[VODS] DreamLeague Season 3 LAN day 2 recap: Na’Vi advance to grand finals, Alliance eliminated

The second day of the DreamLeague Season 3 LAN playoffs held at DreamHack Summer, in Jönköping, Sweden has concluded. Na’Vi bested Virtus.Pro, 2:1, in the Upper Bracket finals and have advanced to the grand finals. Ninjas in Pyjamas eliminated their fellow Swedes Alliance from the competition.

Although the highly anticipated “El Clásico” Na’Vi versus Alliance was less spectacular than expected, the second day of the DreamLeague Season 3 LAN playoffs treated us to some amazing games. Ninjas in Pyjamas eliminated Alliance, 2:1, in an all-Swedish best-of-three series. The Upper Bracket finals played by the two CIS powerhouse teams Virtus.Pro and Natus Vincere were dubbed “the best series of the tournament” by commentators Andy “Draskyl” Stiles and Troels “SyndereN” Nielsen.

DreamLeague Season 3 LAN Day 1 recap

Na’Vi 2:0 Alliance

The second day kicked off with the Natus Vincere versus Alliance “El Clásico”. In the first game of the best-of-three series, Alliance started off well. They managed to draw first blood and had a good laning phase overall. However, they couldn’t hold out against Na’Vi’s strength and damage output. Daniil “Dendi” Ishutin and Alexander “XBOCT” Dashkevich gave stellar performances.

Despite Alliance played on their home turf and were frantically cheered on by the crowd, they weren’t able to turn things around. The second game of the series was heavily one-sided in Na’Vi’s favor. The Ukrainians were leading by 6:1 at minute seven. The game ended in less than 20 minutes, with a 16:2 score. Na’Vi would move forward in the Upper Brackets, while Alliance dropped to the Lower Brackets to face the winner from Virtus.Pro versus Ninjas in Pyjamas.

Virtus.Pro 2:0 Ninjas in Pyjamas

VP were able to constantly apply pressure all around the map and look for kills, taking the advantage in most team fights. Ninjas in Pyjamas were outplayed from the very beginning. Coming out of the gates, Virtus.Pro were in control and were able to maintain it throughout the 39-minute-long game.

The second game of the series was even more one-sided. Virtus.Pro continued to dominate and outplay NiP. At minute 12, they took a favorable 4:1 trade. NiP ended up losing all five heroes and got four-man wiped again barely two minutes later. The game was over in 19 minutes, with a score of 24:4. Virtus Pro would continue to advance, while NiP dropped to the Lower Brackets to face Alliance.

Alliance 1:2 Ninjas in Pyjamas

Alliance during the DreamLeague Season 3 LAN playoffs. Credits: Ben Cotton/ Dreamhack

The first game started out one-sided in favor of Alliance, despite NiP getting first blood. Per Anders “Pajkatt” Olsson showcased some fantastic plays.

The second game started with a very close and intense skirmish on the top lane. Meanwhile, first blood was drawn by Alliance, on the mid lane. Although Alliance had a very good early game, NiP managed to take the lead and went all the way to victory, evening out the series and forcing a deciding third game for the first time during the DreamLeague Season 3 LAN playoffs.

The deciding third game ended with an exciting base race. NiP took first blood and were able to maintain the lead for the rest of the game. Jonathan “Loda” Berg’s infamous Naga Siren deserves the credit in giving Alliance the opportunity to at least push for the base, but in the end it wasn’t enough to secure the win. NiP took the throne and the victory, advancing into the last day of the playoffs and eliminating their fellow Swedes, Alliance, from the tournament.

Na’Vi 2:1 Virtus.Pro

The DreamLeague Season 3 trophy. Credits: Abraham Engelmark/ Dreamhack

In a one-hour-long game, Na’Vi were able to secure the first win of the series over Virtus.Pro. After many back and forth exchanges, Na’Vi got their hands on a slight advantage. Their aggressive play-style was obvious from the very beginning, when they drew first blood and chased all the way to the base to secure the kill on Silencer.

Virtus.Pro came back strong in the second game. Although they banned Akbar “SoNNeikO” Butaev’s signature hero, Winter Wyvern, he ended up having a great game on Rubick instead, going 1:9:17. Despite the fact that the stolen Vacuum at base to keep VP from pushing resulted in three of VP’s heroes dead, that wasn’t enough for Na’Vi. Virtus.Pro were able to tie up the series and force the deciding third game.

In a quick, heavily one-sided third game, Na’Vi were able to secure their victory over Virtus.Pro. With an amazing game for Daniil “Dendi” Ishutin on Shadow Fiend, a nicely fattened Alexander “XBOCT” Dashkevich on Gyrocopter and Io’s mobility, the team snowballed their way to the end in only 35 minutes. Na’Vi will advance to the DreamLeague Season 3 LAN Grand Finals, while Virtus.Pro will face NiP in the Lower Bracket finals.

Dreamhack Summer DreamLeague LAN finals day 3 schedule

June 15

• 13:30 – Preshow
• 14:00 – Virtus.Pro versus Ninjas in Pyjamas (Bo5 Lower Bracket Finals)
• 18:30 – Natus Vincere versus Winner of LB Finals (Bo5 Grand Finals)

Era (Ninjas in Pyjamas) during the DreamLeague Season 3 LAN playoffs. Credits: Ben Cotton/ Dreamhack

DreamLeague Season 3 LAN broadcasting

English broadcast is provided on DreamLeague’s Twitch channel.

DreamLeague LAN finals talent

• Jorien “Sheever” van der Heijden – Host

• Shane “Shaneomad” Clarke – Co-host

• Andy “Draskyl” Stiles – Commentator

• Owen “ODpixel” Davies – Commentator

• Troels “SyndereN” Nielsen – Commentator

• David “Luminous” Zhang – Commentator

• Jess Brohard – Reporter

DreamLeague Season 3 prize pool distribution

The “League” was played between May 4-21. After the May 23-24 super-weekend, six teams qualified for the LAN playoffs being held between June 13-15, in Sweden. The total prize pool has reached $147,556. Teams will split a $30,000 budget for travel expenses.

1st place: $53,954
2nd place: $31,977
3rd place: $19,477
4th place: $12,151 – Alliance
5th place: $9,651 – Burden United
6th place: $9,651 – Basically Unknown
7th place: $5,326 – Vega Squadron
8th place: $0 – Team Empire*

*According to the announcement made on the Dreamhack website:

Team Empire have had to cancel their participation, even though the reason was VISA this was notified very late to the DreamHack administration and therefore Team Empire will not be entitled to any prize which is instead distributed to the other 7 teams in the League.

Featured image: Abraham Engelmark/ Dreamhack