A Brief History of Chinese DotA, Part 1 February 17th, 2013 22:11 GMT Text by Kupon3ss Graphics by shiroiusagi

A Brief History of Chinese DotA: Part 1 Table of Contents



Victory Above All Else

An Introduction to Chinese DotA





The Rise of a Great Power

Chinese DotA Emerges



Dominion over Heaven and Earth

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms





That which is Long Divided

The Sundering of the Triumvirate



An Introduction to Chinese DotAChinese DotA EmergesThe Romance of the Three KingdomsThe Sundering of the Triumvirate

Victory Above All Else



"The entire scene is just much more professional. They train all the time, and that's their job!"

– Loda



Chinese DotA is not about ganking, Chinese DotA is not about pushing, Chinese DotA isn’t even about farming; Chinese DotA is about winning. From the pressure of 三核 (the three core) to the 冲脸 (facerush) of today, the consummate that ties the disparate styles of Chinese DotA together is the desire for victory. If the version and meta dictates that farming for 70 minutes is the most consistent and effective method for winning, so be it. Likewise, when pushing down all of the lanes within 30 minutes was found to be the best road to the top, Chinese DotA did not hesitate to do so with overwhelming force. This is the difference between Chinese and Western DotA; whereas most in the West pursue it as a hobby, the Chinese youngsters who embark upon this path do so with complete devotion. It is a career, even a life.



The following seeks to be a brief primer into the world of Chinese DotA, a rough sketch of what lies behind the false perception that Chinese DotA was all about farming,



Chinese DotA is not about ganking, Chinese DotA is not about pushing, Chinese DotA isn’t even about farming; Chinese DotA is about winning. From the pressure of 三核 (the three core) to the 冲脸 (facerush) of today, the consummate that ties the disparate styles of Chinese DotA together is the desire for victory. If the version and meta dictates that farming for 70 minutes is the most consistent and effective method for winning, so be it. Likewise, when pushing down all of the lanes within 30 minutes was found to be the best road to the top, Chinese DotA did not hesitate to do so with overwhelming force. This is the difference between Chinese and Western DotA; whereas most in the West pursue it as a hobby, the Chinese youngsters who embark upon this path do so with complete devotion. It is a career, even a life.The following seeks to be a brief primer into the world of Chinese DotA, a rough sketch of what lies behind the false perception that Chinese DotA was all about farming,



2009 - 大国崛起

The Rise of a Great Power Chinese DotA Emerges



With EHome’s victory in SMM 2008, Chinese DotA took the first step onto the world stage. Having been prevented from going to ESWC 2008 by visa issues, SMM’s clashes of the finest teams SEA had to offer drew less attention than a foray to Europe likely would have, but it certainly made legends like Loda pay attention. Perhaps the first glimpse of a distinct Chinese style came when a team obtained some “secret Chinese replays” with the first trademark Chinese hero – Bristleback. In fact, the hero began to make a splash in China when it became heavily nerfed, the first of many testaments to the strength and understanding of Chinese DotA.



The scene developed with a style that was an amalgamation of Western and SEA styles, spiced with Chinese elements. EHome and KS.cn, the two strongest teams at the start of the era, both ran highly aggressive styles. EHome’s play often centered around gank and push, while KS.cn favored a push/teamfight composition. Ironically, in those early days, BurNIng was known as the best Chen in China, while LongDD (the best carry in China during his time on KS.cn) played first position for EHome and was famed for his farming ability. That their reputations would be flipped years later should come as no surprise to fans of Chinese DotA.



The establishment of For The Dream in August, and the release of 6.64 in October, would set the stage for the rise of China. Importing the nascent SEA style of running three lanes, FTD would hone that lineup to perfection and come to own the era.



三核 - Three Cores







Tanking, Damaging, Winning Meet the Cores



The three core meta is perhaps the first famous Chinese Style. Its workings come from an early understanding of lanes and of pressure. Fundamentally, it relied upon the use of 3 carries or semi-carries that were difficult to gank, and could clear waves quickly and scale very effectively into the lategame.



Its use and effectiveness can be summed up by this simple paradigm: if it takes three enemy heroes to gank one of your cores, the lane pressure and farm accumulated in the other two lanes will more than offset the benefit of the gank. With this consistent economic and creepwave advantage, combined with superior lategame scaling, the overall theory was nearly flawless for the game version.



