Table of Contents

Liquid Wins
Liquid Has Done It

The WildCards
coL and NB Prevail

Group Stage
It all starts here

Main Bracket
Liquid and Newbee on Top

TheFinals
A Finals To Remember

Recommended Games
Our Picks

More on Liquipedia

Epicenter started with year old records being smashed; Newbee going undefeated through the wildcard matches brought them to a 25-0 win streak making them the record holders. They went on to win four more games bringing their total to 29-0 before finally being brought down in a very intense game with OG. We then saw old rivalries clash, terrific upsets, fantastic games, and some of the best production (minus the sound issue) that we’ve had outside of TI. All eyes were on Secret and EG to see if they could perform with their new rosters on the new patch. Although there are multiple reasons or excuses that can be made ultimately both teams failed to deliver. Newbee, as the lone Chinese team, went into Moscow with the hope to repeat the performances of Wings and VG.Reborn and win the third international tournament in a row for the Chinese region, while OG mustered their strength with the hope that they would not end up losing yet again to the future tournament winners. With so much riding on it for so many teams we’ve seen some desperate DotA played as teams cling to any chance of victory. In some cases, these team have against all odds have come back to win against rapiers, and nearly against mega creeps. With Liquid walking away with the trophy, they can look back at this event and truly feel like champions heading towards the Manila Major even as it paints a target on their back.






Complexity vs Fnatic in the first round of the losers bracket during the Wildcard matches brought some interesting item builds and strategies as Mushi went E-blade Anti-Mage in game 1 and Complexity won game 3 with a dual jungle Axe + Wyvern while darkseer made their teamfight combination absolutely terrifying. Complexity managed to net Fnatic in place and went on to defeat No Diggity to secure the 2nd spot in the main tournament. Not much can be said for Newbee’s games in the Wildcard matches as they made short work of their opponents, Complexity and No Diggity, and quickly secured their place in the main tournament.




The first day of the main tournament saw many excellent series play out. Newbee maintaining their record defeating Secret 2-0, Sumail's storm vs VP making a return, OG showing they've still got what it takes to win in convincing fashion against Alliance and a fantastic game 1 vs Liquid. Liquid came back against OG in game 2 with Fata having one of the best performances on Alch we've seen (in the history of dota!) and game 3 was a back and forth treat to watch with one of the craziest and longest fights of the tournament eventually securing Liquids spot at the top of group A.

In the other group Newbee went up against EG and managed to keep their win streak alive 2-0ing the North American giants. Second game was a particularly contested game where at times Sumail's Alch and AUI's lifestealer looked like they might have been able to stop Newbee, but alas it wasn't meant to be as kpii's naga, and a fantastic performance by the hero Sunray, formally known as Phoenix, kept Newbee's win streak alive and extended to 29-0 heading into the upper bracket. Team Secret was the biggest surprise to some as they seemed prepared against Newbee but just could not close out a game but then looked out of their element against VP leaving many wondering what Secret would do to turn around their fortune as they started in the lower bracket.



While there have been fantastic games played by numerous teams during the elimination rounds the thing that has caught everyone's attention is Secret going out in the first round and EG not taking a single game off of teams not named VP and being eliminated 2-0 by Complexity. Swindlemelonzz has finally gotten his long awaited victory against PPD and with it also secured his team a 4th place finish at the hands of Newbee. With both EG and Secret struggling to put up results it has opened a path for both old and new teams to seize victory as OG managed to stop Newbee’s streak and not only took one game off the Chinese beast but sent them to the lower bracket where, as Tobi put it, they begin their win streak anew.
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Liquid showed their understanding of how to fully utilize Kuroky’s drafting as they took down EG and OG without dropping a game to make it to the grand finals where they hoped to dismiss concerns that they’re going to start a silver mining industry and become the new C9. The rematch with OG and Newbee saw yet another beautiful display of skill mixed with some clowny moments which made for some very good games. We saw a double rampage from Hao’s spectre, while Miracle’s invoker seems to have even more mystifying powers than we know of as it seems to make people run along side his meteors. Newbee eventually managed to take revenge for their earlier loss to OG and earned the chance to fight for first place. Their revenge was on the back of Hao’s spectre who went a combined score of 28-3-40 in the two games he played the hero.





The grand finals kicked off by exciting the crowd before the draft even finished, Liquid picking up a mid Zeus and support Riki in a very unique way of trying to deal with Hao’s PL and pick off the other heroes on Newbee’s side. Newbee showed great patience in dealing with Kuroky’s Riki but ultimately Liquid caught Newbee off guard and took the first game.
Newbee responded in kind in game 2 as Mu farmed up on Alchemist and although Matumbaman had a 5 minute midas he still could not keep up with the strength and farming speed of Mu. Hao on weaver also seemed unkillable and after a few successful fights from Newbee Liquid tapped out and the series was tied up at 1 a piece. Newbee carried their momentum into game 3 where a jungling Beast Master gave Newbee an edge and a poor early game fight mid cost Liquid 4 heroes with no gains, as Mu, Hao, and kpii all found their items and levels. Liquid managed to bring it to a game 5 with a Gyro, Slardar, Alch tricore line-up where this time Newbee struggled to keep the alchemist down and eventually caved. Both teams brought out something new once again during the final draft of the tournament as Liquid picked up a 2nd pick AA in response to Newbee’s Alchemist and Newbee picked up a core Venomancer. In a true demonstration of teamwork Liquid managed to slow Mu’s Alchemist while slowly taking control over the map. Liquid not willing to succumb to another 2nd place finish at yet another high profile tournament were able to show a lot of discipline and coordination as they chipped away at Newbee until finally they were prepared to go high ground and although Newbee put up a terrific defence Liquid eventually broke them and forced Newbee to tap out.

With such a contested finals Newbee should be going back to China relatively happy with what they accomplished, and we’re sure heading into the Manila Major they will be looking for a rematch and revenge. For now though, Liquid have proven themselves to be the top team defeating 3rd place OG twice and overcoming Newbee, arguably the best team in China, 3-2 with a wide array of strategies and heroes.






Alright, so one of these isn't actually a game, but it was cool enough that we thought it had to be recommended regardless. We hope you enjoy these matches!