• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 01:10
CEST 07:10
KST 14:10
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
Serral wins HomeStory Cup 2914Serral wins Maestros of the Game 243ByuL, and the Limitations of Standard Play3Team Liquid Map Contest #22: Results and Winners7Code S Season 2 (2026): RO4 and Finals Preview12
Community News
ZeroSpace Early Access is Now Live!14Weekly Cups (July 13-19): Terran & Protoss rise; Zerg falters2Balance hotfix patch 5.0.16b (July 16)83Reynor: GSL Loss Wasn't About Preparation Format16[IPSL] Spring 2026 Grand Finals - This Weekend!18
StarCraft 2
General
Balance hotfix patch 5.0.16b (July 16) Weekly Cups (July 13-19): Terran & Protoss rise; Zerg falters How would you feel about frequent/monthly balance patches for SC2? Clem: "I don't have that much hope in Blizzard" [D] Wireframe Casting Removed
Tourneys
RSL Revival: Season 6 - Qualifiers and Main Event Master Swan Open (Global Bronze-Master 2) WardiTV Summer Cup 2026 GSL CK #5 Race War HomeStory Cup 29
Strategy
[G] Having the right mentality to improve
Custom Maps
New Map Maker - Looking for Advice - Love or Hate Work In Progress Melee Maps [D]RTS in all its shapes and glory <3
External Content
Mutation # 535 Assembly of Vengeance The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 534 Burning Evacuation Mutation # 533 Die Together
Brood War
General
Animated Gateway BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ BW General Discussion HORROR STARCRAFT MOVIE How Famous was FlaSh before his Debut?
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [IPSL] Spring 2026 Grand Finals - This Weekend! Escore Tournament - Season 3 Small VOD Thread 2.0
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers PvT advise for noobs Fighting Spirit mining rates Creating a full chart of Zerg builds
Other Games
General Games
ZeroSpace Early Access is Now Live! Path of Exile General RTS Discussion Thread ZeroSpace at Steam NextFest - Last free demo Nintendo Switch Thread
Dota 2
Looking for a Dota Mentor Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
TSM pausing esports and CLG Dead
Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Power Rank NeO.D_StephenKing vs This Guy From 1 Million Dance TL Mafia Community Thread Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Artificial Intelligence Thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread How to buy a book - shipping from Korea to Europe The Games Industry And ATVI
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club The HerO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread Series you have seen recently... Movie Discussion! [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 Formula 1 Discussion MLB/Baseball 2023 McBoner: A hockey love story
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread Simple Questions Simple Answers FPS when play League Of Legend on laptop
TL Community
Northern Ireland Global Starcraft The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Hello guys!
LIN1s
Role of Gaming on Mental Hea…
TrAiDoS
ASL S22 English Commentary…
namkraft
Poker (part 2)
Nebuchad
An Exploration of th…
waywardstrategy
ramps on octagon
StaticNine
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 5334 users

Fnatic Discussion - Page 28

Forum Index > Dota 2 Player & Team Discussion
Post a Reply
Prev 1 26 27 28 29 Next All
goody153
Profile Blog Joined April 2013
44282 Posts
August 21 2018 05:49 GMT
#541
On August 21 2018 13:41 DucK- wrote:
Can only blame the group stage chokes...

Went from almost obliterating liquid and PPD even saying he got worried at start as they looked the team that would win TI

Into whatever mess they were at the end.

Welp it's kinda there was never a doubt in my mind when it came what they would end up in TI

I'll still follow EEs team tho
this is a quote
spudde123
Profile Joined February 2012
4814 Posts
Last Edited: 2018-08-21 09:55:17
August 21 2018 09:19 GMT
#542
Concerning the draft, there were some things where it wasn't great against Serenity's like the top lane matchup (which was made worse by Fnatic being pretty careless with their courier and Tiny killing it) and Serenity having Lina and Ogre bloodlust to handle the Phoenix egg. But anyway I think it was good enough for Fnatic to win if they played well. They had the chance to take over the game when they got a few key kills and got the first rosh but they completely wasted the aegis.