As 2009 would show, the normal progression for such a lineup is three farmed heroes at 30-35 minutes pushing down the base like a set of relentless waves until the pressure forces the other team to buckle. However, even though the lineup scales brilliantly, it can be stalled, should the midgame plan fail to pan out. The standardized lineup involved a core to control midgame tempo, a core to be the frontline tank, and a core to carry the world, along with a pure support and a teamfight support. In the famous game below, #1 - #5 would be SF, Razor, PL, CM, and ES.



SMM 2009





SMM 2009 ft. FTD

Gx (5), 2009 (2)(C), ZSMJ (1), Benz(Sharingan) (4), KingJ (3)

note: the 1-5 denotes the player's respective positions, with (C) denoting the captain













"自己菜=。=那场要是3800没被打掉的话我们可能早就输了"

"We were noob =。= if we didn't kill the relic we would have lost that game before long." - Chuan



The culmination of this would come at SMM 2009 during the end of the year. The most famous game would be between KingSurf and FTD, the legendary “we can give you 3800 gold and still win” showdown. It was here that the seven-minute relic was born. The tournament would be the first to showcase Chinese DotA to the world. Three western teams had been quickly eliminated, and could only watch from the sidelines as the Chinese went head to head in the finals.



"In the year 2009, the tournament that changed the way the world played DotA – SMM, CD, EHome, FTD, three teams together raising the Chinese flag occupying all three slots of the podium." - 2009

With EHome’s victory in SMM 2008, Chinese DotA took the first step onto the world stage. Having been prevented from going to ESWC 2008 by visa issues, SMM’s clashes of the finest teams SEA had to offer drew less attention than a foray to Europe likely would have, but it certainly made legends like Loda pay attention. Perhaps the first glimpse of a distinct Chinese style came when a team obtained some “secret Chinese replays” with the first trademark Chinese hero – Bristleback. In fact, the hero began to make a splash in China when it became heavily nerfed, the first of many testaments to the strength and understanding of Chinese DotA.The scene developed with a style that was an amalgamation of Western and SEA styles, spiced with Chinese elements. EHome and KS.cn, the two strongest teams at the start of the era, both ran highly aggressive styles. EHome’s play often centered around gank and push, while KS.cn favored a push/teamfight composition. Ironically, in those early days, BurNIng was known as the best Chen in China, while LongDD (the best carry in China during his time on KS.cn) played first position for EHome and was famed for his farming ability. That their reputations would be flipped years later should come as no surprise to fans of Chinese DotA.The establishment of For The Dream in August, and the release of 6.64 in October, would set the stage for the rise of China. Importing the nascent SEA style of running three lanes, FTD would hone that lineup to perfection and come to own the era.The three core meta is perhaps the first famous Chinese Style. Its workings come from an early understanding of lanes and of pressure. Fundamentally, it relied upon the use of 3 carries or semi-carries that were difficult to gank, and could clear waves quickly and scale very effectively into the lategame.Its use and effectiveness can be summed up by this simple paradigm: if it takes three enemy heroes to gank one of your cores, the lane pressure and farm accumulated in the other two lanes will more than offset the benefit of the gank. With this consistent economic and creepwave advantage, combined with superior lategame scaling, the overall theory was nearly flawless for the game version.As 2009 would show, the normal progression for such a lineup is three farmed heroes at 30-35 minutes pushing down the base like a set of relentless waves until the pressure forces the other team to buckle. However, even though the lineup scales brilliantly, it can be stalled, should the midgame plan fail to pan out. The standardized lineup involved a core to control midgame tempo, a core to be the frontline tank, and a core to carry the world, along with a pure support and a teamfight support. In the famous game below, #1 - #5 would be SF, Razor, PL, CM, and ES.SMM 2009 ft. FTDGx (5), 2009 (2)(C), ZSMJ (1), Benz(Sharingan) (4), KingJ (3)"自己菜=。=那场要是3800没被打掉的话我们可能早就输了""We were noob =。= if we didn't kill the relic we would have lost that game before long." - ChuanThe culmination of this would come at SMM 2009 during the end of the year. The most famous game would be between KingSurf and FTD, the legendary “we can give you 3800 gold and still win” showdown. It was here that the seven-minute relic was born. The tournament would be the first to showcase Chinese DotA to the world. Three western teams had been quickly eliminated, and could only watch from the sidelines as the Chinese went head to head in the finals."In the year 2009, the tournament that changed the way the world played DotA – SMM, CD, EHome, FTD, three teams together raising the Chinese flag occupying all three slots of the podium." - 2009



2010 - 独霸天下

Dominion over Heaven and Earth The Romance of the Three Kingdoms



The three core style would, for a time, dominate the scene, as FTD gained the sponsorship of LGD to emerge as the most enduring franchise in the Chinese DotA Scene. EHome's persistent use of the old gank->push style proved ineffective in the face of the consistency and adaptability of the lumbering Juggernaut. It would be the change of seasons that led to another evolution. With the nerf of Vanguard and the ever-increasing standard of player laning ability, the tempo of DotA sped up once again, and the top Chinese teams would soon have to wrangle with the new meta, filled with aggressive ganks and the first advent of tactics like dual roam and trilane carry that are standard today.



