The Terror of the Battlefield: VG's Relentless Aggression April 20th, 2015 19:20 GMT Text by Ver Graphics by Ninjan

The Terror of the Battlefield:

VG's Relentless Aggression

Introduction



- Speedy Maneuvering: The Vici Hive Mind

- The Oracle of China: The Power of Deep Foresight

- Sense of Danger

- vs Secret in Winner’s Bracket

- Smoke and Mirrors

- Exploiting Avaricious Carries

- The best is yet to come



Liquipedia



Note from the editor:

This is the 2nd, and final, part of Ver's in depth look at teams from DAC 2015. Part 1, where he looks closer at Big God, can be found here.





Since TI4, VG have been the most dynamic team in the world. In tournament after tournament, their exciting style bedazzled opponents and spectators alike. No other top team plays nearly so aggressively, for the simple reason that aggressive dota demands the utmost skill, synergy, and creativity. In modern dota, if the enemy doesn't want to fight, it's very difficult to force an advantageous engagement, but time again VG have somehow managed to. Their secret? Being able to see beyond the obvious, and create situations their opponents could not foresee. Their achievements are all the more spectacular considering the sheer unforgiving nature of the rubber band patch on attacking and overextending.



It was covered extensively in part 1 how Big God excelled at static, set piece teamfights. These were characterized by fights which happened within just 1-2 screens, where all the heroes had gathered and everybody’s position was known. In these fights Big God crushed every single other team, losing only a single game of this style all tournament. Because of this strength, it seemed as though BG were the biggest beneficiaries of the "rubber-band" patch. But it was not that sort of play that defined the Dota Asian Championships.



Just like in the second half of 2014, VG were their antithesis at DAC. Since TI4 VG have been peerless in dynamic, chaotic fights where the evaluation of a fight rapidly changes by the second. This flashy, unforgiving style demands the utmost individual skill and team synergy to execute, and VG have taken it to the next level with several tactical innovations. In order to appreciate the difference, just consider the BG/Secret games versus the VG/Secret games. In the former, heroes properly arranged themselves in battle lines, lowered bayonets, and charged at each other in organized fashion. In the latter series, most fights started with small groups of heroes, such as a 2v2 or 4v3, and quickly escalated into multi-screen clashes where reinforcements joined the fray every few seconds.









A typical VG game: action in all 3 lanes with many heroes popping out of the trees.



The defining feature of VG’s style was that many movements were not made by their entire team. Unlike BG and often Secret as well, VG players would rarely preemptively group up as 5 in the early or midgame. Instead they’d start from a spread out position, farming across the map, then suddenly converge at the decisive location. It’s most instructive to watch the minimap instead of the opening initiations in their fights: right before VG would start the fight with 2-4 players - as a rule they thrived with the initiative - their remaining allies would immediately TP to the closest tower or abruptly change direction in a mad dash to the hot spot. Oftentimes these decisions were made with limited information, showcasing VG’s ability to divine the likely outcome while blind. In one fight against Secret, Super TP’d back to lane at just ¼ hp gambling that Secret would chase and not retreat, a decision that resulted in 2 additional kills which they would not have otherwise gotten.









Here VG is set up in a farming posture, with Axe pushing top, SF mid, Nyx and Skywrath roaming, and Troll halfway across the map in the ancients. Just over 10 seconds later, VG has rapidly converged, netting a kill and starting a sudden tower siege that will lead to 4 more.



In order to sustain their flamboyant style, Fy drafted mostly self-sufficient heroes who could contribute to developing fights at full effectiveness, such as the immediate impact of Tidehunter’s blink -> Ravage, or Batrider’s map-wide initiative. One support was frequently a strong roamer, such as Sand King, Skywrath, or Earthshaker who could arrive late to a fight and contribute massive burst.



Evil Geniuses Vici Gaming







Surprisingly though, VG did not draft an overabundance of these strong initiating “slam'n'jam” heroes. Instead, they almost always took a ranged support or core who could control key areas of a fight, such as a Witch Doctor, Ancient Apparition, Shadow Fiend, or Sniper. This hero was always paired with another frontline bully who could dive into enemy ranks unscathed, like Axe, Clockwerk, or Bristleback. There seem to be three reasons for this: first, it gave them some sort of stability in drawn-out slugfests, as the enemy would often blow most of their abilities on VG’s initiation. Many times enemy heroes would miscalculate how quickly VG’s reinforcements would arrive, and there’s nothing like a Sniper hidden in the fog to punish such assumptions. Lastly, VG’s heroes, because they didn't begin the fight all grouped up as 5, would often chaotically enter fights from many different angles, and the enemy would often not have the abilities or vision needed to thwart these new threats. With just a couple seconds of uninterrupted damage, these types of heroes could clean up on their own.











VG’s success with such a difficult style came from far more than just synergistic drafts and great movement. They have been the most tactically innovative team since TI4, showcasing a peerless ability to predict as well as exploit enemy movements. Furthermore, their boundless creativity did not stop at just preemptively divining enemy intentions: they also actively manipulated their foes into making ill-founded assumptions, and ruthlessly capitalized on these previously imperceptible openings. Here’s how it all played out.



Speedy Maneuvering: The Vici Hive Mind

In Dota history it has often been difficult to force chaotic, spontaneous fights against teams who strive for order and stability. Fortunately for the fans, VG’s unique skillsets give them the potential to create openings that other teams don’t see. In any game they are in, there will be fireworks across the map one way or another. Every VG game starts the same: a bloody laning phase followed up by chaotic rotations across the map. Teams never have a chance to establish their footing and rally, often being too busy dodging VG's subsequent punches.



One key asset that allowed VG to create so many kills was their players' ability to to predict how early skirmishes would develop 20-30 seconds after they begin, consequently rotating the proper heroes in well beforehand to the right places. This means that VG’s ganks do not rely on grouping too many heroes up and then moving to where they want to fight, a method that is often too cumbersome early on and too easily blocked. Instead, most of VG’s heroes can be left farming wherever they please and rush to any upcoming fight. This type of flexible maneuvering makes it far more difficult for the opponents to prepare for a decisive fight. It’s doable to read a 5 man smoke and prepare, but far harder to be ready for a 5 man teamfight when ten seconds earlier 2-3 heroes are visible on opposite sides of the map.



In order to demonstrate the full scope of VG’s tactical brilliance, first we will examine how they maneuvered across the map, variously dispersing then quickly concentrating at the decisive point.





Note how huddled BG is, while VG is spread far out.

It is important to note that iceiceice (Nyx Assassin) deliberately showed himself to the creep wave top along with Fenrir (Skywrath Mage), thus making it clear to BG that VG is not postured aggressively at the moment, mere seconds before Axe and Shadow Fiend jump out from the fog. Right before they initiate, Skywrath TP’s middle and Troll sprints over, managing to make it to the fight midway even though it was deep in enemy territory. Only Xiao8 and Burning’s extraordinary sense of danger saved the Big Gods from a dangerous blow.



