G League is in full swing now, and we're here today with coverage of the recently concluded Group A. LGD, LGD.int, DK and ForLove played each other in what has been dubbed the group of death, with one team falling and three others moving on to the playoffs. Tangeng has both a quick recap and a detailed rundown for those of you who missed the games. Group A featured some terrific Dota, and we do our best to sum it up for you in these recaps.We also have a special translation for you this week in the form of an article on DK's strategic limitations . Their early exit from this tournament is indeed big news, and Tangeng's translation of a Chinese fan article really sheds some light on why they couldn't stand up to the competition around them.Finally, we have Liquid`BuLba here with his thoughts on G League. That's right, it's yet another BuLba Says ! We hope you enjoy this update, and do check back soon for more G League coverage from TL.

LGD.int, the newcomer, came out on top in Group A. They beat out LGD by the narrowest of margins, going to the fourth tie-breaker, head-to-head in terms of record. It is not an undeserved placement as they went toe-to-toe and emerged victorious against several of the best teams in China, but their total game record of 5-4 shows that the group was as evenly matched as can be. Looking forward, LGD.int will eagerly await the the second place team in Group B and of course will also be looking forward to facing For.Love.LGD survived the group and with two wins, they advance into the playoffs in second place. They will play the third place team from Group B. LGD played a variety of strategies and was part of some epic games. Looking forward, LGD still has a good chance of winning the championship. They will now be matched up against the 1st and 3rd placed teams in Group B.For.Love did well to take down DK in the first match of the group and promptly dropped the other two matches 2-1. Although the team has some moments of brilliance, they sometimes made basic mistakes that ruined or nearly ruined several of their games. For.Love will be matched in a best-of-3 against the second place finisher of Group B.Though this was by no means DK's tournament, their most disappointing (and shocking!) result was their 2-0 loss against For.Love. Despite putting up an admirable performance, and seemingly taking the teeth out of the LGD.int strategy in their 2-1 win and playing an amazing a series against LGD, DK will still have to deal with their narrow elimination from G-League.

Detailed Recap by Tangeng

ForLove 2 - 0 DK

LGD.int 2 - 1 LGD

LGD 2 - 1 ForLove

DK 2 - 1 LGD.int

LGD.int 2 - 1 ForLove

LGD 2 - 1 DK





Game One



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LGD began the match with an amazing run of seven ganks. In compensation, DK secured BurNIng's Lone Druid some free farm and a sizable advantage in creep kills. Coming out of the laning phase at 10 minutes, LGD was only slightly ahead, and DK quickly started to reverse the advantage with a pair of powerful pushing heroes in Beastmaster and Lone Druid. When LGD tried to contest this, DK scored kills on Leshrac and Brewmaster. The kills and tower gold helped BurNIng get his Radiance up by the 17th minute and secure the mid game for DK. From there, a BurNIng and RotK Nature's Prophet split push hemmed in LGD, took down all outer towers, secured an Aegis and forced LGD into a costly fight that saw DK take down the middle set of barracks. DK continued to build on its advantage and wore down LGD with split pushes and some cheesy Chen "Test of Faith" sendbacks on the bear.



Just when it looked like the game was coming to an end, LGD struck back in a furious running battle that saw them score six unanswered kills. In the following few minutes, they found another two kills and looked ready to take Roshan. Yet just as Roshan was about to fall, DK drew LGD into a battle that teetered in the balance with Lone Druid very nearly dying to Faceless Void as both teams emptied their abilities on each other. However, during the battle DK killed off the LGD supports, and the Beastmaster Roar and Force Staffs, along with the tankiness of the Lone Druid dragged the battle on for long enough for RotK to respawn, reinforce, and turn the tide. After securing the team fight win, DK took down Roshan and saw out the game.



Game Two



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There were multiple turning points in this back-and-forth game that lasted 75 minutes. LGD came came out with a small early advantage. First blood, the creep kill lead, and a 13 minute battle fury was the product of the favorable lanes they experienced. DK responded with a Drum - Diffusal Blade build for middle game team fight strength. During this time, DK found a few gank kills and pulled closer once again. Then at 29 minutes, LGD caught DK as they were exiting the Roshan pit after successfully taking an Aegis. In the ensuing battle, LGD popped the Aegis and nearly team wiped DK, taking four heroes kills. An excellent Split Earth and a surprise BKB on the Anti Mage made the difference and secured LGD the advantage to attempt high ground.



