Summit 5 Grand Finals: Wings Gaming weather the OG storm to win title, 3:1

Wings Gaming were crowned Summit champions for the first time, after upsetting the odds to beat favorites OG, 3:1, in The Summit 5 Grand Finals. The fan-favorite tournament was punctuated by moments of magic over the course of five days, between July 13-17, and it came to a fitting end at the BTS house, in Los Angeles, on Sunday.

Wings Gaming relied on their signature early-game aggression resolve once more to seal a remarkable victory in The Summit 5 Grand Finals and lift their second premier international trophy in Los Angeles, on Sunday.

Few had tipped Wings for success at The Summit 5. A long line of people started to change their mind after the Chinese team took two consecutive 2:1 victories against Na’Vi and Team Liquid – two directly invited teams – in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively.

With canny tactical switches, an impressively proactive approach, decisiveness, and an admirable sense of calm, Wings moved on to the Upper Bracket Finals, where they defeated OG, 2:0. The two teams would meet again, in The Summit 5 Grand Finals.

After a remarkable season leading up to The International 6, OG started The Summit 5 as firm favorites, but only managed to come up second best at the BTS house. They were expected to shine, but ended up looking a tad shaky throughout the tournament.

After losing to Wings, 0:2, in the Upper Bracket Finals, they managed to take out Team Liquid, 2:1, in the Lower Bracket Finals, to go up against the Chinese team once again in The Summit 5 Grand Finals.

OG started The Summit 5 Grand Finals on a positive note. Initially, they seemed to have the better of Wings. They managed to bypass Wings’ signature early aggression, forcing errors that yielded opportunities.

With the first game of The Summit 5 Grand Finals in the bag, all the indicators pointed toward a victory for OG. But something went wrong. OG lost their grip on the next three games and they were unable to break the deadlock. They failed to maximize advantages, started to squander opportunities and, eventually, their chances dried up.

During the last three games of The Summit 5 Grand Finals, OG’s incredibly talented players were less effective than expected and the team ended up looking less than the sum of its parts. They lacked cohesion going forward and looked a bit disjointed and stilted. They were neutralized and eventually defeated.

OG might not have had the best end to the competition, with below-par performances in the Upper Bracket Finals and The Summit 5 Grand Finals. However, the team might have held back on some strategies and taken unnecessary risks experimenting in preparation for The International 6. Given their performances and track record this season, they are still one of the top contenders at TI6.

Coming straight after a second-place finish at the Nanyang Championships, Wings Gaming turned in fine performances all throughout The Summit 5. Mixing tremendous energy with great technical quality, the Chinese representatives reasserted the fact that a well-trained team working in harmony continuously for more than 10 months can always beat a star-studded mix of supposedly superior individuals. Every single player on the young Chinese team has demonstrated comfort, but they have also played with intelligence and a certain degree of tactical discipline.

Defensively solid, intelligent with the timing of their attacks, and capable of swinging dangerous initiations, Wings showed a lot of savviness in defeating OG in The Summit 5 Grand Finals, on Sunday.

After dropping the first game almost uncontested, in under 20 minutes, they retaliated with three quick victories – all in under 35 minutes. They showed more potent attacking variety, good positioning and anticipation – constantly being in the right place at the right time to make vital initiations. They showed grit and determination – dictating play, orchestrating the game from deep, and keeping OG’s attacks at bay – not to mention increasing composure as The Summit 5 Grand Finals went on.

This was no fluke victory for Wings Gaming. Their squad is packed with talented players who have the ability to play spectacular Dota, but more importantly, they showed they are intelligent players, implementing their strategies with a lucid, circumspect approach.

The near future looks extremely bright for Wings Gaming at The International 6. The young Chinese squad have shown they have what it takes to thrive at the highest level, and they will only get better as they acquire more international experience. With The Summit 5 in the books after their 3:1 win over OG in Sunday’s Summit 5 Grand Finals, the world waits expectantly for Wings’ TI6 adventure.