First few minutes of that time were blown because PLD died when dewarding and after that Abed got caught being way too forward next to Serenity's ancients despite him just seeing multiple Serenity players killing PLD close to him (and got reapered for extra respawn time) and DJ died trying to save him. After that Fnatic tried to force a fight next to Serenity's T1 which they took really badly, got no spells off properly and got wiped. I think at that time they easily could have won the fight if they just had taken it better. Then they would have got 2 free towers, Ursa would have soon had his BKB, etc. Not to mention that Gyro only got his BKB and Necro got his Lotus Orb around that time because of those 3 kills Fnatic gave away earlier. Had Fnatic not given those up, they would have been able to take a fight with aegis without Serenity having those items. Instead Serenity got pretty far ahead and the game got really hard to play for Fnatic.

Well it'll be interesting to see what happens with the players. You never really know with players that switch regions whether they want to do it longer term or no. I like PLD but not sure if him and EE on the same team is for the best anymore. If EE is going to stay as captain I'd probably prefer him to move to 5 and for them to recruit a carry.

From the perspective of Fnatic they probably want to keep Abed and DJ around considering they've been a SEA team for a long time and those 2 are some of the best in the region. I assume they will also consider their options and whether they can recruit some other captain for example, but that's always easier said than done. Universe probably would prefer to play in NA but it's unclear whether there will be any good openings for him
Sapaio
Profile Joined October 2017
Denmark2037 Posts
August 21 2018 10:19 GMT
#543
I was shocked when they interviewed the coach (aui) before the match and he said they drafted the strongest team in the meta(in Fnatics view after scrims before TI), and when asked about Serenity's draft he couldn't remember it, because only his teams draft did. With that kind of attitude and approach to Dota you deserve to loss, there isn't one strongest team in Dota as it depends on what you face up against. There is a reason there are over 100 heroes.
GO OG
InFiNitY[pG]
Profile Blog Joined December 2002
Germany3474 Posts
Last Edited: 2018-08-21 10:34:45
August 21 2018 10:34 GMT
#544
On August 21 2018 19:19 Sapaio wrote:
I was shocked when they interviewed the coach (aui) before the match and he said they drafted the strongest team in the meta(in Fnatics view after scrims before TI), and when asked about Serenity's draft he couldn't remember it, because only his teams draft did. With that kind of attitude and approach to Dota you deserve to loss, there isn't one strongest team in Dota as it depends on what you face up against. There is a reason there are over 100 heroes.


I agree. It was shocking to me that their approach to a bo1 was: let's get the heroes that we used in scrims. I unterstand that picking comfort heroes is nice, but to completely neglect the meta or your opponent 's draft is borderline suicidal to me. Aui couldn't even recall Serenity's draft at all.
"I just pressed stimpack, and somehow I won the battle" -Flash
Deleted User 173346
Profile Blog Joined April 2011
16169 Posts
August 21 2018 16:14 GMT
#545
--- Nuked ---
SeethingErmine
Profile Joined August 2015
United States25 Posts
August 21 2018 16:56 GMT
#546
I think that post-draft interview sheds a lot of light on how they end up with these odd-looking drafts in pressure situations. The other team's strengths and picks are being all but ignored in favor of tunneling in on one idea. Seems hard to argue that any other DJ teamfight hero (especially one with a setup stun, like say SK) would have done worse than picking Phoenix into Ogre bloodlust. It's mainly disappointing because it feels like they could have beaten Serenity nine times out of ten if they just drafted normally and banned out heroes Serenity is known for like Necro.
spudde123
Profile Joined February 2012
4814 Posts
Last Edited: 2018-08-21 18:22:03
August 21 2018 17:23 GMT
#547
Not sure where this "Serenity is known for Necro" comes from given that they played Necro 1 time in groups. Most teams in the tournament have been picking Necro so it's not like it's a surprise to see it picked. Also I think people interpret the Aui interview a bit wrongly. Fnatic can make reasonable predictions about what Serenity might go for in the first phase and their plan is likely built based on that. It seems fine to me to scrim some of those heroes you might pick the day before. You can see this preparation for example in the PL 1st ban. Serenity showed in groups 4 times that they aren't afraid of 1st phasing that hero, and if Fnatic wants to open with Mirana+Bane (and is even considering Phoenix to give good teamfight) it seems like a fine approach. Fnatic also 1st banned Nyx, which is something Serenity has liked to play.