爹妈大战 - Paternal Strife (LGD vs EHome)



Towards the middle of 2010, Chinese DotA began to shift again. While aggression had been the hallmark of the last era, with relentless pushing and aggressive lineups as the golden standard of competitive play, the new meta first focused on securing an advantage via midgame clashes, and then using it to push yourselves to victory late game. Two teams, LGD and EHome, would emerge as the strongest teams of the age, and their legendary clashes would shape the way the game itself was seen. DotA was played in ways never before seen, and the hidden elements of the game were revealed along the path to perfection that these two teams followed. Over time, their aggression was tempered, their pushing became reserved; the hot-blooded ganking and relentless pushing lineups of the age would fade in favor of the turtle, where simply stalling could lead to victory.



The following video, translated by the author, is a brilliant highlight of the shift in action. LGD and EHome would face off countless times this year, but this pair of games brilliantly summed up the tipping point between push and turtle.









ESWC 2010





ESWC 2010 ft. EHome

357/QQQ (4), BurNIng (1), 820 (5)(C), KingJ (3), Dai/X!!/MMY (2)

ESWC 2010 ft. EHome357/QQQ (4), BurNIng (1), 820 (5)(C), KingJ (3), Dai/X!!/MMY (2)



ESWC 2010 was a watershed moment, for it was the absolute zenith of Chinese DotA. The majesty of the strongest team in the world playing a version that it had fully mastered using mechanics and a meta that was significantly superior to those of its hapless opponents revealed a scene of absolute dominion. Despite picking an extreme late game carry like Medusa or Morphling in almost every game, EHome managed to average less than 35 minutes a game as it crushed all opposition in its near-flawess run. Over the entire course of the tournament, EHome played from behind for only around eight minutes.





A tribute to a bygone team of a bygone era, masters of the world in their time. A tribute to a bygone team of a bygone era, masters of the world in their time.



四保一 - Four Protect One







No rush 40min pl0x



The Lords of Turtle



Where Midgame?



The Vassals of Turtle



No farm, no exp, all antipush The Kings of TurtleThe Lords of TurtleThe Vassals of Turtle



The development of the trilane and the emergence of freefarming carries, combined with the emphasis on stalling and lategame oriented play, led quickly to the absolute 4-1 strategy. This would be Chinese DotA at both its most precise and at its most absurd. If both sides ran solid trilanes that were unassailable and warded mid correctly, then the first 20 minutes of each game might as well just be skipped as top-tier Chinese mids fought each other to more or less a draw and both carries got freefarm, while the supports afk-pulled.



A guaranteed progression into midgame with a pair of extremely well-farmed carries and underfarmed supports only led to more farming, since, as LGD vs EHome had already proven, the only way to win was to get so farmed you could 5v10. As such, why even bother fighting when everything would be decided by farm?



With heroes like Spectre, Alchemist, Medusa, and Morphling, the 4-1 offered ridiculous amounts of physical DPS on the back of nigh-invincible carries that could wipe out the enemy back line in an instant. This in turn would lead to buybacks and stalemates as the winning team was usually forced to retreat, allowing the losing team to farm for even more buybacks.



Finally, a single game took this concept to its logical extreme. In this match, EHome was able to completely dominate the early game and ended up controlling the map against LGD. Yet, the lesson of the era was that turtling could win games, with multiple games reversed by ZSMJ's Medusa turtling to save the world with a maxed out inventory. EHome simply controlled the map and maxed out three heroes before even attempting to go onto LGD's high ground. At 75 minutes, there were five rapiers on the map, and the score was 7:8. EHome's execution was indeed masterful, using mobile semi-cores to control the map and slowly building up the advantage necessary to take LGD's high ground by storm. However, as every exhausted commentator, player, and viewer would express, the trend had reached its inevitable conclusion, and it blew. This was not the DotA we wanted.



