and flowing movement in chaotic fights, where their individual skill can truly shine. Gaze in awe as their heroes always stay just out of range of EG, forcing them to use big aoe combos on individual heroes. On the other hand, VG’s heroes dart back into the fray at the perfect time to use their disables and turn the fight. As boring as 15 minute deathball wins may superficially seem, VG’s execution of it is nothing less than art. This is the highest teamfight skill level in dota.



Teamfights





Great execution from VG against EG.







Tactics



While VG boasts the most refined strategy of the tournament, Newbee’s biggest edge is in Xiao8’s precise ganks and their ability to exploit tactical weaknesses, as EG found out in the Winner's Bracket finals. In Game One, EG ran a 4 protect 1 Naga strategy, while Newbee attempted a risky Lifestealer pick - a heavily nerfed carry who performs poorly against a Naga. Newbee evidently had studied Arteezy’s movements and deduced his poor ganking sense was the major hole in EG’s plan. After a series of impressive ganks by Newbee, Arteezy ended up 0-7 in the mid-game, and the rest of his team could not adequately compensate for the pressure.





Newbee’s smokes are extremely precise and harrowing to play against.





Newbee pulls the exact among of heroes they need to safely kill SK bottom, while still ganking Naga top without the Doom.



In game 2, Newbee shifted their focus to terrorizing Mason, who is the clear weak point in EG, while still not giving Arteezy much space. EG expected a Storm Spirit safelane to hold its own while Zai’s Enigma farmed rapidly, but Newbee’s greater foresight saw that their Spectre/Lich dual lane could actually beat the Storm/Skeleton King, despite Spectre having the weakest laning in the game. As a result of this pressure, Hao had near free-farm while Mason was effectively an extra body for EG, and EG never could get control over the game.



On the other side, though VG sports extremely disciplined movements, their biggest weakness is their inability to change plans mid-game. In game 2, VG insisted on attacking into an EG lineup featuring Black Hole and Chronosphere, two excellent counter-initiation spells and weak aggressive options. Though they had the option to secure their farm lead by forcing EG to group up by threatening 4 man movements while Sylar’s Nature’s Prophet farmed elsewhere, they instead charged into a heavily defensive lineup repeatedly and gifted EG the game.











Carry



Sylar vs Hao





Sylar is the successor of Burning, a legend whom he idolized from his youth. True to his icon, Sylar plays a very safe, farm heavy style that is exceedingly difficult to punish. Sylar has the least deaths per game at TI4 and of all-time for good reason. He won’t farm in as dangerous of areas as Burning, so his cs is not as great, but he does not die.





The epitome of Sylar dota: 0 deaths, solid contributions, and the most farm you’ll ever see on a mid Morphling.



On the other side, Hao is a fiery player who rose to prominence during the facerush era of 2011. He is the antithesis of a Chinese carry and more akin to the XBOCT of TI3, often prioritizing fighting over farming, and risk over safety. Opponents do play more cautious with Hao on the field, but he can get baited into rash engagements and doesn’t always farm as efficiently as one would hope.



Both of these players are active early, willing to fight. Despite Sylar farming 10 cs/minute on Morphling, he also hunted the helpless Bone7 and EternalEnvy around the map, severely restricting their farming simultaneously. Hao generally farms less, only because he is so busy bullying the enemy off of potential farm territory.



Though Hao is one of the top 5 carries, Sylar is the best at TI4, and arguably the player of the tournament. Though he won’t win games on his own, he is extraordinarily dependable and can be placed in any situation. In game 1 against EG, VG sacrificed Sylar dominated the Dark Seer in a 1v1 situation, and received an Orchid/Phase by 10 minutes. In game 3 they sacrificed him to a Timbersaw/Enigma lane, and he still found farm.





Like Burning, Sylar is also one of the best laners in the world.