Phoenix and Mirana specifically are meta heroes that Fnatic wasn't picking in the start of the event, so to say they are ignoring the meta is also a bit of a stretch.

In general I think people downplay the draft too much as if it was unplayable. Fnatic could easily have won that game imo despite the early game going worse than probably expected with Fnatic gifting their courier. They just didn't manage to use their aegis timing at all, and instead it went badly enough that Serenity got way ahead. And it wasn't because their Phoenix was countered or whatever, they just got caught badly out of position first and the first 2-3 minutes of the aegis went away. Then they tried to force a fight and took it really badly. Ursa's initiation didn't go according to plan, Bane, Mirana and Visage didn't get any disables off and instead clumped up to the calldown and Tiny combo. Like if you watch the fight, it ends up being a complete disaster but if for example PLD had walked a few steps to the left instead of up he could have just disabled the Lina who killed the egg alone, and it could have been almost a wipe in Fnatic's favor. And of course there's many other things they could have done better so not trying to point a finger at him but it's just an example of how they could have easily taken a significant advantage with even slightly better execution.

There are certain moments in the game when you are strong and you have to be able to capitalize if you want to win, and they just screwed it up. The draft then ends up looking far worse because Fnatic missed their strong point completely. Even Phoenix looks very different as a hero if instead of getting caught out Fnatic stays composed, takes a proper fight with the aegis, gets a few towers, etc. At that point Ursa and Visage are getting items and the Phoenix can serve as a backline sustain hero to them instead of having to fly in and try an optimistic ult because of them being behind.
SeethingErmine
Profile Joined August 2015
United States25 Posts
August 22 2018 02:07 GMT
#548
Necro was something the analysts mentioned, everyone was first phase banning it against them or first picking it themselves if not banned. Optic banned it first each game in their LB match, for example. Sure Fnatic still could have won with the draft, but they gave Serenity every chance to play their best, needlessly.
goody153
Profile Blog Joined April 2013
44282 Posts
Last Edited: 2018-08-22 06:32:51
August 22 2018 06:31 GMT
#549
I have a feeling pie and envy is not splitting. Abed/DJ/Universe might be free pickings tho.

On August 21 2018 19:19 Sapaio wrote:
I was shocked when they interviewed the coach (aui) before the match and he said they drafted the strongest team in the meta(in Fnatics view after scrims before TI), and when asked about Serenity's draft he couldn't remember it, because only his teams draft did. With that kind of attitude and approach to Dota you deserve to loss, there isn't one strongest team in Dota as it depends on what you face up against. There is a reason there are over 100 heroes.

Yeah this kinda urked me as well.

I do not think they had this mentality before that match as their drafts in the group stages especially the earlier ones looked like they picked natural counters to the enemy draft. And they even had some drafts that were literally meant to dismantle the enemy draft.

And they did that against serenity like they already lost hope before the match. They just picked heroes they're confident with like some ranked match.

On August 22 2018 11:07 SeethingErmine wrote:
Necro was something the analysts mentioned, everyone was first phase banning it against them or first picking it themselves if not banned. Optic banned it first each game in their LB match, for example. Sure Fnatic still could have won with the draft, but they gave Serenity every chance to play their best, needlessly.


They felt like they're playing to lose tbh. Bah incredibly disappointing.
this is a quote
spudde123
Profile Joined February 2012
4814 Posts
Last Edited: 2018-08-22 10:21:04
August 22 2018 10:20 GMT
#550
On August 22 2018 11:07 SeethingErmine wrote:
Necro was something the analysts mentioned, everyone was first phase banning it against them or first picking it themselves if not banned. Optic banned it first each game in their LB match, for example. Sure Fnatic still could have won with the draft, but they gave Serenity every chance to play their best, needlessly.


Necro has been picked or banned in every single one of Optic's games at TI and I wouldn't say they are known for it either. Seems to me that it's just a hero that pretty much all teams prioritize relatively highly, and Optic themselves often don't want to play against it and have 1st banned it many times.

Fnatic on the other hand haven't been 1st banning Necro that much and the two times they played against early Necro picks in the groups they won pretty easily. They don't seem as scared of the hero as some other teams are.

