D2L Season 5 - Vegas, Baby! January 4th, 2015 19:22 GMT Text by OmniEulogy Graphics by Ninjan D2L Season 5 Finals

Vegas, Baby



1st round preview



Liquipedia



Vegas, Baby

With the D2L Season 5 Finals quickly approaching there is now an opportunity for teams who missed out on taking first place by mere games to have another shot at the very start of the new year. In the midst of other tournaments filled with drama and discord with their rulings and decisions, D2L managed to handle their problems with class while seemingly keeping good relations with the teams that unfortunately had to pull out from the tournament. With Team Secret, C9, and Alliance all pulling out of the group stages it left a much better chance for other teams to make it to the LAN finals. Empire took full advantage of this and had an amazing unbeaten run through the Western qualifier play-offs, leaping from fourth place to the LAN finals. Unfortunately after finally getting the chance to reclaim some of their former glory they had to forfeit their spot due to visa issues and are passing the chance on to VP.Polar.



The LAN finals take place on January 5th and 6th at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. We will see CDEC and LV make their first appearances in North America, while VP.Polar will be replacing Empire at the finals with Jimmy "DeMoN" Ho standing in for Lil. LV will also be playing with an interesting roster with Mushi and Ohaiyo coming as a stand-in, with rumors whispering that this LV squad may become a brand new EHOME in the near future. EG also has made some huge changes right before the finals after the team bid farewell to Arteezy and Zai, welcoming newcomer Sumail as well as former C9 support Aui_2000. This tournament will definitely be a test for Sumail and Aui to see how quickly they can adapt and fit in with the rest of the team, and in Sumail's case how he performs on the big stage.



The teams will be playing for a total of roughly $125,000 with first place claiming $62,000 USD. CDEC and LV have the added agenda of proving to themselves and their fans that they are capable of winning gold. VP.Polar looks to take their first tournament win in 2015 to follow up their wins in Battle of Central Europe and Yard Red in December. EG fights to prove that despite recent results against Chinese teams, specifically VG at The Summit 2 and ESL One NY, they can still stand up and defend their home turf regardless of their roster changes.



One way or another this tournament is shaping up to be a very promising start to the 2015 season.





Who will fight their way to the top?

1st Round Preview Evil Geniuses vs. LV Gaming

The first match of the LAN finals will pit EG and LV against each other in a bo3 that could go either way. EG is bringing in Sumail to replace Arteezy mid and he has his work cut out for him immediately as he will be facing off against Mushi in the mid lane. However Sumail has PPD behind him both as his drafter and as his support and that might just give him the edge in lane combined with his raw talent. LV is no slouch in this department though, with Mushi and Ohaiyo standing in and former LGD member DDC, CIS player and Captain of the team Inflame, along with TongFu,Wanzhou's YJ the team is certainly no push over. After beating LGD 3-2 in the eastern play-offs they'll be looking ahead to test themselves against this new EG squad.



Prediction: EG 2-1 LV. PPD's ability as a captain and drafter should give them the extra edge needed to take the series barring any large mistakes from Universe or Fear.



CDEC Gaming vs. Virtus.pro Polar These two teams have a lot in common. Both had great runs in 2014, placed well in tournaments, performed well against T1 and T2 teams alike, and were breakout teams that had formed as an already existing organizations second team. CDEC is still looking for their first place win in a tournament and definitely have a real shot at doing it in Las Vegas. With a great run in the qualifiers coming first in their group, and recently qualifying for Starladder by beating VG both in the upper and lower bracket CDEC is making it well known that if you take them lightly you will lose.

VP.Polar however is looking to continue their impressive run after the great December they had. After taking 2nd place at both Dota Pit and Esportal and 1st place at both Battle of Central Europe and Yard Red they have seemed to be the most consistent CIS team ever since the team was formed.