By 39 minutes, LGD took down all of DK's outer towers and began sieging DK's middle set of barracks with Manta Style and Disruption illusions. DK put up an excellent high ground defense and drew LGD in to a huge pitch battle at 44 minutes. Despite all this, DK lost only their middle barracks, and repelled LGD, giving BurNIng time to get more items up on the Phantom Lancer while Sylar's Anti Mage was already full and spending money on rebuying items such as BKBs.



Just when it looked like DK was regaining control of the game, LGD once again caught DK coming out of the Roshan pit after a successful Aegis. LGD forced high ground when a few DK heroes were down and successfully took down the melee barracks in the bottom lane. LGD then turned their attention to the top lane and attempted to secure mega creeps.



DK tightened up their play as LGD bore down on them. QQQ's Earthshaker did an excellent job of zoning the illusions away from the tower even as the Phantom Lancer and Anti Mage illusions hacked away at each other. The two teams emptied all their abilities on to the illusion as if they were the real heroes themselves. DK defended several waves of creeps and illusions until the opportunity presented itself. They then counter attacked. At 52 minutes, DK pushed back and initiated on the Anti-Mage with Roar. When LGD grouped up for defense, the Earthshaker blinked in for a huge Echo Slam and this routed LGD. In the ensuing chase, DK secured four kills, pushed out all the lanes, and got Roshan a third time. As if an indication of events to come, during this series of battles, the Shadow Demon disruption of the Phantom Lancer killed the original Phantom Lancer.



In the following minutes, DK consolidated their team strength, pushed out all the lanes, and started chipping away at the LGD base. Even as they were wearing down LGD, at 70 minutes things went horribly wrong for DK. Shadow Demon once again disrupted the Phantom Lancer, and the borrowed army of illusions overwhelmed BurNIng and his entire team. To add insult to injury, BurNIng died so quickly that his Boots of Travel were still on cooldown and he could not return to the battle to stem the tide. After this disaster for DK, the game still hung in the balance, and only a horribly disorganized engagement by them at 74 minutes decided the game.