Advantage: Sylar (heavily)





Middle



Mu vs Super





Both Super and Mu have suffered from a dip in form at various points in the past half year, but now the drought is over. Super has recovered to his TI3 and 6.79 pre-eminence, while Mu has finally combined his all-star laning with a level of mid-game efficiency he never had. Each player has had an exceptional tournament overall, oftentimes carrying the game on their shoulders. Most notably, Super’s Razor got over 400 cs at 40 minutes against DK, while Mu’s Death Prophet continually dodged Ravages with his Eul’s Scepter against EG.



The difference in quality between these two will only be determined by what heroes they are given. Newbee gives Mu either initiation heroes or tanky/snowball cores, while Super has almost exclusively played as a core role.



Advantage: Even





Off-Lane



Rotk vs Xiao8





Rotk and Xiao8 are perhaps the most similarly matched players of any two teams. They both experienced an underwhelming TI3, having played far below their normal ability. Each left to join a younger team as its leader, and both lead from the offlane role, a rarity at the pro level. Both play from the same hero pool: Doom, Nature’s Prophet, Tidehunter, though Xiao8 prefers Bat and Puck for his initiation heroes, and Rotk Clock. Lastly, they each will make questionable decisions at various points in the game because they are too concerned about overall tactical planning.



TI4 is perhaps Rotk’s best tournament to date, with very few mediocre performances and many outstanding ones. Xiao8 on the other hand, had a rough group stage but quickly regained his usual form in the playoffs. There are slight differences between them, and the outcome of the finals is most heavily dependent on their burdened roles.



Advantage: Rotk (player skill); Xiao8 (leadership)





Supports





Fy and Fenrir vs Banana and SanSheng







While they may have had a rough past half year, Fy and Fenrir once again have taken the world by storm. The first two quality young players in China, the F-combo are masters of early game aggression, chaotic teamfights, and decisive initiation. Previously, their only real competition for best in the world was DK’s Lanm and MMY. Now, they may even be better.



Though not of the same quality, Banana and Sansheng have two advantageous skillsets. The first is jungling: Banana is the world’s best Enchantress and a terrific Chen, and both move very efficiently during the peak of their heroes’ potential. In addition, Newbee’s pair work much better when given early game defensive duties: Sansheng in particular is probably the best support at covering his mid and counter-initiating.



Though both teams favor aggressive play-styles, the support duel here is the classic sword versus shield. VG’s bloodthirsty dual roam is the best in the world, while Newbee always manage to keep stable lanes. The difference in quality is only shown later on: VG, in particular Fy, have a distinct superiority in teamfight skill and more decisive initiation.



Advantage: F-duo







Fy’s (Shadow Shaman) perfect initiation: he kills Burning (Razor), separates DK’s supports from their cores, delays Ice3’s (Void) chronosphere long enough for Super’s (Death Prophet) Exorcism to eviscerate DK, and diverts DK’s fire from his teammates while still using all his abilities before death. DK could not prepare for this because Fy approached from a different angle than his team.







Storylines



Though both teams may play seemingly similar styles, their histories could not be more different. Newbee is the second attempt at a Dream Team in 2013-2014, with their rich owner having purchased the old Tongfu team, Hao from iG, and most notably, Xiao8. Newbee made further waves with the attempted purchase of Chuan and Faith from iG, which led to KingJ refusing to return and Newbee were forced to add Sansheng in his place. In essence, Newbee is an attempt to temper the brash, skillful play of Tongfu, a team of erratic fluctuations but great skill, with the proven leadership and strategic insight of Xiao8. Though Tongfu performed solidly at TI3, Xiao8’s LGD suffered from internal troubles at TI3 and received a humiliating loss from the small fry Liquid, and didn’t even make the top 8, despite having been the second best team over that past year. For him, this was a year of revenge: in the past Xiao8’s play has often been questioned, but here his exceptional leadership and strategic insight has really shown in Newbee’s march to the finals.



Almost since their inception with Sansheng, Newbee has been one of the strongest teams in the world. They went on an exceptional undefeated streak for most of spring, and nearly even won WPC Ace despite playing with their manager instead of Sansheng. Yet at TI4, Newbee stumbled and almost got knocked out entirely. First they had to win the tiebreakers against LGD and Mouz to squeak into the Bubble Bracket phase with an embarrassing 7-8 record. However, those defeats merely shook Newbee into action, as they quickly rectified their internal issues and stormed into the Winner’s Bracket, taking the shorter road into the Grand Finals.