Of course one can argue that Fnatic should have picked different things. But it's hard to know from the outside how they feel about things because we don't know how much they've won or lost with certain things in scrims for example. I just disagree with the narrative some people are pulling from Aui's interview that Fnatic was ignoring their opponent when clearly their bans were directly targeted to Serenity. And also I disagree with really blaming the draft when they had the tools to win and they screwed up so many things in the actual game. Play wise I think it was one of their worst games of the tournament.
nuketurnal2
Profile Joined August 2018
62 Posts
August 22 2018 12:57 GMT
#551
On August 22 2018 02:23 spudde123 wrote:
Not sure where this "Serenity is known for Necro" comes from given that they played Necro 1 time in groups. Most teams in the tournament have been picking Necro so it's not like it's a surprise to see it picked. Also I think people interpret the Aui interview a bit wrongly. Fnatic can make reasonable predictions about what Serenity might go for in the first phase and their plan is likely built based on that. It seems fine to me to scrim some of those heroes you might pick the day before. You can see this preparation for example in the PL 1st ban. Serenity showed in groups 4 times that they aren't afraid of 1st phasing that hero, and if Fnatic wants to open with Mirana+Bane (and is even considering Phoenix to give good teamfight) it seems like a fine approach. Fnatic also 1st banned Nyx, which is something Serenity has liked to play.

Phoenix and Mirana specifically are meta heroes that Fnatic wasn't picking in the start of the event, so to say they are ignoring the meta is also a bit of a stretch.

In general I think people downplay the draft too much as if it was unplayable. Fnatic could easily have won that game imo despite the early game going worse than probably expected with Fnatic gifting their courier. They just didn't manage to use their aegis timing at all, and instead it went badly enough that Serenity got way ahead. And it wasn't because their Phoenix was countered or whatever, they just got caught badly out of position first and the first 2-3 minutes of the aegis went away. Then they tried to force a fight and took it really badly. Ursa's initiation didn't go according to plan, Bane, Mirana and Visage didn't get any disables off and instead clumped up to the calldown and Tiny combo. Like if you watch the fight, it ends up being a complete disaster but if for example PLD had walked a few steps to the left instead of up he could have just disabled the Lina who killed the egg alone, and it could have been almost a wipe in Fnatic's favor. And of course there's many other things they could have done better so not trying to point a finger at him but it's just an example of how they could have easily taken a significant advantage with even slightly better execution.

There are certain moments in the game when you are strong and you have to be able to capitalize if you want to win, and they just screwed it up. The draft then ends up looking far worse because Fnatic missed their strong point completely. Even Phoenix looks very different as a hero if instead of getting caught out Fnatic stays composed, takes a proper fight with the aegis, gets a few towers, etc. At that point Ursa and Visage are getting items and the Phoenix can serve as a backline sustain hero to them instead of having to fly in and try an optimistic ult because of them being behind.


i second this
uthgard
Profile Joined January 2015
2098 Posts
Last Edited: 2018-08-22 15:44:16
August 22 2018 15:44 GMT
#552
I have a strong feeling that at least pie will be kicked from the team
nanaoei
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
3358 Posts
Last Edited: 2018-08-23 01:04:33
August 22 2018 19:36 GMT
#553
the draft was fine. there was some nerves or choking or whatever towards the end there.
ie. no halberd usage from phoenix on that major fight @mid, or abed not blocking the max-fiery soul lina pumping at the egg by using familiars.
it just goes to show how chaotic that game was and how it did not work in their favour.

often you see difficult execution in high pressure games, presumably because that's what they feel it will take to win.
this loss was on each one of them individually and that is what skill is all about:
managing ingame expectations and then capitalizing on mistakes to the maximum.
i feel they drafted knowing their opponents were full of holes.
in that game, so were they.
DJ did not egg on his phoenix expecting to die and having completed his job in doing so. that much is obvious.
he used his ultimate thinking it was good when it was not. he wasn't given a large margin of error, it was a quite small one in order for things to work out as the game progressed.