This was an aggressive, risky maneuver against some of the hardest players to gank in the history of Dota, and it only barely failed. Now let’s see what happens when BG break out of their turtle shell and initiate onto VG.







Here VG are flung far across the map, with no two heroes near each other. In contrast, BG have clumped up and made their intentions obvious, but are still in the dark about VG’s intentions.









BG’s expert detection and initiation on iceiceice saved them from a game-losing blow, but it’s still worth examining this fight to understand how shockingly fast VG changed tracks. The moment the chronosphere ended VG heroes were already entering the fray, something BG clearly were not ready for.









In addition to their speed and coordination at switching from a farming to battle stance at a moments notice, VG’s players also consistently evaluated correctly the amount of heroes to send to each location. The following sequence, taken from their first winner bracket game against Secret, displays how VG thrived in the chaos that so represents the Chinese giants.









Here we see another typical VG action sequence, beginning with heroes flung far across the map. They converge for a smoke deep into the radiant woods with an immediate mass reaction to top, then disperse to farm all 3 lanes plus the jungle. It looks somewhat standard, but there are a couple key intricacies hidden.



First, VG apparently had courier troubles and their smoke timing was about 30 seconds slow, making it somewhat obvious. In order to lull Puppey - who had been spotted out by an observer ward - into a false sense of security, they sent iceiceice on a farming mission middle while his smoked allies darted ahead to slay Chen. Logically if VG was smoked, they’d either be behind Tide, ready to counter initiate, or off in another lane entirely. Teams don’t 4 man smoke, leaving 1 person as bait, and then charge ahead of the bait anyway. Thanks to that clever Tide positioning, VG secured a Chen kill, then seemingly mass TP’d top to chase down Tiny and Wisp.



However, only the bare minimum number of heroes, Tide and Bristleback, actually reacted. Had Arteezy and Kuroky stood and fought, they actually might have won, but they assumed that they were not safe at all. This judicious reaction left Black with a TP to go farm bottom, and Fy with the crucial TP to save Black from a Secret gank. Though Secret did botch the execution, they also likely miscalculated and didn’t realize that Fy had saved his TP and simply walked top - as all the other TP’s were on cooldown. What’s worse is that as soon as Kuroky was slain, VG again immediately dispersed and farmed all 3 lanes plus the jungle. In the end, VG killed 3 heroes for 0 while simultaneously farming over a vast area, a fitting overview of their dynamic style.



The Oracle of China: The Power of Deep Foresight

Just as a chess grandmaster can evaluate a position 5-6 moves in the future, anticipating their opponent’s responses to each sequential move, so too do the best dota players need to be able to evaluate their opponents optimal decisions and their own responses. All top players can accurately judge the outcome of most situations or fights; what makes VG special is the depth of their foresight as well as the ability to maneuver as a team and take advantage of it. VG see the outcome of fights that won’t even start for 20-30 seconds, not just a fight that already has all the pieces in play. But before we look at it from a team level, let’s first see how it’s done individually.









In the middle of this game's laning phase, Fy’s jungle Axe took a seemingly aimless sojourn to the radiant secret shop. By doing so he was missing out on some reliable farm, but his quest is vindicated seconds later when Xiao8’s Zeus inexplicably walks past him. Perhaps Fy predicted that Xiao8, unable to safely walk into lane, would sit on the radiant hill near the rune to reveal any smokes on Burning (Medusa mid). We might never know. All that matters is that this kind of prescient play separates Fy from the rest. With this as the evidence of what he can do as an individual, now we can examine how he uses such vision to lead his team.









Here Super and Fenrir make a normal gank on Zeus, but what is exceptional is how Ice3 and Fy join the ensuing brawl several seconds later. In response to the Zeus gank, PPD’s Abbadon and Universe’s Prophet teleported in to assist and counterattack. However, the moment after they arrive the VG cavalry charges in! In effect, PPD and Universe get punished for making the correct decision, all because VG had divined their enemy’s likely reactions.



If Aui (Lion) had rotated here as well, then VG would likely have suffered a big reversal. However, VG’s well placed offlane ward saw Aui’s TP in to bottom 40s previously, meaning his TP could not be up for middle. Most teams would simply have been satisfied with a 1 for 0 gank in midlane, but VG make that special second rotation to turn it into a rout.



The key for success in this type of scenario is VG’s ability to know whether the enemy will attempt to counterattack or cut their losses. If the enemy should just accept the casualty and farm on elsewhere, they would have wasted valuable time making a fruitless rotation. Against Secret, the setup to a triumphant victory for VG began with a seemingly innocuous gank. Fy cleverly maneuvered around a Secret ward in order to dunk Puppey and his creeps with the help of an ice blast. Secret had no players in the area, and Black+Super were far away as well. Ordinarily because Secret had no heroes in the vicinity, and VG had three, this would be the end of it: both sides would continue to farm, and VG would gain a slight advantage.









However, there’s a lot more beneath the surface here. If you watch the player perspectives of Secret, they are all watching Super’s (Axe) position midlane. The moment Super clears the wave, he retreats (thus moving away from the potential battle in bot lane), and immediately all 4 Secret heroes TP bottom. It’s also worth noting that despite having no time to communicate, Secret’s heroes TP'd in the optimal order.



By Secret’s calculations, this should have been a 4v3 with Echo Slam and Ice Blast down. Secret is operating at a momentary disadvantage because their entire team must join in the battle one by one (there were 4 stacked TP’s to the bottom tower), but in the end this should have sufficed because it would have been a 4v3. However, Black and Super actually join the battle before Kuroky does! Secret’s heroes were completely unprepared for these reinforcements who sniped them from above, resulting in a 5 for 1 wipe. Had Black and Super taken a normal amount of time to show up, Secret could have already gotten clean kills and left.



Just to reiterate, VG had no way of knowing that any of Secret’s heroes were rotating, and they were last seen top lane. What’s more, had Super moved in the shortest possible line to link up with his team, Secret likely would not have showed up at all. It was only because he appeared to retreat, but then immediately hustled over anyway, that Secret leaped to their doom.



Sense of Danger

It makes some sense that VG could predict a strong enemy reaction to a clean gank, but sometimes the VG hive mind would recall their forces right before a seemingly unexpected enemy gank.









Supposedly unbeknownst to VG here, Hellraisers was setting up for a gank on Fenrir and Super. Yet before any action ever occurred, the entire VG swarm was already dashing towards the site of a future battle. HR’s 2 man gank squad had hid themselves well, with their allies providing a smokescreen by pushing top lane. Despite all this, VG somehow sniffed out the malicious intent and pounced on it, winning an easy 5v2. Enigma caught both nearby VG heroes in a Black Hole, but he was rudely and quickly interrupted by a surprise Ravage, dashing whatever small hopes the underdogs had of finding some free kills.