On the reverse side of the coin, VG is the gathering of rejects. DK kicked Super and Rotk after a very disappointing 5th place in TI3, while Sylar’s individual spirit led LGD to ostracize him. Finally, Fy and Fenrir were considered unimportant prospects in a Chinese scene that demanded 4+ year old veteran players, with no eye for new talent. They all found a home together in VG, and quickly gelled, becoming friends outside the game as well.



Though VG originally rose to the top in 6.79, they could not maintain their form after the change to 6.80, to the point where they were not even reliably able to defeat western teams. Like Newbee, VG used the power of defeat well to fuel their rebirth. Their frustrating performances finally reached its culmination with the ugly 1-2 first round loss to Fnatic at ESL One. Though most predicted VG to barely grace the top 8, VG’s losses at The Summit and ESL One galvanized them into finding new innovations and refining their play. In the end, despite a very mediocre past 6 months, the abandoned players of VG surpassed the all-star team of DK that originally booted them off. Now, this financially poor, underprivileged team stands poised to win the championship that almost nobody predicted, ready to fulfill Rotk’s promise to Burning to win it all.



For anyone left reading who still cannot find a connection to these teams, watch the interview below. Nobody can complain about a boring final after understanding what Rotk’s victory meant to him, yet also cost him:











CREDITS

Contributors: Ver

Gfx: heyoka, miwi^

Editors: TheEmulator

Images: Dota2, Valve Newbee vs Vici Gaming is not the final most people wanted. In many ways it is unjust. By far the two best teams of the past year, DK and iG, are not present, condemned to a much smaller prize due to a single nightmarish day. In terms of popularity, it is also lacking. TI4 is a western tournament, and all the western teams are out. Much to the dismay of many insular fans, the only western victory in cross-ocean matches was EG over an out of sorts DK. Otherwise, it fell to the Chinese to knock out their fellow countrymen, and it is to little surprise that two of them remain in the finals. The only problem is that for many, it’s the wrong two.But for those true fans willing to look beyond superficial complaints, Newbee and VG can be extraordinarily exciting to watch. On a basic level, their games are very action packed: you won’t have to worry about DK’s 70 minute Naga farming wars. Instead, barring RoX.KIS vs Empire, this is the closest you will get to true bloody Russian Dota. They may be Chinese, but they don’t play safe; they go for the jugular.For those who claim to love watching high level Dota and seeing pristine plays, their movement is precise, their teamwork immaculate, and individual skill exceptional. Neither team turtles and relies on their opponents making unforced errors like EG. They don’t suddenly implode, nor make serious drafting oversights as iG did vs LGD, or fail to even use their best drafts like DK. Neither do they have that magical ability to lose on command as only C9 can. They don’t even depend on RNG smokes to win the early game like EG or Liquid. In contrast, VG and Newbee are the only two teams of the tournament who have shown some level of resilience to unlucky early game smokes. In particular, the group stage match between the two saw VG taking rax at 15 minutes despite starting the game 0-4.Though both teams are the masters of 5 man maneuvering and deathball pushes, they are each quite flexible: Hao and particularly Sylar have shown some dominating Morphling games, to the point where Morphling should be an auto second ban for Newbee. Even when running late-game carries, both teams prefer dual or tri core lineups in general to pushing towers early and keeping the pressure off their primary farmer. Expect to see multiple concepts by each team, whether it may be defensive AOE teamfight Luna multi-cores, space creating initiation and pushing to secure farm for a Morphling, or epic 5 man clashes under towers.Perhaps most importantly, VG has been the most creative team of the tournament, though it has been passed over by most. It may not be as flashy as some of the ideas by DK or C9, but unlike the former, it can be used almost every game, and in contrary to the latter, it has real backbone. VG’s deathball pushing strategy may seem like nothing new, though it is without precedent. To understand why, first we must remember why so few teams attempt such strategies. Ever since 2010 when buybacks had no cool-down, teams have been terrified of breaching high ground. Teams that were 25k ahead with a better