The Chinese version of the cast is below, should one wish to relive the true nature of the brief period of Chinese "farming" meta (warning: do not watch unless you are willing to die of boredom)









WDC 2010



WDC 2010 ft. Nv.cn (and DTS)

Zhou (1)(C), DGC (4), Yaphets (2), Insense (5), Banana (3) WDC 2010 ft. Nv.cn (and DTS)Zhou (1)(C), DGC (4), Yaphets (2), Insense (5), Banana (3)



With 6.69c released and the community becoming increasingly disdainful of the way the LGD and EHome rivalry concluded, WDC was a surprising breath of fresh air that swept across the dreary battlefield that was Chinese DotA. A single match would bring new life to an ancient way of war and help usher in an era vastly different to the one it followed.







It would be DTS, the forerunner of Na`Vi, that would bring a pushing lineup back into the spotlight. The pushing cores of Lone Druid (Syllabear) and Panda would do surprisingly well against EHome, the undisputed master of the late game 4-1, and Enchantress would plunge a dagger into the pride of Chinese DotA in these matches. DTS ended with a respectable third place in the tournament after performing one of the biggest upsets in history.









The bloodletting would, however, lead to a renewal; Nirvana.cn would quickly showcase exactly what a prepared team could do against a pushing lineup. Sadly, the rivalry and earth-shattering duels between EHome and LGD obscured the strength of the third member of the triumvirate – Nirvana.cn. The team, anchored by Zhou and Yaphets, continued to play a dual core strategy that ran contrary to the extreme lategame of LGD and EHome and finally saw their ingenuity in the midgame rewarded in the tournament.



The lesson had been learned. The potential of Lone Druid had been discovered and would eventually be perfected as an integral part of modern Chinese DotA. The curtain had set on the "farming" era of the Chinese metagame. There was no question, however, that the lessons learned during this period of high economy play would give the Chinese teams an undisputed edge in any late game situation.

The three core style would, for a time, dominate the scene, as FTD gained the sponsorship of LGD to emerge as the most enduring franchise in the Chinese DotA Scene. EHome's persistent use of the old gank->push style proved ineffective in the face of the consistency and adaptability of the lumbering Juggernaut. It would be the change of seasons that led to another evolution. With the nerf of Vanguard and the ever-increasing standard of player laning ability, the tempo of DotA sped up once again, and the top Chinese teams would soon have to wrangle with the new meta, filled with aggressive ganks and the first advent of tactics like dual roam and trilane carry that are standard today.Towards the middle of 2010, Chinese DotA began to shift again. While aggression had been the hallmark of the last era, with relentless pushing and aggressive lineups as the golden standard of competitive play, the new meta first focused on securing an advantage via midgame clashes, and then using it to push yourselves to victory late game. Two teams, LGD and EHome, would emerge as the strongest teams of the age, and their legendary clashes would shape the way the game itself was seen. DotA was played in ways never before seen, and the hidden elements of the game were revealed along the path to perfection that these two teams followed. Over time, their aggression was tempered, their pushing became reserved; the hot-blooded ganking and relentless pushing lineups of the age would fade in favor of the turtle, where simply stalling could lead to victory.The following video, translated by the author, is a brilliant highlight of the shift in action. LGD and EHome would face off countless times this year, but this pair of games brilliantly summed up the tipping point between push and turtle.ESWC 2010 was a watershed moment, for it was the absolute zenith of Chinese DotA. The majesty of the strongest team in the world playing a version that it had fully mastered using mechanics and a meta that was significantly superior to those of its hapless opponents revealed a scene of absolute dominion. Despite picking an extreme late game carry like Medusa or Morphling in almost every game, EHome managed to average less than 35 minutes a game as it crushed all opposition in its near-flawess run. Over the entire course of the tournament, EHome played from behind for only around eight minutes.The development of the trilane and the emergence of freefarming carries, combined with the emphasis on stalling and lategame oriented play, led quickly to the absolute 4-1 strategy. This would be Chinese DotA at both its most precise and at its most absurd. If both sides ran solid trilanes that were unassailable and warded mid correctly, then the first 20 minutes of each game might as well just be skipped as top-tier Chinese mids fought each other to more or less a draw and both carries got freefarm, while the supports afk-pulled.A guaranteed progression into midgame with a pair of extremely well-farmed carries and underfarmed supports only led to more farming, since, as LGD vs EHome had already proven, the only way to win was to get so farmed you could 5v10. As such, why even bother fighting when everything would be decided by farm?With heroes like Spectre, Alchemist, Medusa, and Morphling, the 4-1 offered ridiculous amounts of physical DPS on the back of nigh-invincible carries that could wipe out the enemy back line in an instant. This in turn would lead to buybacks and stalemates as the winning team was usually forced to retreat, allowing the losing team to farm for even more buybacks.Finally, a single game took this concept to its logical extreme. In this match, EHome was able to completely dominate the early game and ended up controlling the map against LGD. Yet, the lesson of the era was that turtling could win games, with multiple games reversed by ZSMJ's Medusa turtling to save the world with a maxed out inventory. EHome simply controlled the map and maxed out three heroes before even attempting to go onto LGD's high ground. At 75 minutes, there were five rapiers on the map, and the score was 7:8. EHome's execution was indeed masterful, using mobile semi-cores to control the map and slowly building up the advantage necessary to take LGD's high ground by storm. However, as every exhausted commentator, player, and viewer would express, the trend had reached its inevitable conclusion, and it blew. This was not the DotA we wanted.The Chinese version of the cast is below, should one wish to relive the true nature of the brief period of Chinese "farming" meta (warning: do not watch unless you are willing to die of boredom)With 6.69c released and the community becoming increasingly disdainful of the way the LGD and EHome rivalry concluded, WDC was a surprising breath of fresh air that swept across the dreary battlefield that was Chinese DotA. A single match would bring new life to an ancient way of war and help usher in an era vastly different to the one it followed.It would be DTS, the forerunner of Na`Vi, that would bring a pushing lineup back into the spotlight. The pushing cores of Lone Druid (Syllabear) and Panda would do surprisingly well against EHome, the undisputed master of the late game 4-1, and Enchantress would plunge a dagger into the pride of Chinese DotA in these matches. DTS ended with a respectable third place in the tournament after performing one of the biggest upsets in history.The bloodletting would, however, lead to a renewal; Nirvana.cn would quickly showcase exactly what a prepared team could do against a pushing lineup. Sadly, the rivalry and earth-shattering duels between EHome and LGD obscured the strength of the third member of the triumvirate – Nirvana.cn. The team, anchored by Zhou and Yaphets, continued to play a dual core strategy that ran contrary to the extreme lategame of LGD and EHome and finally saw their ingenuity in the midgame rewarded in the tournament.The lesson had been learned. The potential of Lone Druid had been discovered and would eventually be perfected as an integral part of modern Chinese DotA. The curtain had set on the "farming" era of the Chinese metagame. There was no question, however, that the lessons learned during this period of high economy play would give the Chinese teams an undisputed edge in any late game situation.