This phenomenon also appeared against Secret, with some sublime execution on top. Here, iceiceice was pushing top lane while his team ran a screen in the woods. If you watch closely you can see various members searching forest hideouts, as if VG smelled out the gank, but just didn't know where the foe would strike from.









In addition to the great sense of danger, VG also displayed an immaculate counterattack. Their 3 extra heroes were in range right as ice3 died, but instead immediately leaping in to watching him die or retreating at the thought of being outnumbered 3v4, they remained patient and prepared the ultimate initiation. Blink -> Epicenter -> Burrowstrike -> Requiem with a hidden Death Ward obliterated 3 Secret heroes instantly.



VG vs Secret Winner’s Bracket Semifinals Game 1

I may lose a battle, but I shall never lose a minute!

-Napoleon

In this lategame scenario, Secret held the initiative and effectively locked up VG near their base. To take advantage of this game state, Secret pushed top with a couple heroes, forcing VG to TP back and defend. Then they immediately smoked and dashed off towards Roshan. As their foes would be the in the dark, must clear out the creep waves top to prevent a Wisp+Tiny backdoor, and lacking the freedom to walk anywhere safely, Secret could rely on VG’s reacting heroes being delayed top for several key seconds. Such precise maneuvers are how the best teams make use of the initiative and map dominance.









With Black and Super elsewhere, Secret initiate on the isolated 3 heroes of VG near Roshan. Secret were taking a major risk attacking uphill into a Witch Doctor/Tide/SK. However, they reasoned that the fight could be started 5v3, as Black and Super were still top. By the time they arrived, VG’s support heroes would all be dead or in full flight. Unfortunately Black and Super in particular somehow appeared to warp time and space, arriving at the fight right as it began. By all predictions, Secret should have had several seconds of leeway to gain an edge in the fight. As a result the high ground Witch Doctor, supported by his muscle in Shadow Fiend and Bristleback, massacred Secret and won themselves Roshan.







Here you can see Secret smoking from top to roshan (blue and purple) while Black^ (brown) and Super (yellow) TP in, then Super also moves towards rosh as if he maphacks.



How did this occur? Once again, before Secret ever initiated, VG’s cores were preemptively moving towards the battle site. Super’s movement was literally a TP top, followed by a direct line towards Roshan, well before he saw a single hero there. It’s hard to say what other player would make this type of confident maneuver - Secret could easily have kept two heroes top to ambush Black. As usual though, Super’s predictive powers and precise movement caused his foes to miscalculate and lose a critical fight.



At times it looks as though VG had a total read on their opponent’s mentality, knowing whether they will fight or flee, or even concoct a more nefarious plan. But sometimes it looks like both teams were heeding a siren’s call, all joining a battle that is ultimately favorable for VG.









This winning fight was started by a completely blind and speculative 5 second arrow from Fy. Where originally there were 2 heroes on each team at top lane, a 5v5 bloodbath quickly formed. Though they lacked the initiative and were already behind, one might wonder how Secret got massacred so badly. Here’s why: VG TP’d in their reinforcements before the arrow even launched, when there was absolutely no guarantee that Arteezy hadn't teleported out. VG either had the faith in that arrow, or the foresight to know they could somehow force an advantageous fight anyway. Regardless, these prescient TPs meant that VG reinforcements arrived well ahead of Secret’s, gaining a decisive edge early on in the fight.



Lastly, it is important to note how at 1 minute into the clip, iceiceice "tactically feeds" by blinking into the center of the Secret formation and immediately dying. At first glance it would be easy to dismiss as a mistake or accident, but remember, this is iceiceice! In fact, it was an extremely subtle evaluation of the fight. Due to the damage over time buildup of VG's lineup, Secret needed to be retreating at that moment. Had the virtuoso offlaner not made this move, Secret would have likely retreated out - Enchantress was already turning back - and perhaps lost no more heroes. Instead, they got overconfident after slaying Batrider and charged forward for a moment before realizing their peril, but that moment made all the difference. In the end all 4 died, in addition to Arteezy after his respawn. This is one of those great plays that will never make a highlight reel, and was arguably the single instance that pushed VG into the winner's bracket finals.



Smoke and Mirrors

Vici Gaming’s other unique asset is their skill in misdirection. This manifests itself in numerous ways, but in general comes from VG’s ability to make their foes think they are making one move, then take an action that exploits the predicted enemy reaction. One of the most obvious moments came in the second winners bracket game against EG, where VG just killed the t2 middle on the back of a successful gank and were looking to further cement their lead.











On the surface, this looks like a simple situation: Sumail gets ganked and VG also kill a t1 tower, giving them the option to rosh now before Lone Druid can get online. As usual with VG, there’s more beneath the surface and it starts with what they are showing their foes. Here, they place 3 heroes in their jungle/bottom lane, including the two carries (Juggernaut and Sniper). For EG, this concentration can only mean one thing: VG are going to push the bottom tower as a team, meaning the boys in blue have a little time to catch their breath, farm a few lanes, and either defend or split push.



Or so they thought. Instead, Sumail’s jungle party gets crashed before it ever started, and not surprisingly, his team is too far away to help. This kind of mini-trade off happens all the time in high level games: EG intelligently had pushed out bottom lane far beforehand, meaning that VG need to somewhat telegraph their intentions. This gives EG time to extract more resources from the map before any potential battle. However, VG found another hole in the accepted mentality to exploit. Had say, only 1 hero been showing in bottom, EG would have been far more vigilant and stuck together.



The best part is, not only did the smoke kill Sumail, but VG’s other 3 heroes effortlessly killed the bottom tower as well. Due to the diversion in the dire jungle, the 3 heroes accomplished what it would normally have required 4-5, with a key Shadow Fiend kill on top. This is a great example of how the best teams in dota find creative ways to get more value from ordinary situations than one might think, and how dota strategy subtly evolves.



Of course anyone can think of a plan that entails “fake right, go left” but it’s a very different thing to actually execute in Dota. The enormous number of variables and non-compliant opponents makes it extraordinarily difficult to materialize with any consistency. In this case so many little things had to be just right to make it happen: a key dire bottom plateau observer ward and dire jungle ward spotted out the EG dispositions, and the Chinese team had to split up their forces very early. EG needed to be lulled into a false sense of security by the grouping bottom, and iceiceice+Fenrir had to be in position well before the opportunity showed in order to make it possible. The fact that VG can regularly do this is why they are so special.



Exploiting Avaricious Carries

In addition to predicting enemy movements towards a battle site, VG also are skilled at profiting from the maximization mentality of carries. Ordinarily, a carry will not expose themselves remotely near a tower if the primary enemy initiator has a TP and is off the map, as the risk is simply too high. The one exception to this is when the foe is pushing as 5, as then their initiator(s) must remain with his team to keep them safe. Then oftentimes the best play as carry is to split push a sidelane and at least get some kind of trade, while being ready to TP back home for the defense.