late-game could be defeated by one hero buying back multiple times. Though buyback was severely nerfed afterwards, having to gain a significant lead before breaching high ground remained a constant. In 2012 at the height of Chinese dominance, drafts were made with primary regard to one question: “can this lineup breach high ground?” If it couldn’t, why even bother? In general, the required advantage to assault the base is 10k gold+ and an aegis.Some teams have tried to go high ground with less of a lead, but never with good results. In Alliance’s famous level one TP to Roshan, they started the game with a massive advantage and attempted to breach high ground at 11 minutes with a powerful Leshrac/Lone Druid pushing combo as well as an aegis.Despite their major lead and having good heroes for it, Alliance’s rash attempt was adroitly repelled by “The Great Wall of China” and gave the initiative back to DK. Despite gaining a 10k and even 20k lead later in the game, Alliance would continually bash their head against the great wall with little success, only winning the game with Roshan fights. In direct contrast to this firmly etched precedent, VG has won a series of extremely quick games at TI4:While the extreme rapidity is unheard of, what’s more shocking is that VG did not have a very large advantage in many of the games. In some of the games, they were barely ahead at all, if even that.In short, VG was achieving the impossible, or somehow cheating. Teams simply do not lose in 15 minutes unless the laning stage is a disaster. Yet while VG experienced several good laning phases, many of their breakthrough victories were from seemingly even laning. On top of all this, VG did not run all-in push lineups. They only rarely employed Pugna, and always had a reasonable late-game option like Nature’s Prophet or Luna/DK/Doom tri-core. Lastly, they were too manly for Necrobooks. These were not minion pushes, they were assaults fueled by Rotk’s heart and passion.By first sight, EG has a more deathballish lineup than VG with much better counter-initiation; VG’s lineup does not peak more at controlled 5v5’s during 10-20 minutes. Yet VG took high ground when the score was 3-3. Normal logic did not apply to them. Instead, a number of subtle factors were at work here.1) From 6-15 minutes, VG maneuvers in such a way to take every outer tower and potentially Roshan while cramping their opponent and limiting farming space. Despite grouping up as 5 for most of this time, VG’s players magically keep up or pull ahead on farm. Though they do get a tower lead, VG often takes much more than the 6k~ gold advantage from taking all the towers due to their greater efficiency and precise movements.2) VG hits a very specific timing window where teams do not have crucial items required for a successful defense. For example, Newbee did not have all the Blinks and Forces they needed to properly initiate when running Batrider/Brewmaster in their group stage loss to VG. Similarly, EG did not possess a Mek nor key Blinks in both of their losses. EG could not defend any outer towers because VG’s supports blocked Zai’s (Sand King) jungle stack in game 1. In game 3, Mason’s Void was so far behind due to Rotk’s early lane pressure that he was essentially a support. This timing also punished teams who tried to invest in the late-game, most notably Arteezy twice getting a 12 minute catchup Midas only to lose a rax 2 minutes later. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, many heroes simply would not have buyback so early in the game. As buyback is one of the most crucial ingredients for successfully holding high ground, VG would hit a very narrow window where teams had to choose between key items like Blinks or Meks, or buyback. Either way, they’d lose.3) VG boasts of perfect positional discipline and flowing movement in chaotic fights, where their individual skill can truly shine. Gaze in awe as their heroes always stay just out of range of EG, forcing them to use big aoe combos on individual heroes. On the other hand, VG’s heroes dart back into the fray at the perfect time to use their disables and turn the fight. As boring as 15 minute deathball wins may superficially seem, VG’s execution of it is nothing less than art. This is the highest teamfight skill level in dota.While VG boasts the most refined strategy of the tournament, Newbee’s biggest edge is in Xiao8’s precise ganks and their ability to exploit tactical weaknesses, as EG found out in the Winner's Bracket finals. In Game One, EG ran a 4 protect 1 Naga strategy, while Newbee attempted a risky Lifestealer pick - a heavily nerfed carry who performs poorly against a Naga. Newbee evidently