Prediction: CDEC 2-0 VP.Polar. CDEC being the only team in the tournament playing with their full roster is definitely an advantage for them. Add that to DeMoN replacing Lil after not being seen in competitive games for awhile gives CDEC a very good chance to win this series.





CREDITS

Writer: OmniEulogy

Editors: Firebolt145, rabidch

Graphics: Ninjan With the D2L Season 5 Finals quickly approaching there is now an opportunity for teams who missed out on taking first place by mere games to have another shot at the very start of the new year. In the midst of other tournaments filled with drama and discord with their rulings and decisions, D2L managed to handle their problems with class while seemingly keeping good relations with the teams that unfortunately had to pull out from the tournament. With Team Secret, C9, and Alliance all pulling out of the group stages it left a much better chance for other teams to make it to the LAN finals. Empire took full advantage of this and had an amazing unbeaten run through the Western qualifier play-offs, leaping from fourth place to the LAN finals. Unfortunately after finally getting the chance to reclaim some of their former glory they had to forfeit their spot due to visa issues and are passing the chance on to VP.Polar.The LAN finals take place on January 5th and 6th at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. We will see CDEC and LV make their first appearances in North America, while VP.Polar will be replacing Empire at the finals with Jimmy "DeMoN" Ho standing in for Lil. LV will also be playing with an interesting roster with Mushi and Ohaiyo coming as a stand-in, with rumors whispering that this LV squad may become a brand new EHOME in the near future. EG also has made some huge changes right before the finals after the team bid farewell to Arteezy and Zai, welcoming newcomer Sumail as well as former C9 support Aui_2000. This tournament will definitely be a test for Sumail and Aui to see how quickly they can adapt and fit in with the rest of the team, and in Sumail's case how he performs on the big stage.The teams will be playing for a total of roughly $125,000 with first place claiming $62,000 USD. CDEC and LV have the added agenda of proving to themselves and their fans that they are capable of winning gold. VP.Polar looks to take their first tournament win in 2015 to follow up their wins in Battle of Central Europe and Yard Red in December. EG fights to prove that despite recent results against Chinese teams, specifically VG at The Summit 2 and ESL One NY, they can still stand up and defend their home turf regardless of their roster changes.One way or another this tournament is shaping up to be a very promising start to the 2015 season.The first match of the LAN finals will pit EG and LV against each other in a bo3 that could go either way. EG is bringing in Sumail to replace Arteezy mid and he has his work cut out for him immediately as he will be facing off against Mushi in the mid lane. However Sumail has PPD behind him both as his drafter and as his support and that might just give him the edge in lane combined with his raw talent. LV is no slouch in this department though, with Mushi and Ohaiyo standing in and former LGD member DDC, CIS player and Captain of the team Inflame, along with TongFu,Wanzhou's YJ the team is certainly no push over. After beating LGD 3-2 in the eastern play-offs they'll be looking ahead to test themselves against this new EG squad.EG 2-1 LV. PPD's ability as a captain and drafter should give them the extra edge needed to take the series barring any large mistakes from Universe or Fear.These two teams have a lot in common. Both had great runs in 2014, placed well in tournaments, performed well against T1 and T2 teams alike, and were breakout teams that had formed as an already existing organizations second team. CDEC is still looking for their first place win in a tournament and definitely have a real shot at doing it in Las Vegas. With a great run in the qualifiers coming first in their group, and recently qualifying for Starladder by beating VG both in the upper and lower bracket CDEC is making it well known that if you take them lightly you will lose.VP.Polar however is looking to continue their impressive run after the great December they had. After taking 2nd place at both Dota Pit and Esportal and 1st place at both Battle of Central Europe and Yard Red they have seemed to be the most consistent CIS team ever since the team was formed.CDEC 2-0 VP.Polar. CDEC being the only team in the tournament playing with their full roster is definitely an advantage for them. Add that to DeMoN replacing Lil after not being seen in competitive games for awhile gives CDEC a very good chance to win this series.



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