Just as VG’s players can judge whether an enemy will attempt to reinforce a potential hot spot, they also have a firm grasp of when their foes will decline a tower defense or are waiting to ambush them. Here against EG, VG seemingly group up as 5 middle, ready to push down the middle t2 tower with an aegis. From EG’s perspective, ice3’s Batrider is likely hiding in the trees or on a cliff near his team, looking for the perfect moment to lasso. Not quite ready to take a fight, EG adopts a defensive posture near the tower and split pushes. Predicting this response, ice3 abandons his team and roams top to hunt Universe’s Prophet. Fortunately for Universe, Aui was on bodyguard duty and swatted the annoying bat away. Had he not been there, Universe would have died because he believed all of VG had remained middle.











What most teams would do here is have Batrider regroup with the main team to start pressuring the high ground, forcing the split push heroes to return and deal damage to the t3 tower in the meantime. Instead, ice3 immediately teleports to bottom - his team is pushing mid, and his gank top just thwarted - setting his sights on Fear. With EG still split up, VG go a step further to sell the ruse and jump on Sumail+PPD outside the radiant base. Though they both live, this aggressive maneuver, with Black even running up the hill, signals to EG that VG are serious about attacking middle. Then, just a second later, Ice3 and Fy pounce on Fear at bottom, resulting in a chaotic trade where EG are very fortunate to “just” lose their Lycan for a lowly Earthshaker.



How were VG able to catch the best carry in the tournament like that? First, they presented Fear with a standard pattern, where the best play is to push out the lane and get as much done before being forced home. However, with ice3’s recent escapade top, Fear still was somewhat hesitant: if you look closely he halts for a moment near the sideshop to wait for more information. Once VG’s heroes start diving Sumail, this looks like a committing but ultimately toothless act to Fear, meaning that his best play is to continue farming. However, instead of committing middle, Fy darts forward, then immediately runs into the fog and TP’s bottom to join the waiting iceiceice. Before Fear has a chance to realize something is wrong, he’s already been lasso’d and his death sentence delivered.



As great as it is to gank the carry, these type of special maneuver also make it difficult and nerve-wracking to play against VG. One of the ways top carries gain micro advantages against teams is by farming greedily in situations like this. By punishing such play, VG make it tough for their foes to keep up on farm, as whenever they are confronted with this uncertainty, they will likely play safe. Over a series, the threat becomes more dangerous than the act itself. In other words, this is one of those ideal win-win tactics that are great when they work, and still provide value when they don’t. VG simply did not allow teams to farm as much as normal against them.



In the next example, VG perform the same maneuver against Arteezy but add in a little twist. The sequence begins when VG accidentally run into Puppey at the rune. They kill him, chase away Kuroky, and then group up mid to push. Or so it looks like from Arteezy’s point of view. Arteezy saw the push coming and was simply trying to extract some last minute farm, first in top lane, then switching to the radiant jungle and bottom.











Instead of marching middle as an undefeatable 5, VG correctly surmised that Secret will not attempt to defend with Puppey dead. Thus iceiceice and Fenrir smoke top to hunt Arteezy as their team bluffs middle. Though they miss Arteezy top, these two immediately TP bottom to continue the chase, potentially leaving their team out to hang. Fortunately, they read Secret’s mentality correctly and destroyed both Arteezy and the middle tower. Had Arteezy decided to TP into middle at any point, VG would have likely lost 2-3 heroes for nothing. Instead, VG ruthlessly exploited his greedy play.



One particular moment against EG perfectly showcased everything that has been analyzed thus far in an almost textbook play. In this example, the Chinese team combined precise movement, the ability to foresee their foe’s reaction, and a skilled misdirection, all with an extra decisive twist.









The fight begins with exquisite bait from iceiceice. To EG, it looks as though Clock and Sniper had failed a hookshot->assassinate combo on Beastmaster, and are contenting themselves by taking the tower. EG fortunately had a glyph, which gave enough time for Universe’s backup to arrive. iceiceice seemingly gets caught too deep and willingly sacrifices his life for the cause. Yet before EG can pat themselves on the back the cavalry arrives! The remaining VG heroes bolted out of a smoke from bottom river and mercilessly chased down the stunned North Americans. This scene looks somewhat ordinary, but contains a wealth of hidden information.





The key feature here is that in order to arrive at the timing they did - right after the dire tower fell - VG’s other 3 heroes needed to group up and smoke well in advance. VG judged that the bait of iceiceice would be too delicious for EG to ignore. Though their timing was slightly off, it still resulted in a 4 for 1 rout. What’s most remarkable here is VG’s angle of attack. Ordinarily when a team smokes and uses an ally as bait, they sit directly behind them. Here, if they sat behind Sniper and Clockwerk in mid, EG would have met them in proper formation and gave a much better showing. Instead, EG is caught completely by surprise and their formation is cut in two: ppd is silenced and slain, while Sumail is left alone and hunted down. Meanwhile Aui and Universe are chased away and finished off in the rear.



The most notable part about this fight is that EG didn't even fight back. In actuality, the fight was a 4v4 with roar already used, but EG could have at least taken a couple heroes with them - or even more if Fear tp'd. Instead, EG was caught so off guard that they didn't have a clear plan of action to take, and no time to devise one. As a result of this anarchy, each player only focused on saving themselves, which instead led to the loss of all 4. This was a fight won not by superior mechanics or control, but with a keen evaluation of EG's mentality and impeccable timing - all from a plan devised over half a minute before any action occurred.



The best is yet to come

Most major dota innovations in the past year and a half have been tactical, and lately VG more than any other team have defined what kind of bold, ambitious play can work. Their dominance starts from map movement and runs to battlefield initiations. VG often stole a march on their foes by spreading out and converging at the right time and place. They aggressively pushed lanes despite the risks of a gank, forcing the enemy to split up and react to the lane pressure, thus making them increasingly vulnerable to concentrated ganks. Due to the constant back and forth lane equilibriums across the map, VG could force teams into smaller fights at towers where their allies could arrive quicker and from unexpected angles, catching numerous teams by surprise. Standard rotations were often a liability against them, as they would frequently predict enemy movements and bring in even more heroes to overwhelm them - or attack elsewhere. Finally, VG introduced a larger element of uncertainty than most teams had practiced against, as they frequently punished heroes for farming at ordinarily correct times. Though VG have a strong claim for the most individually skilled team, both before and after the roster switch, this is not a team just based around execution.



Of all the teams since TI4, VG was the only one to touch the seemingly unsurpassable skill ceiling demonstrated by the old DK. Unfortunately, like the old DK, such play is invariably a double-edged sword. When on point, it is spectacular to watch and impossible to play against. When slightly off, due to morale or potential communication problems, it fails equally spectacularly.