had studied Arteezy’s movements and deduced his poor ganking sense was the major hole in EG’s plan. After a series of impressive ganks by Newbee, Arteezy ended up 0-7 in the mid-game, and the rest of his team could not adequately compensate for the pressure.In game 2, Newbee shifted their focus to terrorizing Mason, who is the clear weak point in EG, while still not giving Arteezy much space. EG expected a Storm Spirit safelane to hold its own while Zai’s Enigma farmed rapidly, but Newbee’s greater foresight saw that their Spectre/Lich dual lane could actually beat the Storm/Skeleton King, despite Spectre having the weakest laning in the game. As a result of this pressure, Hao had near free-farm while Mason was effectively an extra body for EG, and EG never could get control over the game.On the other side, though VG sports extremely disciplined movements, their biggest weakness is their inability to change plans mid-game. In game 2, VG insisted on attacking into an EG lineup featuring Black Hole and Chronosphere, two excellent counter-initiation spells and weak aggressive options. Though they had the option to secure their farm lead by forcing EG to group up by threatening 4 man movements while Sylar’s Nature’s Prophet farmed elsewhere, they instead charged into a heavily defensive lineup repeatedly and gifted EG the game.Sylar is the successor of Burning, a legend whom he idolized from his youth. True to his icon, Sylar plays a very safe, farm heavy style that is exceedingly difficult to punish. Sylar has the least deaths per game at TI4 and of all-time for good reason. He won’t farm in as dangerous of areas as Burning, so his cs is not as great, but he does not die.On the other side, Hao is a fiery player who rose to prominence during the facerush era of 2011. He is the antithesis of a Chinese carry and more akin to the XBOCT of TI3, often prioritizing fighting over farming, and risk over safety. Opponents do play more cautious with Hao on the field, but he can get baited into rash engagements and doesn’t always farm as efficiently as one would hope.Both of these players are active early, willing to fight. Despite Sylar farming 10 cs/minute on Morphling, he also hunted the helpless Bone7 and EternalEnvy around the map, severely restricting their farming simultaneously. Hao generally farms less, only because he is so busy bullying the enemy off of potential farm territory.Though Hao is one of the top 5 carries, Sylar is the best at TI4, and arguably the player of the tournament. Though he won’t win games on his own, he is extraordinarily dependable and can be placed in any situation. In game 1 against EG, VG sacrificed Sylar dominated the Dark Seer in a 1v1 situation, and received an Orchid/Phase by 10 minutes. In game 3 they sacrificed him to a Timbersaw/Enigma lane, and he still found farm.Advantage: Sylar (heavily)Both Super and Mu have suffered from a dip in form at various points in the past half year, but now the drought is over. Super has recovered to his TI3 and 6.79 pre-eminence, while Mu has finally combined his all-star laning with a level of mid-game efficiency he never had. Each player has had an exceptional tournament overall, oftentimes carrying the game on their shoulders. Most notably, Super’s Razor got over 400 cs at 40 minutes against DK, while Mu’s Death Prophet continually dodged Ravages with his Eul’s Scepter against EG.The difference in quality between these two will only be determined by what heroes they are given. Newbee gives Mu either initiation heroes or tanky/snowball cores, while Super has almost exclusively played as a core role.Advantage: EvenRotk and Xiao8 are perhaps the most similarly matched players of any two teams. They both experienced an underwhelming TI3, having played far below their normal ability. Each left to join a younger team as its leader, and both lead from the offlane role, a rarity at the pro level. Both play from the same hero pool: Doom, Nature’s Prophet, Tidehunter, though Xiao8 prefers Bat and Puck for his initiation heroes, and Rotk Clock. Lastly, they each will make questionable decisions at various points in the game because they are too concerned about overall tactical planning.TI4 is perhaps Rotk’s best tournament to date, with very few mediocre performances and many outstanding ones. Xiao8 on the other hand, had a rough group stage but quickly regained his usual form in the playoffs. There are slight differences between them, and the outcome of the finals is most heavily dependent on their burdened roles.Advantage: Rotk (player skill); Xiao8 (leadership)While they may have had a rough past half year, Fy and Fenrir once again have taken the world by