Ninja in Pyjamas the winners of jD-MLG Pro League #2

The finals of jD-MLG Pro League Season 2 brought together at X-games Austin two teams that know each other very well first of all because they are frequent skirmish partners and secondly because both teams represent Sweden. Another common thread for the two finalists is their failure to qualify for TI5, doubled by the fact that none of them managed to win a title in a LAN environment for quite some time. This meant that the final series of jD-MLG Pro League Season 2 had a twofold importance, a consolation prize and a much needed confirmation.

Not very satisfied with today's games. But hey... We got silver!!! It's a step in the right direction. Ty for all the support :) — Jonathan Berg (@LodaBerg) June 7, 2015

Game one - “Game of Trades “

The first game from the Bo3 final series started quite bad for Alliance as Pajkatt’s Shadowfiend was bullied out from the mid lane by the duo Leshrac - Witch Doctor and forced to farm the jungle, crippling his Chen’s potential. Meanwhile, Era on his Gyrocopter, with no pressure applied on his lane, enjoyed a free farm session throughout the early game.

Despite the fact it was a game of patience and calculated moves, the score board showing only eight kills equally spread between the two teams 24 minutes into the game, the second Roshan kill of the game shattered the balance of the match when Alliance lost their top tier three tower to creeps while they were all in the pit. The tension escalated quickly when Era with an Aegis in his inventory decided to buy a Divine Rapier and immediately after that NiP felt confident enough to push Alliance’s high ground taking two sets of racks and retreating once the Aegis expired.

A last team fight around Roshan pit at the 50 minute mark ended up with Era losing his Divine Rapier to AdmiralBulldog’s Phoenix but even so, NiP managed to get four kills and pushed the Radiant base as Alliance was left with no buy-backs and they were forced to call out the GG.

Game 2 - Alliance strike back

Being one step away from losing the chance to a gold medal, Alliance opted to go for the old Tiny–Io combo, seasoned with an exotic Enigma pick for AdmiralBulldog. Despite a high pressure from NiP in the very early game, Alliance hit a perfect timing onTiny’s Aghanim’s Scepter for the mid game potential snowball. With top notch Enigma plays from AdmiralBulldog who used the Black Holes perfectly, Alliance turned the game in their favor and dominated NiP forcing them to play extremely defensive. Only 30 minutes into the game Alliance were sieging NiP’s base and after a three man Black Hole, Ninjas in Pyjamas had to tap out.

Game 3 – Oldies but Goldies

For the last game of the day it was NiP’s time to go for an old forgotten combo as they drafted an Axe-Omniknight offlane annoying duo while Alliance put their trust again in AdmiralBulldog’s Enigma.

Continuing the early super aggressive trend that they’ve displayed in the first two games, NiP had a 10- 0 kill lead at the 15 minute mark, with jonassomfan - Axe sitting on an Ultra Kill only eight minutes into the game. However, Alliance clawed their way back into the midgame by taking the first Roshan and creating space for Pajkatt’s Shadow Fiend to make a comeback who was suddenly topping the net worth chart. Nevertheless, NiP did not allow Alliance to keep their momentum rolling and they called for a tactical retreat, resumed the farming and waited for things to cool down. Ten minutes later, Aegis was up for grabs once again and in spite of a perfect initiation from AdmirallBuldog’s Enigma, NiP managed to punish Alliance’s aggressiveness by getting four kills and placing the Aegis on their carry Slark which allowed them to claim one set of racks and retreat with no casualties. Showing great restraint and respect for their opponents’ well known comeback potential, Nip waited for the fourth and last Roshan spawn in order to make the final push that lead to their victory at jD-MLG Pro League Season 2, grabbing the gold medals and the first LAN trophy in their team existence.

Fnatic bronze medal finalists at X-Games Austin

The return of Fnatic organization into Dota 2 scene is crowned at their first participation in a LAN tournament with a relative success as their new squad finished third at jD-MLG Pro League Season 2 and earned the first Bronze Medal in Dota 2 history. Unveiling a role change inside the team, with Mushi returning to his core position role while the young talented discovery of his, Kecik Imba, switched to support, the Malaysian squad took the opportunity to test and calibrate their new roles in the best environment possible, an important LAN tournament. Even though London Conspiracy didn’t make it on the podium, their performance impressed again and continued their fast ascending trend on the scene.

With DreamHack Summer starting next week-end and with Alliance and NiP being directly invited to the main LAN event of ASUS ROG DreamLeague Season 3 that will be held in Sweden, chances are we might see a rerun of an all Swedish finals and the opportunity for Alliance to take revenge.

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