If VG was so incredibly creative and brilliant, why did they ultimately falter in the finals? Only the players themselves know the exact reason, but from a gameplay perspective, this style of play demanded absolute rigor and top form. Unfortunately, VG evidently did not maintain their psychology well enough, for the team that showed up in the finals against EG was a far cry from the previous days. Thus it was not surprising that VG lost 3-0. If they could not display their best, their style simply didn't work because it required too much precise movement, prediction, and manipulation. VG’s drafts often lack the redundancy or solid reliability of many other top teams, and tend to be very hit or miss.



Yet even though VG was overall the best team during the TI4-DAC period, that should be seen as just the beginning. As previously stated, VG's play style is still demanding and has a low margin of error. This requires players in peak form and on point at all phases of the game. Given the September-March period is mostly considered the offseason of Dota with less rigorous practicing, they will likely be able to perform far better after the team undergoes TI training mode for several months. Furthermore, though Black is undoubtedly a top 5 carry at worst, it is hard to argue that adding Hao, among the very best of the best, will not improve their squad in communication, style, and skill.





CREDITS

Writer: Ver

Editors: Sn0_Man

Graphics: Ninjan

Since TI4, VG have been the most dynamic team in the world. In tournament after tournament, their exciting style bedazzled opponents and spectators alike. No other top team plays nearly so aggressively, for the simple reason that aggressive dota demands the utmost skill, synergy, and creativity. In modern dota, if the enemy doesn't want to fight, it's very difficult to force an advantageous engagement, but time again VG have somehow managed to. Their secret? Being able to see beyond the obvious, and create situations their opponents could not foresee. Their achievements are all the more spectacular considering the sheer unforgiving nature of the rubber band patch on attacking and overextending.It was covered extensively in part 1 how Big God excelled at static, set piece teamfights. These were characterized by fights which happened within just 1-2 screens, where all the heroes had gathered and everybody’s position was known. In these fights Big God crushed every single other team, losing only a single game of this style all tournament. Because of this strength, it seemed as though BG were the biggest beneficiaries of the "rubber-band" patch. But it was not that sort of play that defined the Dota Asian Championships.Just like in the second half of 2014, VG were their antithesis at DAC. Since TI4 VG have been peerless in dynamic, chaotic fights where the evaluation of a fight rapidly changes by the second. This flashy, unforgiving style demands the utmost individual skill and team synergy to execute, and VG have taken it to the next level with several tactical innovations. In order to appreciate the difference, just consider the BG/Secret games versus the VG/Secret games. In the former, heroes properly arranged themselves in battle lines, lowered bayonets, and charged at each other in organized fashion. In the latter series, most fights started with small groups of heroes, such as a 2v2 or 4v3, and quickly escalated into multi-screen clashes where reinforcements joined the fray every few seconds.The defining feature of VG’s style was that many movements were not made by their entire team. Unlike BG and often Secret as well, VG players would rarely preemptively group up as 5 in the early or midgame. Instead they’d start from a spread out position, farming across the map, then suddenly converge at the decisive location. It’s most instructive to watch the minimap instead of the opening initiations in their fights: right before VG would start the fight with 2-4 players - as a rule they thrived with the initiative - their remaining allies would immediately TP to the closest tower or abruptly change direction in a mad dash to the hot spot. Oftentimes these decisions were made with limited information, showcasing VG’s ability to divine the likely outcome while blind. In one fight against Secret, Super TP’d back to lane at just ¼ hp gambling that Secret would chase and not retreat, a decision that resulted in 2 additional kills which they would not have otherwise gotten.In order to sustain their flamboyant style, Fy drafted mostly self-sufficient heroes who could contribute to developing fights at full effectiveness, such as the immediate impact of Tidehunter’s blink -> Ravage, or Batrider’s map-wide initiative. One support was frequently a strong roamer, such as Sand King, Skywrath, or Earthshaker who could arrive late to a fight and contribute massive burst.Surprisingly though, VG did not draft an overabundance of these strong initiating “slam'n'jam” heroes. Instead, they almost always took a ranged support or core who could control key areas of a fight, such as a Witch Doctor, Ancient Apparition, Shadow Fiend, or Sniper. This hero was always paired with another frontline bully who could dive into enemy ranks unscathed, like Axe, Clockwerk, or Bristleback. There seem to be three reasons for this: first, it gave them some sort of stability in drawn-out slugfests, as the enemy would often blow most of their abilities on VG’s initiation. Many times enemy heroes would miscalculate how quickly VG’s reinforcements would arrive, and there’s nothing like a Sniper hidden in the fog to punish such assumptions. Lastly, VG’s heroes, because they didn't begin the fight all grouped up as 5, would often chaotically enter fights from many different angles, and the enemy would often not have the abilities or vision needed to thwart these new threats. With just a couple seconds of uninterrupted damage, these types of heroes could clean up on their own.VG’s success with such a difficult style came from far more than just synergistic drafts and great movement. They have been the most tactically innovative team since TI4, showcasing a peerless ability to predict as well as exploit enemy movements. Furthermore, their boundless creativity did not stop at just preemptively divining enemy intentions: they also actively manipulated their foes into making ill-founded assumptions, and ruthlessly capitalized on these previously imperceptible openings. Here’s how it all played out.In Dota history it has often been difficult to force chaotic, spontaneous fights against teams who strive for order and stability. Fortunately for the fans, VG’s unique skillsets give them the potential to create openings that other teams don’t see. In any game they are in, there will be fireworks across the map one way or another. Every VG game starts the same: a bloody laning phase followed up by chaotic rotations across the map. Teams never have a chance to establish their footing and rally, often being too busy dodging VG's subsequent punches.One key asset that allowed VG to create so many kills was their players' ability to to predict how early skirmishes would develop 20-30 seconds after they begin, consequently rotating the proper heroes in well beforehand to the right places. This means that VG’s ganks do not rely on grouping too many heroes up and then moving to where they want to fight, a method that is often too cumbersome early on and too easily blocked. Instead, most of VG’s heroes can be left farming wherever they please and rush to any upcoming fight. This type of flexible maneuvering makes it far more difficult for the opponents to prepare for a decisive fight. It’s doable to read a 5 man smoke and prepare, but far harder to be ready for a 5 man teamfight when ten seconds earlier 2-3 heroes are visible on opposite sides of the map.In order to demonstrate the full scope of VG’s tactical brilliance, first we will examine how they maneuvered across the map, variously dispersing then quickly concentrating at the decisive point.It is important to note that iceiceice (Nyx Assassin) deliberately showed himself to the creep wave top along with Fenrir (Skywrath Mage), thus making it clear to BG that VG is not postured aggressively at the moment, mere seconds before Axe and Shadow Fiend jump out from the fog. Right before they initiate, Skywrath TP’s middle and Troll sprints over, managing to make it to the fight midway even though it was deep