storm. The first two quality young players in China, the F-combo are masters of early game aggression, chaotic teamfights, and decisive initiation. Previously, their only real competition for best in the world was DK’s Lanm and MMY. Now, they may even be better.Though not of the same quality, Banana and Sansheng have two advantageous skillsets. The first is jungling: Banana is the world’s best Enchantress and a terrific Chen, and both move very efficiently during the peak of their heroes’ potential. In addition, Newbee’s pair work much better when given early game defensive duties: Sansheng in particular is probably the best support at covering his mid and counter-initiating.Though both teams favor aggressive play-styles, the support duel here is the classic sword versus shield. VG’s bloodthirsty dual roam is the best in the world, while Newbee always manage to keep stable lanes. The difference in quality is only shown later on: VG, in particular Fy, have a distinct superiority in teamfight skill and more decisive initiation.Advantage: F-duoFy’s (Shadow Shaman) perfect initiation: he kills Burning (Razor), separates DK’s supports from their cores, delays Ice3’s (Void) chronosphere long enough for Super’s (Death Prophet) Exorcism to eviscerate DK, and diverts DK’s fire from his teammates while still using all his abilities before death. DK could not prepare for this because Fy approached from a different angle than his team.Though both teams may play seemingly similar styles, their histories could not be more different. Newbee is the second attempt at a Dream Team in 2013-2014, with their rich owner having purchased the old Tongfu team, Hao from iG, and most notably, Xiao8. Newbee made further waves with the attempted purchase of Chuan and Faith from iG, which led to KingJ refusing to return and Newbee were forced to add Sansheng in his place. In essence, Newbee is an attempt to temper the brash, skillful play of Tongfu, a team of erratic fluctuations but great skill, with the proven leadership and strategic insight of Xiao8. Though Tongfu performed solidly at TI3, Xiao8’s LGD suffered from internal troubles at TI3 and received a humiliating loss from the small fry Liquid, and didn’t even make the top 8, despite having been the second best team over that past year. For him, this was a year of revenge: in the past Xiao8’s play has often been questioned, but here his exceptional leadership and strategic insight has really shown in Newbee’s march to the finals.Almost since their inception with Sansheng, Newbee has been one of the strongest teams in the world. They went on an exceptional undefeated streak for most of spring, and nearly even won WPC Ace despite playing with their manager instead of Sansheng. Yet at TI4, Newbee stumbled and almost got knocked out entirely. First they had to win the tiebreakers against LGD and Mouz to squeak into the Bubble Bracket phase with an embarrassing 7-8 record. However, those defeats merely shook Newbee into action, as they quickly rectified their internal issues and stormed into the Winner’s Bracket, taking the shorter road into the Grand Finals.On the reverse side of the coin, VG is the gathering of rejects. DK kicked Super and Rotk after a very disappointing 5th place in TI3, while Sylar’s individual spirit led LGD to ostracize him. Finally, Fy and Fenrir were considered unimportant prospects in a Chinese scene that demanded 4+ year old veteran players, with no eye for new talent. They all found a home together in VG, and quickly gelled, becoming friends outside the game as well.Though VG originally rose to the top in 6.79, they could not maintain their form after the change to 6.80, to the point where they were not even reliably able to defeat western teams. Like Newbee, VG used the power of defeat well to fuel their rebirth. Their frustrating performances finally reached its culmination with the ugly 1-2 first round loss to Fnatic at ESL One. Though most predicted VG to barely grace the top 8, VG’s losses at The Summit and ESL One galvanized them into finding new innovations and refining their play. In the end, despite a very mediocre past 6 months, the abandoned players of VG surpassed the all-star team of DK that originally booted them off. Now, this financially poor, underprivileged team stands poised to win the championship that almost nobody predicted, ready to fulfill Rotk’s promise to Burning to win it all.For anyone left reading who still cannot find a connection to these teams, watch the interview below. Nobody can complain about a boring final after understanding what Rotk’s victory meant to him, yet also cost him:



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