The Summit 5 Grand Finals VoDs

Game 1:

Game 2:

Game 3:

Game 4:

The Summit 5 Grand Finals teams

Wings Gaming

Wings Gaming players Innocence and bLink casting at the BTS house © BeyondTheSummit

After The International 5, Wings Gaming made a complete turnover and welcomed all new players. The current roster has been playing together with consistent results for more than 10 months, since August 28th, 2015.

Wings Gaming took 4th place at WCA 2015, where they managed to take two games from Team Secret during the group stage, and quickly started to make a name for themselves.

With minimal official games on record, they stunned many when they snatched the Chinese qualifier spot for ESL One Manila, by sweeping Vici Gaming Reborn, 3:0. The Chinese team ended up reaching the Grand Finals, where they managed a clean sweep over Team Liquid, 3:0. They walked away with their first championship title as a team and the $100,000 first place prize.

Wings were then directly invited to the Manila Major, where they had a disappointing finish, taking 13th-16th place. Their next premier LAN event, the Nanyang Championships, brought them back to the Dota 2 forefront. They lost the Grand Finals against Newbee, 2:3, and placed second overall.

After securing a 3:1 win against favorites OG in The Summit 5 Grand Finals, Wings Gaming are walking away with a $42,944 prize, not to mention the priceless experience and confidence boost that might prove decisive for them at The International 6. Chinese fans will be rubbing their hands with glee at the thought of Wings Gaming going above and beyond the odds and hopes at TI6.

Wings Gaming roster:

Zhou “bLink” Yang
Zhang “bian” Ruida
Chu “Shadow” Zeyu
Zhang “Innocence” Yiping
Li “iceice” Peng

OG

OG during the StarLadder Dota Invitational playoffs © StarLadder

The team first defied the odds when they rose through the Lower Brackets, bested The International 5 champions, Evil Geniuses, and upset favorites Team Secret to rocket to the top and claim the championship title and the staggering 1.1 million dollars prize at the first Dota Major, in Frankfurt.

They followed up with a first place finish at DreamLeague Season 4, but slid into the 5th-8th place at the DotaPit Season 4 LAN. Stepping back up, they secured the fourth place at StarLadder iLeague Dota Invitational after being bested by Na’Vi, 2:1, in the Lower Brackets.

OG continued to re-climb the success ladder and took a remarkable third place at EPICENTER Moscow and then the championship title at DreamLeague Season 5 one week later, after they absolutely shellacked Na’Vi, 3:0.

In another ground-breaking moment, OG seized their second Valve championship title at the Manila Major, when they defeated Team Liquid, 3:1, becoming the first team to claim two Valve titles. Merely one week later, they claimed the ESL One Frankfurt title.

OG (formerly known as Monkey Business) was created right after The International 5. The squad has been playing with the same, unaltered lineup for more than 10 months, since August 28th, 2015. The team’s second place finish at The Summit 5 has rounded out their year so far on a very high note, in preparation for The International 6, where OG are shaping up to be one of the clear favorites.

OG roster:

Johan “BigDaddy” Sundstein
Tal “Fly” Aizik
David “MoonMeander” Tan
Andreas “Cr1t-“ Franck Nielsen
Amer “Miracle-“ Barqawi

The Summit 5

Eight teams (six of which will be attending The International 6) – OG, Team Liquid, Na’Vi, Wings Gaming, Digital Chaos, Fnatic, Ad Finem and FDL – have competed in the always entertaining and never disappointing The Summit tournament. The event took place in the comfort of the BTS house, in Los Angeles, California, over the course of five days, between July 13-17. The teams provided viewers with some intense match-ups amidst the playful and spirited creative content and segments brought to life by Beyond the Summit.

The Summit 5 final standings and prize-pool distribution

All the eight participating teams walked away with a share of the $101,044 total prize-pool.

• 1st place – Wings Gaming – $42,944

• 2nd place – OG – $22,735

• 3rd place – Team Liquid – $13,136

• 4th place – Natus Vincere – $10,104

• 5th-6th place – Digital Chaos and Fnatic – $3,537

• 7th-8th place – FDL and Ad Finem – $2,526