in enemy territory. Only Xiao8 and Burning’s extraordinary sense of danger saved the Big Gods from a dangerous blow.This was an aggressive, risky maneuver against some of the hardest players to gank in the history of Dota, and it only barely failed. Now let’s see what happens when BG break out of their turtle shell and initiate onto VG.Here VG are flung far across the map, with no two heroes near each other. In contrast, BG have clumped up and made their intentions obvious, but are still in the dark about VG’s intentions.BG’s expert detection and initiation on iceiceice saved them from a game-losing blow, but it’s still worth examining this fight to understand how shockingly fast VG changed tracks. The moment the chronosphere ended VG heroes were already entering the fray, something BG clearly were not ready for.In addition to their speed and coordination at switching from a farming to battle stance at a moments notice, VG’s players also consistently evaluated correctly the amount of heroes to send to each location. The following sequence, taken from their first winner bracket game against Secret, displays how VG thrived in the chaos that so represents the Chinese giants.Here we see another typical VG action sequence, beginning with heroes flung far across the map. They converge for a smoke deep into the radiant woods with an immediate mass reaction to top, then disperse to farm all 3 lanes plus the jungle. It looks somewhat standard, but there are a couple key intricacies hidden.First, VG apparently had courier troubles and their smoke timing was about 30 seconds slow, making it somewhat obvious. In order to lull Puppey - who had been spotted out by an observer ward - into a false sense of security, they sent iceiceice on a farming mission middle while his smoked allies darted ahead to slay Chen. Logically if VG was smoked, they’d either be behind Tide, ready to counter initiate, or off in another lane entirely. Teams don’t 4 man smoke, leaving 1 person as bait, and then charge ahead of the bait anyway. Thanks to that clever Tide positioning, VG secured a Chen kill, then seemingly mass TP’d top to chase down Tiny and Wisp.However, only the bare minimum number of heroes, Tide and Bristleback, actually reacted. Had Arteezy and Kuroky stood and fought, they actually might have won, but they assumed that they were not safe at all. This judicious reaction left Black with a TP to go farm bottom, and Fy with the crucial TP to save Black from a Secret gank. Though Secret did botch the execution, they also likely miscalculated and didn’t realize that Fy had saved his TP and simply walked top - as all the other TP’s were on cooldown. What’s worse is that as soon as Kuroky was slain, VG again immediately dispersed and farmed all 3 lanes plus the jungle. In the end, VG killed 3 heroes for 0 while simultaneously farming over a vast area, a fitting overview of their dynamic style.Just as a chess grandmaster can evaluate a position 5-6 moves in the future, anticipating their opponent’s responses to each sequential move, so too do the best dota players need to be able to evaluate their opponents optimal decisions and their own responses. All top players can accurately judge the outcome of most situations or fights; what makes VG special is the depth of their foresight as well as the ability to maneuver as a team and take advantage of it. VG see the outcome of fights that won’t even start for 20-30 seconds, not just a fight that already has all the pieces in play. But before we look at it from a team level, let’s first see how it’s done individually.In the middle of this game's laning phase, Fy’s jungle Axe took a seemingly aimless sojourn to the radiant secret shop. By doing so he was missing out on some reliable farm, but his quest is vindicated seconds later when Xiao8’s Zeus inexplicably walks past him. Perhaps Fy predicted that Xiao8, unable to safely walk into lane, would sit on the radiant hill near the rune to reveal any smokes on Burning (Medusa mid). We might never know. All that matters is that this kind of prescient play separates Fy from the rest. With this as the evidence of what he can do as an individual, now we can examine how he uses such vision to lead his team.Here Super and Fenrir make a normal gank on Zeus, but what is exceptional is how Ice3 and Fy join the ensuing brawl several seconds later. In response to the Zeus gank, PPD’s Abbadon and Universe’s Prophet teleported in to assist and counterattack. However, the moment after they arrive the VG cavalry charges in! In effect, PPD and Universe get punished for making the correct decision, all because VG had divined their enemy’s likely reactions.If Aui (Lion) had rotated here as well, then VG would likely have suffered a big reversal. However, VG’s well placed offlane ward saw Aui’s TP in to bottom 40s previously, meaning his TP could not be up for middle. Most teams would simply have been satisfied with a 1 for 0 gank in midlane, but VG make that special second rotation to turn it into a rout.The key for success in this type of scenario is VG’s ability to know whether the enemy will attempt to counterattack or cut their losses. If the enemy should just accept the casualty and farm on elsewhere, they would have wasted valuable time making a fruitless rotation. Against Secret, the setup to a triumphant victory for VG began with a seemingly innocuous gank. Fy cleverly maneuvered around a Secret ward in order to dunk Puppey and his creeps with the help of an ice blast. Secret had no players in the area, and Black+Super were far away as well. Ordinarily because Secret had no heroes in the vicinity, and VG had three, this would be the end of it: both sides would continue to farm, and VG would gain a slight advantage.However, there’s a lot more beneath the surface here. If you watch the player perspectives of Secret, they are all watching Super’s (Axe) position midlane. The moment Super clears the wave, he retreats (thus moving away from the potential battle in bot lane), and immediately all 4 Secret heroes TP bottom. It’s also worth noting that despite having no time to communicate, Secret’s heroes TP'd in the optimal order.By Secret’s calculations, this should have been a 4v3 with Echo Slam and Ice Blast down. Secret is operating at a momentary disadvantage because their entire team must join in the battle one by one (there were 4 stacked TP’s to the bottom tower), but in the end this should have sufficed because it would have been a 4v3. However, Black and Super actually join the battle before Kuroky does! Secret’s heroes were completely unprepared for these reinforcements who sniped them from above, resulting in a 5 for 1 wipe. Had Black and Super taken a normal amount of time to show up, Secret could have already gotten clean kills and left.Just to reiterate, VG had no way of knowing that any of Secret’s heroes were rotating, and they were last seen top lane. What’s more, had Super moved in the shortest possible line to link up with his team, Secret likely would not have showed up at all. It was only because he appeared to retreat, but then immediately hustled over anyway, that Secret leaped to their doom.It makes some sense that VG could predict a strong enemy reaction to a clean gank, but sometimes the VG hive mind would recall their forces right before a seemingly unexpected enemy gank.Supposedly unbeknownst to VG here, Hellraisers was setting up for a gank on Fenrir and Super. Yet before any action ever occurred, the entire VG swarm was already dashing towards the site of a future battle. HR’s 2 man gank squad had hid themselves well, with their allies providing a smokescreen by pushing top lane. Despite all this, VG somehow sniffed out the malicious intent and pounced on it, winning an easy 5v2. Enigma caught both nearby VG heroes in a Black Hole, but he was rudely and quickly interrupted by a surprise Ravage, dashing whatever small hopes the underdogs had of finding some free kills.This phenomenon also appeared against Secret, with some sublime execution on top. Here, iceiceice was pushing top lane while his team ran a screen in the woods. If you watch closely you can see various members searching forest hideouts, as if VG smelled out the gank, but just didn't know where the foe would strike from.In addition to the great sense of danger, VG also displayed an immaculate counterattack. Their 3 extra heroes were in range right as ice3 died, but instead immediately leaping