if you were to give both sides the chance to play that game again, quite certain fnatic wins 9/10 times with tighter play than they showed that day, i think DJ, EE, and PLD are the most disappointed in their play, in that order.
*@boesthius' FF7 nostalgia stream bomb* "we should work on a 'Final Progamer' fangame»whitera can be a protagonist---lastlie: "we save world and then defense it"
nuketurnal2
Profile Joined August 2018
62 Posts
October 01 2018 12:36 GMT
#554
no Fnatic in ESL Hamburg qualifier?
korendir
Profile Joined August 2011
Singapore259 Posts
October 03 2018 15:11 GMT
#555
On October 01 2018 21:36 nuketurnal2 wrote:
no Fnatic in ESL Hamburg qualifier?


they might possibly be only targeting DPC tournaments? Not sure though
nuketurnal2
Profile Joined August 2018
62 Posts
October 03 2018 20:47 GMT
#556
On October 04 2018 00:11 korendir wrote:

they might possibly be only targeting DPC tournaments? Not sure though


hmmm they are joining a non DPC tournament later though - PVP Championships
Julmust
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
Sweden4867 Posts
September 04 2019 12:39 GMT
#557


+ Moon, 23savage
- Abed, DuBu

Super excited to see what 23savage can do but not sure if the Moon pickup is an upgrade or not.
AdministratorI'm dancing in the moonlight
DropBear
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
Australia4422 Posts
September 04 2019 13:10 GMT
#558
This looks good. Moon is a boss and will help stabilize savage
Sucker for nostalgia
Sapaio
Profile Joined October 2017
Denmark2037 Posts
September 04 2019 14:39 GMT
#559
Don't think Moon is a better player than Abed, but Abed to seldom really dominated so think it is best for all that they try something new. Moon played well in TI.
GO OG
Archeon
Profile Joined May 2011
3271 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-09-04 17:39:26
September 04 2019 17:38 GMT
#560
I got the impression that Abed peaks high but averages low while Moon averages higher but peaks lower. Abed has a lot of mechanical skill and is probably the better laner, but in terms of midgame and lategame positioning Moon is much more stable.

Moon should help stabilizing them a bit, which can only be a good thing for them. The team is stacked with playmakers anyways.
low gravity, yes-yes!
Prev 1 26 27 28 29 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 4h 50m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
PiGStarcraft428
RuFF_SC2 136
Nina 116
FoxeR 66
ProTech39
StarCraft: Brood War
GuemChi 3603
Leta 184
PianO 99
Zeus 99
ZergMaN 82
Bale 41
NaDa 39
Noble 20
ToSsGirL 17
Icarus 9
Dota 2
febbydoto45
LuMiX1
League of Legends
JimRising 739
Counter-Strike
Coldzera 1254
minikerr47
Other Games
summit1g5858
WinterStarcraft668
Sick149
Trikslyr27
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick1337
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
[ Show 16 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• intothetv
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• Azhi_Dahaki10
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• lizZardDota273
League of Legends
• Lourlo1136
• Rush746
• Stunt416
Other Games
• Scarra1588
Upcoming Events
The PondCast
4h 50m
Kung Fu Cup
5h 50m
OSC
18h 50m
CrankTV Team League
1d 5h
Replay Cast
1d 18h
CrankTV Team League
2 days
Korean StarCraft League
2 days
Afreeca Starleague
2 days
RSL Revival
3 days
Serral vs SHIN
herO vs Solar
Online Event
3 days
[ Show More ]
Replay Cast
3 days
RSL Revival
4 days
Clem vs ByuN
Rogue vs Lambo
WardiTV Weekly
5 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
6 days
PiGosaur Cup
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-07-21
HSC XXIX
Eternal Conflict S2 E3

Ongoing

CSL 2026 Summer (S21)
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 3
RSL Revival: Season 6
CranK Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League
SCTL 2026 Spring
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 2026
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
PGL Astana 2026

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S3: W4
ASL S22 SEASON OPEN Day 2
Escore Tournament S3: W5
CSLAN 4
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
HSC XXX
SC4ALL II: StarCraft II
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
Light Tournament 2026
Eternal Conflict S2 Finale
ESL Pro League Season 24
Stake Ranked Episode 4
Logitech G Connect 2026
SL StarSeries Fall 2026
FISSURE Playground #5
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.