Welcome to our final highlights from the DreamLeague Season 11 Major! After ten days of the highest quality Dota 2, it is finally time to say goodbye to the third Major of this year’s DPC Season. Today was the final day of DreamLeague Season 11 Major, an event that was a joy to watch.

Lower Bracket Final

Of course, the day started with the LB final between Virtus.Pro and Fnatic. The CIS powerhouse was able to navigate here by defeating some of the best teams in the world in the lower bracket. The funny thing is that they were sent there by Fnatic themselves in their first Upper Bracket game after the Group Stage. On the other hand, Abed and Co. lost yesterday against Vici Gaming in one of the most interesting, back-and-forth series of the tournament.

Game One

Game one went in favour of Fnatic. The SEA team grabbed the lead early on and kept it until the end. It seems like the Magnus + double melee cores are just too powerful to deal with if they get an advantage. VP tried to make as much space for Ramzess’ Terrorblade but Fnatic played very disciplined and gave their enemies no glimmer of hope. Even though on paper VP was not that far behind, reality was a bit different. Despite the loss, VP have this “tradition” of losing the first game in a Bo3 series. That’s why the second game was totally different.

Game Two

In order to keep themselves in the event, in game two the VP drafted a somewhat defensive lineup to help their Spectre. On the other side, Fnatic decided to stick with some of their most comfortable heroes. The game was even during its early stages even though VP had the lead in terms of gold and experience. However, as it went on, No[o]ne and Ramzess became stronger and stronger, and even though TA and PA tried to keep up with VP’s cores, it that was easier said than done.

There was a very messy fight 33 minutes in that went in favour of VP again. Even though Fnatic tried to save themselves, their efforts were just not enough. A few minutes later, Necro’s Reaper Scythe put Abed to sleep for 155 seconds which gave VP the chance to just push and get two lanes of rax. Just a few minutes later they delivered their knockout punch and pushed the series into game three.

Game 3

In the final game of the series, we saw some very strange picks from Fnatic. On the contrary, VP got some of their most comfortable heroes. The first big fight happened near Fnatic’s top tier one tower where the CIS team took a couple of kills. Slowly but steadily, Ramzess and his team-mates’ hyper-aggression started to suffocate the SEA Team. VP needed around 22 minutes to push the high ground and secured their win, eliminating Fnatic from the Major.

Despite losing, Abed and his team proved yet again that they should not be underestimated under any circumstances. Following their loss, Fnatic needs just a few more DPC points in order to secure themselves that direct invite for TI 9.

The Grand Final

Vici Gaming are the Grand Champions of The Stockholm Major. They become the first team to win the Minor and the related Major. Congratulations. #DreamleagueMajor #DPC #Dota2 pic.twitter.com/kGYc7QcYmN — Wykrhm Reddy (@wykrhm) March 24, 2019

We couldn’t have asked for a better final. The “on-fire” Vici Gaming went toe-to-toe with the battle-hardened Virtus.Pro. This is the third Grand Final at a Major event for Virtus.Pro, something which will definitely go down in history.

Game One

Vici Gaming had a solid start in the game after securing several kills and a tower by the 5-minute mark. Unlike their series vs Fnatic, VP played very passively, something that is definitely not typical for their playstyle. The CIS team focused entirely on farming, especially in the jungle. The Chinese continued to dictate the tempo of the game and were able to get five towers in under 15 minutes. However, despite the fact that they had a big lead in terms of kills and towers, the net worth advantage was nowhere as big.

In the end, the inevitable happened. After Vici won another team fight, they were able to destroy two lanes of rax. Having no way to get back in the game, Virtus.Pro called the GG.

Game Two

The Radiant bottom lane was the main attraction again as 9pasha was on a feeding spree two games in a row. However, unlike in game one, this time VP had an Anti-Mage in their line-up who had a very easy time top and managed to get an early Battlefury. Realizing the potential threat, Vici Gaming tried to push more in order to win before Ramzess got out of control. However, their attempt was unsuccessful.

As the game progressed, AM was the only hero that was ahead of Vici’s cores. In fact, the Chinese could not deal with him at all because they had no way to CC him. Eventually, their DS got hex, but Ramzess was already 7-slotted and he was just too big to deal with. After a failed smoke attempt, VP was able to take mega creeps and secured themselves the victory.

Game Three

Similarly to game one, Vici gaming had an explosive start here. To make matters worse for VP, they made numerous mistakes that resulted in several bad kill trades. Paparazzi’s Terrorblade was the strongest hero from the start. After securing the outer tower in his lane, he went on with his team to get the rest. By doing this, Vici were able to accumulate around 7k gold lead just 16 minutes in.

The situation went from bad to worse for VP after Vici secured Roshan. The CIS squad were just dying left and right and had absolutely no way to get back in the game. That’s why the GG call was out just 22 minutes after the start.

Game Four

With one game separating them from the trophy, the Chinese team made sure to pick their most comfortable heroes. On the other hand, VP decided to pull out a Storm Spirit for No[o]ne, a hero that has not been as popular lately. Lucky for them, the Ukrainian prodigy brought his A-game and was one of the main reasons for their victory.

The laning stage was definitely better for VP compared to the last game. There was a lot of back-and-forth action but the CIS team was able to get more from their moments of control. After getting a 5-man wipe in an epic team fight around Roshan, Ramzess and co. were able to push the series to a fifth game.

The Final Game

Well, if there is something better than a Grand Final, it’s five games at a Grand Final. VP picked a very “in your face” lineup again, whereas Vici changed things a bit by getting a Medusa for Ori. The laning stage definitely favoured Vici as they ripped through VP’s tier one towers. Just 14 minutes in, Paparazzi and Co. amassed a 7k advantage, and it continued to grow as the game went on.

Virtus.Pro were just lacking damage to deal with Vici Gaming. Unfortunately, they had no other choice but to GG out, giving the trophy to the Chinese powerhouse.

Conclusion

Vici Gaming seems to be in excellent shape after their most recent results. Hopefully, they will able to preserve their form for future events. If you missed any of the action from the previous days make sure to read our recaps HERE.