in to watching him die or retreating at the thought of being outnumbered 3v4, they remained patient and prepared the ultimate initiation. Blink -> Epicenter -> Burrowstrike -> Requiem with a hidden Death Ward obliterated 3 Secret heroes instantly.In this lategame scenario, Secret held the initiative and effectively locked up VG near their base. To take advantage of this game state, Secret pushed top with a couple heroes, forcing VG to TP back and defend. Then they immediately smoked and dashed off towards Roshan. As their foes would be the in the dark, must clear out the creep waves top to prevent a Wisp+Tiny backdoor, and lacking the freedom to walk anywhere safely, Secret could rely on VG’s reacting heroes being delayed top for several key seconds. Such precise maneuvers are how the best teams make use of the initiative and map dominance.With Black and Super elsewhere, Secret initiate on the isolated 3 heroes of VG near Roshan. Secret were taking a major risk attacking uphill into a Witch Doctor/Tide/SK. However, they reasoned that the fight could be started 5v3, as Black and Super were still top. By the time they arrived, VG’s support heroes would all be dead or in full flight. Unfortunately Black and Super in particular somehow appeared to warp time and space, arriving at the fight right as it began. By all predictions, Secret should have had several seconds of leeway to gain an edge in the fight. As a result the high ground Witch Doctor, supported by his muscle in Shadow Fiend and Bristleback, massacred Secret and won themselves Roshan.How did this occur? Once again, before Secret ever initiated, VG’s cores were preemptively moving towards the battle site. Super’s movement was literally a TP top, followed by a direct line towards Roshan, well before he saw a single hero there. It’s hard to say what other player would make this type of confident maneuver - Secret could easily have kept two heroes top to ambush Black. As usual though, Super’s predictive powers and precise movement caused his foes to miscalculate and lose a critical fight.At times it looks as though VG had a total read on their opponent’s mentality, knowing whether they will fight or flee, or even concoct a more nefarious plan. But sometimes it looks like both teams were heeding a siren’s call, all joining a battle that is ultimately favorable for VG.This winning fight was started by a completely blind and speculative 5 second arrow from Fy. Where originally there were 2 heroes on each team at top lane, a 5v5 bloodbath quickly formed. Though they lacked the initiative and were already behind, one might wonder how Secret got massacred so badly. Here’s why: VG TP’d in their reinforcements before the arrow even launched, when there was absolutely no guarantee that Arteezy hadn't teleported out. VG either had the faith in that arrow, or the foresight to know they could somehow force an advantageous fight anyway. Regardless, these prescient TPs meant that VG reinforcements arrived well ahead of Secret’s, gaining a decisive edge early on in the fight.Lastly, it is important to note how at 1 minute into the clip, iceiceice "tactically feeds" by blinking into the center of the Secret formation and immediately dying. At first glance it would be easy to dismiss as a mistake or accident, but remember, this is iceiceice! In fact, it was an extremely subtle evaluation of the fight. Due to the damage over time buildup of VG's lineup, Secret needed to be retreating at that moment. Had the virtuoso offlaner not made this move, Secret would have likely retreated out - Enchantress was already turning back - and perhaps lost no more heroes. Instead, they got overconfident after slaying Batrider and charged forward for a moment before realizing their peril, but that moment made all the difference. In the end all 4 died, in addition to Arteezy after his respawn. This is one of those great plays that will never make a highlight reel, and was arguably the single instance that pushed VG into the winner's bracket finals.Vici Gaming’s other unique asset is their skill in misdirection. This manifests itself in numerous ways, but in general comes from VG’s ability to make their foes think they are making one move, then take an action that exploits the predicted enemy reaction. One of the most obvious moments came in the second winners bracket game against EG, where VG just killed the t2 middle on the back of a successful gank and were looking to further cement their lead.On the surface, this looks like a simple situation: Sumail gets ganked and VG also kill a t1 tower, giving them the option to rosh now before Lone Druid can get online. As usual with VG, there’s more beneath the surface and it starts with what they are showing their foes. Here, they place 3 heroes in their jungle/bottom lane, including the two carries (Juggernaut and Sniper). For EG, this concentration can only mean one thing: VG are going to push the bottom tower as a team, meaning the boys in blue have a little time to catch their breath, farm a few lanes, and either defend or split push.Or so they thought. Instead, Sumail’s jungle party gets crashed before it ever started, and not surprisingly, his team is too far away to help. This kind of mini-trade off happens all the time in high level games: EG intelligently had pushed out bottom lane far beforehand, meaning that VG need to somewhat telegraph their intentions. This gives EG time to extract more resources from the map before any potential battle. However, VG found another hole in the accepted mentality to exploit. Had say, only 1 hero been showing in bottom, EG would have been far more vigilant and stuck together.The best part is, not only did the smoke kill Sumail, but VG’s other 3 heroes effortlessly killed the bottom tower as well. Due to the diversion in the dire jungle, the 3 heroes accomplished what it would normally have required 4-5, with a key Shadow Fiend kill on top. This is a great example of how the best teams in dota find creative ways to get more value from ordinary situations than one might think, and how dota strategy subtly evolves.Of course anyone can think of a plan that entails “fake right, go left” but it’s a very different thing to actually execute in Dota. The enormous number of variables and non-compliant opponents makes it extraordinarily difficult to materialize with any consistency. In this case so many little things had to be just right to make it happen: a key dire bottom plateau observer ward and dire jungle ward spotted out the EG dispositions, and the Chinese team had to split up their forces very early. EG needed to be lulled into a false sense of security by the grouping bottom, and iceiceice+Fenrir had to be in position well before the opportunity showed in order to make it possible. The fact that VG can regularly do this is why they are so special.In addition to predicting enemy movements towards a battle site, VG also are skilled at profiting from the maximization mentality of carries. Ordinarily, a carry will not expose themselves remotely near a tower if the primary enemy initiator has a TP and is off the map, as the risk is simply too high. The one exception to this is when the foe is pushing as 5, as then their initiator(s) must remain with his team to keep them safe. Then oftentimes the best play as carry is to split push a sidelane and at least get some kind of trade, while being ready to TP back home for the defense.Just as VG’s players can judge whether an enemy will attempt to reinforce a potential hot spot, they also have a firm grasp of when their foes will decline a tower defense or are waiting to ambush them. Here against EG, VG seemingly group up as 5 middle, ready to push down the middle t2 tower with an aegis. From EG’s perspective, ice3’s Batrider is likely hiding in the trees or on a cliff near his team, looking for the perfect moment to lasso. Not quite ready to take a fight, EG adopts a defensive posture near the tower and split pushes. Predicting this response, ice3 abandons his team and roams top to hunt Universe’s Prophet. Fortunately for Universe, Aui was on bodyguard duty and swatted the annoying bat away. Had he not been there, Universe would have died because he believed all of VG had remained middle.What most teams would do here is have Batrider regroup with the main team to start pressuring the high ground, forcing the split push heroes to return and deal damage to the t3 tower in the meantime. Instead, ice3 