This is the second half of a team profile piece on Newbee, for the dota 2 magazine (check it out). For editorial/stylistic reasons the more in depth second half didn’t make it in, so here it is instead.

Team Style and Strategy

If you had to narrow the way Newbee approach the game, to describe their greatest qualities, it would have to be in their teamwork, movement and versatility. When they seem to get the drafts they want, Newbee play as an embodiment of Hao’s personal style. It is aggressive, but controlled and directed. Take risks early if you can get an advantage, fight hard as a team come midgame, take control of the map. A faster pace has been the direction of the last couple of patches, which does suit Hao wonderfully.

What enables Newbee is their understanding of draft timings and picks, and their elite execution and teamwork. The way the team has melded into one so quickly is actually quite astonishing. Other teams usually take far longer to build the same level of coordination. Looking at you, Secret.

In order of priority, Newbee draft to win fights, lanes, then control the map. They aren’t necessarily reliant on a blitzkrieg early game, though as a consequence of style and skill they often enjoy them. Instead they like heroes who can survive lanes and contribute in the mid game fights, where they like to decide games. Lone Druid, Dragon Knight and Tidehunter are frequent core picks which illustrate this point. All are very difficult to shove out of a lane, while LD and Tide are easily able to rotate into the jungle if you commit the resources make them. What they bring come midgame is strong teamfight and the ability to farm and take objectives rapidly.

On the support side, Chuan’s Enchantress and Kaka’s Phoenix are good examples. Enchantress can win lanes or farm for mid/late depending on the game, while Phoenix can simultaneously zone the offlaner, sustain the carry and dominate team fights early and late. It’s a very well-crafted and balanced set of heroes, in whichever combination. Importantly, Newbee almost never get caught trying to be too greedy. Generally it’s a just tri core setup, with the supports sharing the duties, and only if the game permits will they try to transition Chuan or Kaka into a fourth core with Enchantress or Doom for example.

Vulnerabilities

The two games Newbee have looked most vulnerable were their game 1 losses against OG and Liquid. Chaun on Enchantress dominated Miracle’s Invoker, but OG made space for him to catch up, and he split pushed exceptionally well in return, managing to take a barracks plus kills for nothing in a highlight play. Liquid were able to capitalize on a strong early game with the lightning pushing power of Mutumbaman’s Lycan, overwhelming Newbee before they could stabilize. Lycan was first phase banned for the rest of the series. The games give an indication that pushing and split pushing is the way to play into Newbee’s favoured strongman drafts.

The other major factor for playing into Newbee has been in the warding wars. To consistently be making good trades through good movement, Newbee have been reliant on aggressive wards, favored deep in enemy territory. If Newbee can see the enemy, they are safe and may do as they please. If the enemy is missing from lanes and their deep wards, then Newbee know something is amiss and can play accordingly. It’s an extremely effective strategy.

It should then be no surprise other teams have wised up to Newbee’s plans. In game 1 of the Manila qualifier grand final Ehome’s veteran supports LaNm and Fenrir put on an extraordinary dewarding performance. No less than 6 wards were dispatched, many near immediately, in the first 14 minutes. Normally such warding dominance should result in a favorable early game and snowballing midgame, but it didn’t matter. Ehome couldn’t kill Newbee’s tanky heroes reliably, and Newbee played patiently before crushing in the important fights.

At epicenter the western teams were well prepared, especially later in the tournament, but despite consistently dewarding it often wasn’t enough. Teams still couldn’t win fights. OG actually attempted to run a core Moonmeander Nighstalker against Newbee in their game 2 to lockdown the map. Unfortunately for OG they couldn’t muster the momentum to get it online early enough, nor to truly take advantage of it, though OG pressed Newbee very hard for the win. Liquid put a similar importance on vision control and map mobility, featuring drafts with Zeus, Riki, Beastmaster, and Io.

Reading this , one could easily develop the impression Newbee are a formulaic, predictable team, waiting to be found out sooner or later, but that would be misleading. Underneath macro strategies, the fundamental reason for their success has been in the little things. The small outplays, the map awareness, the coordination in fights, and moving on the map. It’s taking advantage of timings, exploiting cooldowns, but anticipating their opponents above all. They have even shown a willingness to take risks in drafts, throwing up unexpected picks, like carry Veno, support Nyx, and offlane QoP.

Conclusion

After Shanghai, some began to fear even for the long term competitiveness of China. So far Newbee have not only put those worries to rest, but their combination of old and new has rekindled the passion and inner fire crucial for competition. This is a team that holds the promise of greatness, and now carries with them the dreams of their nation.