2011 - 分久必合，合久必分

That which is long divided shall unite;

That which is long united shall divide.

The New Chinese DotA



Sundering of the Triumvirates

Following a year of stability and a constant elevation in the level of DotA, the Chinese scene would be caught by an earthquake. The old empires of EHome, LGD, and Nirvana.cn would all undergo drastic changes, while the arrival of new powerhouses like DK, CCM, and Tyloo would muddy the waters and shatter the conventions of DotA that had been built up over the year prior.



冲脸 - FaceRush

The first facerush was a reactionary style that responded to the massive onus that the 4-1 placed on late game hard carries. Its existence was made possible by main two factors. One was the development and usage of heroes that could play well against trilanes. The second, of course, was midgame teamfight carries that could not only overpower hard carries mid game, but could also scale well enough to be viable late game against traditional hard carries. Heroes who mature quickly, push effectively, as well as able to go toe to toe against late game carries with the advantage acquired during the midgame.







1v3? EZ



20 Min Rax?!



Push, Kill, Carry Masters of the Lanes20 Min Rax?!



The TP and buyback changes were also an important factor in these meta changes. With the increase in cost and the existence of cooldowns for these spells, turtling with TPs and BB was no longer a surefire ticket to buy more time and usher in the endgame needed by the late game carries.



The prospect of not always getting guaranteed freefarm, combined with possible midgame disaster, the extreme lategame 4-1 style that had come to exemplify Chinese DotA quickly went out of vogue. Games once again involved head-on teamfights that sundered the earth, as though the reserve shown in earlier months had been a dam waiting to burst. DotA once again became a hot-blooded affair, typified by the arrival of Seaking and Hao, a pair of new-kid-on-the-block carries whose hallmark would be midgame devastation.