immediately teleports to bottom - his team is pushing mid, and his gank top just thwarted - setting his sights on Fear. With EG still split up, VG go a step further to sell the ruse and jump on Sumail+PPD outside the radiant base. Though they both live, this aggressive maneuver, with Black even running up the hill, signals to EG that VG are serious about attacking middle. Then, just a second later, Ice3 and Fy pounce on Fear at bottom, resulting in a chaotic trade where EG are very fortunate to “just” lose their Lycan for a lowly Earthshaker.How were VG able to catch the best carry in the tournament like that? First, they presented Fear with a standard pattern, where the best play is to push out the lane and get as much done before being forced home. However, with ice3’s recent escapade top, Fear still was somewhat hesitant: if you look closely he halts for a moment near the sideshop to wait for more information. Once VG’s heroes start diving Sumail, this looks like a committing but ultimately toothless act to Fear, meaning that his best play is to continue farming. However, instead of committing middle, Fy darts forward, then immediately runs into the fog and TP’s bottom to join the waiting iceiceice. Before Fear has a chance to realize something is wrong, he’s already been lasso’d and his death sentence delivered.As great as it is to gank the carry, these type of special maneuver also make it difficult and nerve-wracking to play against VG. One of the ways top carries gain micro advantages against teams is by farming greedily in situations like this. By punishing such play, VG make it tough for their foes to keep up on farm, as whenever they are confronted with this uncertainty, they will likely play safe. Over a series, the threat becomes more dangerous than the act itself. In other words, this is one of those ideal win-win tactics that are great when they work, and still provide value when they don’t. VG simply did not allow teams to farm as much as normal against them.In the next example, VG perform the same maneuver against Arteezy but add in a little twist. The sequence begins when VG accidentally run into Puppey at the rune. They kill him, chase away Kuroky, and then group up mid to push. Or so it looks like from Arteezy’s point of view. Arteezy saw the push coming and was simply trying to extract some last minute farm, first in top lane, then switching to the radiant jungle and bottom.Instead of marching middle as an undefeatable 5, VG correctly surmised that Secret will not attempt to defend with Puppey dead. Thus iceiceice and Fenrir smoke top to hunt Arteezy as their team bluffs middle. Though they miss Arteezy top, these two immediately TP bottom to continue the chase, potentially leaving their team out to hang. Fortunately, they read Secret’s mentality correctly and destroyed both Arteezy and the middle tower. Had Arteezy decided to TP into middle at any point, VG would have likely lost 2-3 heroes for nothing. Instead, VG ruthlessly exploited his greedy play.One particular moment against EG perfectly showcased everything that has been analyzed thus far in an almost textbook play. In this example, the Chinese team combined precise movement, the ability to foresee their foe’s reaction, and a skilled misdirection, all with an extra decisive twist.The fight begins with exquisite bait from iceiceice. To EG, it looks as though Clock and Sniper had failed a hookshot->assassinate combo on Beastmaster, and are contenting themselves by taking the tower. EG fortunately had a glyph, which gave enough time for Universe’s backup to arrive. iceiceice seemingly gets caught too deep and willingly sacrifices his life for the cause. Yet before EG can pat themselves on the back the cavalry arrives! The remaining VG heroes bolted out of a smoke from bottom river and mercilessly chased down the stunned North Americans. This scene looks somewhat ordinary, but contains a wealth of hidden information.The key feature here is that in order to arrive at the timing they did - right after the dire tower fell - VG’s other 3 heroes needed to group up and smoke well in advance. VG judged that the bait of iceiceice would be too delicious for EG to ignore. Though their timing was slightly off, it still resulted in a 4 for 1 rout. What’s most remarkable here is VG’s angle of attack. Ordinarily when a team smokes and uses an ally as bait, they sit directly behind them. Here, if they sat behind Sniper and Clockwerk in mid, EG would have met them in proper formation and gave a much better showing. Instead, EG is caught completely by surprise and their formation is cut in two: ppd is silenced and slain, while Sumail is left alone and hunted down. Meanwhile Aui and Universe are chased away and finished off in the rear.The most notable part about this fight is that EG didn't even fight back. In actuality, the fight was a 4v4 with roar already used, but EG could have at least taken a couple heroes with them - or even more if Fear tp'd. Instead, EG was caught so off guard that they didn't have a clear plan of action to take, and no time to devise one. As a result of this anarchy, each player only focused on saving themselves, which instead led to the loss of all 4. This was a fight won not by superior mechanics or control, but with a keen evaluation of EG's mentality and impeccable timing - all from a plan devised over half a minute before any action occurred.Most major dota innovations in the past year and a half have been tactical, and lately VG more than any other team have defined what kind of bold, ambitious play can work. Their dominance starts from map movement and runs to battlefield initiations. VG often stole a march on their foes by spreading out and converging at the right time and place. They aggressively pushed lanes despite the risks of a gank, forcing the enemy to split up and react to the lane pressure, thus making them increasingly vulnerable to concentrated ganks. Due to the constant back and forth lane equilibriums across the map, VG could force teams into smaller fights at towers where their allies could arrive quicker and from unexpected angles, catching numerous teams by surprise. Standard rotations were often a liability against them, as they would frequently predict enemy movements and bring in even more heroes to overwhelm them - or attack elsewhere. Finally, VG introduced a larger element of uncertainty than most teams had practiced against, as they frequently punished heroes for farming at ordinarily correct times. Though VG have a strong claim for the most individually skilled team, both before and after the roster switch, this is not a team just based around execution.Of all the teams since TI4, VG was the only one to touch the seemingly unsurpassable skill ceiling demonstrated by the old DK. Unfortunately, like the old DK, such play is invariably a double-edged sword. When on point, it is spectacular to watch and impossible to play against. When slightly off, due to morale or potential communication problems, it fails equally spectacularly.If VG was so incredibly creative and brilliant, why did they ultimately falter in the finals? Only the players themselves know the exact reason, but from a gameplay perspective, this style of play demanded absolute rigor and top form. Unfortunately, VG evidently did not maintain their psychology well enough, for the team that showed up in the finals against EG was a far cry from the previous days. Thus it was not surprising that VG lost 3-0. If they could not display their best, their style simply didn't work because it required too much precise movement, prediction, and manipulation. VG’s drafts often lack the redundancy or solid reliability of many other top teams, and tend to be very hit or miss.Yet even though VG was overall the best team during the TI4-DAC period, that should be seen as just the beginning. As previously stated, VG's play style is still demanding and has a low margin of error. This requires players in peak form and on point at all phases of the game. Given the September-March period is mostly considered the offseason of Dota with less rigorous practicing, they will likely be able to perform far better after the team undergoes TI training mode for several months. Furthermore, though Black is undoubtedly a top 5 carry at worst, it is hard to argue that adding Hao, among the very best of the best, will not improve their squad in communication, style, and skill. Writer