Game Three



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LGD won this game in the ban and pick phase, and cornered DK into a carry on the last pick. For this late pick, DK chose Spectre, an extreme late game carry, and LGD countered with Undying, a strong laning phase hero. LGD hampered the development of the Spectre and warded against the ganking potential of the Night Stalker and the Nyx Assassin. At 22 minutes, LGD breached high ground with a solid push that DK could not fight against. DK tapped out shortly afterwards. DK and LGD met up to close out Group A in a high stakes match that sent the loser home. Knowing the importance of the series, LGD and DK and elevated their game and produced a couple of epic games. In the end, LGD outclassed DK in the decisive third game to win and thereby advance out of the group.LGD began the match with an amazing run of seven ganks. In compensation, DK secured BurNIng's Lone Druid some free farm and a sizable advantage in creep kills. Coming out of the laning phase at 10 minutes, LGD was only slightly ahead, and DK quickly started to reverse the advantage with a pair of powerful pushing heroes in Beastmaster and Lone Druid. When LGD tried to contest this, DK scored kills on Leshrac and Brewmaster. The kills and tower gold helped BurNIng get his Radiance up by the 17th minute and secure the mid game for DK. From there, a BurNIng and RotK Nature's Prophet split push hemmed in LGD, took down all outer towers, secured an Aegis and forced LGD into a costly fight that saw DK take down the middle set of barracks. DK continued to build on its advantage and wore down LGD with split pushes and some cheesy Chen "Test of Faith" sendbacks on the bear.Just when it looked like the game was coming to an end, LGD struck back in a furious running battle that saw them score six unanswered kills. In the following few minutes, they found another two kills and looked ready to take Roshan. Yet just as Roshan was about to fall, DK drew LGD into a battle that teetered in the balance with Lone Druid very nearly dying to Faceless Void as both teams emptied their abilities on each other. However, during the battle DK killed off the LGD supports, and the Beastmaster Roar and Force Staffs, along with the tankiness of the Lone Druid dragged the battle on for long enough for RotK to respawn, reinforce, and turn the tide. After securing the team fight win, DK took down Roshan and saw out the game.There were multiple turning points in this back-and-forth game that lasted 75 minutes. LGD came came out with a small early advantage. First blood, the creep kill lead, and a 13 minute battle fury was the product of the favorable lanes they experienced. DK responded with a Drum - Diffusal Blade build for middle game team fight strength. During this time, DK found a few gank kills and pulled closer once again. Then at 29 minutes, LGD caught DK as they were exiting the Roshan pit after successfully taking an Aegis. In the ensuing battle, LGD popped the Aegis and nearly team wiped DK, taking four heroes kills. An excellent Split Earth and a surprise BKB on the Anti Mage made the difference and secured LGD the advantage to attempt high ground.By 39 minutes, LGD took down all of DK's outer towers and began sieging DK's middle set of barracks with Manta Style and Disruption illusions. DK put up an excellent high ground defense and drew LGD in to a huge pitch battle at 44 minutes. Despite all this, DK lost only their middle barracks, and repelled LGD, giving BurNIng time to get more items up on the Phantom Lancer while Sylar's Anti Mage was already full and spending money on rebuying items such as BKBs.Just when it looked like DK was regaining control of the game, LGD once again caught DK coming out of the Roshan pit after a successful Aegis. LGD forced high ground when a few DK heroes were down and successfully took down the melee barracks in the bottom lane. LGD then turned their attention to the top lane and attempted to secure mega creeps.DK tightened up their play as LGD bore down on them. QQQ's Earthshaker did an excellent job of zoning the illusions away from the tower even as the Phantom Lancer and Anti Mage illusions hacked away at each other. The two teams emptied all their abilities on to the illusion as if they were the real heroes themselves. DK defended several waves of creeps and illusions until the opportunity presented itself. They then counter attacked. At 52 minutes, DK pushed back and initiated on the Anti-Mage with Roar. When LGD grouped up for defense, the Earthshaker blinked in for a huge Echo Slam and this routed LGD. In the ensuing chase, DK secured four kills, pushed out all the lanes, and got Roshan a third time. As if an indication of events to come, during this series of battles, the Shadow Demon disruption of the Phantom Lancer killed the original Phantom Lancer.In the following minutes, DK consolidated their team strength, pushed out all the lanes, and started chipping away at the LGD base. Even as they were wearing down LGD, at 70 minutes things went horribly wrong for DK. Shadow Demon once again disrupted the Phantom Lancer, and the borrowed army of illusions overwhelmed BurNIng and his entire team. To add insult to injury, BurNIng died so quickly that his Boots of Travel were still on cooldown and he could not return to the battle to stem the tide. After this disaster for DK, the game still hung in the balance, and only a horribly disorganized engagement by them at 74 minutes decided the game.LGD won this game in the ban and pick phase, and cornered DK into a carry on the last pick. For this late pick, DK chose Spectre, an extreme late game carry, and LGD countered with Undying, a strong laning phase hero. LGD hampered the development of the Spectre and warded against the ganking potential of the Night Stalker and the Nyx Assassin. At 22 minutes, LGD breached high ground with a solid push that DK could not fight against. DK tapped out shortly afterwards.

In the putative group of death, the G-League draw pitted a storied former champion in DK, a newly crowned champion in LGD, an ambitious international visitor in LGD.int, and a seasoned LAN veteran in For.Love against each other for six intense best-of-3 matches. However, the supposed weak link of the bunch, For.Love, is actually a returning semifinalist from last season's Dota competition. In short, there was no easy opponent in the group.There were some interesting side stories to this group as well. LGD vs LGD.int, of course, was an LGD fratricide that matched the international guests against their host team. Also, For.Love vs DK pitted the former DK understudy and carry player, Tu_Tu, against the god of carries himself, BurNIng. Finally, LGD vs DK created a rematch of the most recent G-1 Champions League final.In retrospect, the group and all its games lived up to the billing. Five of the six matches reached a decisive third game, and multiple teams lost the first game only to come back and take the series by winning the third. Tense moments of posturing, nervy engagements, and sharp strategies paved the way for amazing plays, exciting team fights, and stunning comebacks. On the final day, the fate of all the teams hung in the balance and the difference between being crowned king and being condemned to an early exit came down to a few clicks. It was Dota at its finest.