ECL 2011





CCM 2011

DDC (5), 430 (3), Xiao8 (2), SanSheng (4), Zhou (1)(C) CCM 2011DDC (5), 430 (3), Xiao8 (2), SanSheng (4), Zhou (1)(C)



Taking place during the most early-game oriented meta in history, ECL was a world where Lone Druid, a core that had been used as part of all-in pushing lineups just months before was now a late-game carry. Few games of this era would take longer than 25 minutes before the first attempt on a rax.



Here the midgame would be dominant, with momentum and teamfights deciding it all. Each game was perhaps still a race against the clock as more late-game oriented lineups attempted to hold off faster-paced invaders. To the stark contrast to the games just months ago, however, the pushing side won more often than not; and the average game length was 35 instead of 65 minutes.



The finals would feature LGD against CCM in a flurry of action and non-stop teamfights. The slow waltz bad become a blitz.



Highlights of games 1 and 2





Highlights of games 1 and 2

(vods for game 3 unavailable for some reason)



To be continued in Part 2!

迷茫 - At a Loss

The Chinese at TI1





Special thanks to shiroiusagi, riptide, SirJolt, TheEmulator, CountChocula, TanGeng, and the rest of the TL Dota staff/editors, as well as BTS for helping popularize Chinese Dota 2 in the west, and Felix for the help from his past articles.



References



http://www.gosugamers.net/general/thread.php?id=575118

-CCM

http://dota.sgamer.com/201107/news-detail-93953.html

-Innovations (post 2011)

http://dota.sgamer.com/201211/news-detail-156102.html

-On the Demise of Morph + Spec

http://bbs.sgamer.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=10022108&extra=page%3D1%26filter%3Ddigest%26digest%3D1%26digest%3D1

-Chronicle of Chinese DotA

http://bbs.sgamer.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=10127616&extra=page%3D1%26filter%3Ddigest%26digest%3D1%26digest%3D1

-6.48-.71

http://dota.sgamer.com/201103/news-detail-80790_page=6.html

Chinese Dota 2010

http://bbs.sgamer.com/thread-10208355-1-1.html Loda interview-CCM-Innovations (post 2011)-On the Demise of Morph + Spec-Chronicle of Chinese DotA-6.48-.71Chinese Dota 2010

Following a year of stability and a constant elevation in the level of DotA, the Chinese scene would be caught by an earthquake. The old empires of EHome, LGD, and Nirvana.cn would all undergo drastic changes, while the arrival of new powerhouses like DK, CCM, and Tyloo would muddy the waters and shatter the conventions of DotA that had been built up over the year prior.The first facerush was a reactionary style that responded to the massive onus that the 4-1 placed on late game hard carries. Its existence was made possible by main two factors. One was the development and usage of heroes that could play well against trilanes. The second, of course, was midgame teamfight carries that could not only overpower hard carries mid game, but could also scale well enough to be viable late game against traditional hard carries. Heroes who mature quickly, push effectively, as well as able to go toe to toe against late game carries with the advantage acquired during the midgame.The TP and buyback changes were also an important factor in these meta changes. With the increase in cost and the existence of cooldowns for these spells, turtling with TPs and BB was no longer a surefire ticket to buy more time and usher in the endgame needed by the late game carries.The prospect of not always getting guaranteed freefarm, combined with possible midgame disaster, the extreme lategame 4-1 style that had come to exemplify Chinese DotA quickly went out of vogue. Games once again involved head-on teamfights that sundered the earth, as though the reserve shown in earlier months had been a dam waiting to burst. DotA once again became a hot-blooded affair, typified by the arrival of Seaking and Hao, a pair of new-kid-on-the-block carries whose hallmark would be midgame devastation.Taking place during the most early-game oriented meta in history, ECL was a world where Lone Druid, a core that had been used as part of all-in pushing lineups just months before was now a late-game carry. Few games of this era would take longer than 25 minutes before the first attempt on a rax.Here the midgame would be dominant, with momentum and teamfights deciding it all. Each game was perhaps still a race against the clock as more late-game oriented lineups attempted to hold off faster-paced invaders. To the stark contrast to the games just months ago, however, the pushing side won more often than not; and the average game length was 35 instead of 65 minutes.The finals would feature LGD against CCM in a flurry of action and non-stop teamfights. The slow waltz bad become a blitz.(vods for game 3 unavailable for some reason)迷茫 - At a LossThe Chinese at TI1Special thanks to shiroiusagi, riptide, SirJolt, TheEmulator, CountChocula, TanGeng, and the rest of the TL Dota staff/editors, as well as BTS for helping popularize Chinese Dota 2 in the west, and Felix for the help from his past articles.



When in doubt, just believe in yourself and press buttons