El Clásico legends Natus Vincere bested Vega, 3:1, in the TI5 European Qualifiers grand finals. Na’Vi will attend The International 5 in August, representing the EU region alongside Team Secret, Team Empire, Cloud 9, and Virtus.Pro. Vega will participate in the Wild Card series scheduled before the main event for a chance to fill one of the last remaining spots.
UPDATE (August 9):
Evil Geniuses are your TI5 champions! Grand Finals VODS, summaries, pictures and highlights: here.
Na’Vi advanced directly to the grand finals yesterday, after defeating 4ASC, 2:1, in the Upper Bracket finals. After defeating the Finnish team 4 Anchors and Sea Captain, 2:0, in the Lower Bracket finals, Vega Squadron moved on to the Grand Finals to face Na’Vi.
TI5 European Qualifiers: Lower Bracket Finals
4ASC vs. Vega Squadron
Game 1
Vega took the first blood. Despite 4ASC having a bad start, giving away the first blood and falling behind on creep skills, they were able to pick-off a few heroes early on and even out the creep kills. 4ASC managed to emerge with six kills all around the map and, by nine minutes into the game, they were leading 9:1. After some favorable trades and pick-offs, Vega started to catch up until minute 14, when they suffered a four-man wipe. At 21 minutes into the game, 4ASC took Roshan and the Aegis.
After multiple disconnects and issues, the two teams continued to make even exchanges, and went back and forth in taking the lead. Vega started to stay together as a group and systematically push their way, breaking high ground at minute 35. They continued to push, farm and then switch lanes again. With Chen being very farmed and with his pushing and healing powers they were able to retain their strength and the advantage. 4ASC’s lineup was starting to fall apart late game and they weren’t designed to do well in five-man fights, which is exactly what Vega was forcing upon them. By minute 45, Vega took another Roshan and 4ASC called “GG” after a four-man wipe and buybacks at minute 49, giving Vega the first game in the series.
Vega took the first game in the series.
Mag, Vega Squadron
Game 2
Even though 4ASC chose a Bloodseeker, the Windrunner had a great game with a score of 12:2, because Vega made sure to always keep her with other heroes and heal her when necessary. 4ASC drew first blood and once again were in the lead early game with good pick-offs and farm. Vega stayed together as five to push a tower and take objectives, then farm briefly before regrouping.
Around minute 21, Vega took Roshan and, a few minutes later, 4ASC smoked up and initiated on Vega as a five versus five fight and ended up losing 4:1, as expected. Around minute 31, 4ASC took a Roshan, which would turn out to be disastrous for them, as they would lose four heroes plus the Aegis and a buyback. By 35 minutes into the game, Vega had full lead and control and Vladimir “no[o]ne” Minenko would have a “Godlike” streak after a 4:0 trade at 4ASC’s base. Another Roshan for Vega at minute 44 would send them into base once again and “no[o]ne” would move to “Beyond Godlike”. 4ASC called “GG” after 46 minutes.
Vega swept 4ASC 2:0, eliminating the Finnish team and advancing into the grand finals to face Na’Vi.
TI5 European Qualifiers Grand Finals
Na’Vi vs. Vega
Solo, Vega Squadron
Game 1
Vega had a pretty good start to the game. They were slightly ahead in all areas of worth and value. Na’Vi attempted to take Roshan at minute 15, but Vega were there to contest it, leaving four of Na’Vi’s heroes dead and wasting the Aegis, a trade that would give Vega and extra boost in their lead and let them start to push without worries. After a few favorable exchanges and pick-offs for Vega, they would continue to stay grouped and make it very difficult for Na’Vi to do much against them.
Na’Vi’s Sven-Io combo did not seem to be doing much for them this game. A blackhole caught Alexander “XBOCT” Dashkevich’s Sven on the upper lane and Akbar “SoNNeikO” Butaev’s Io would try to save him with a tether that would just end up pulling him into it as well and killing them both. Meanwhile, a separate kill on Bloodseeker at the same time would increase Vega’s worth and lead even more and around minute 30, after a 2:0 trade and Pavel “9pashaebashu” Khvastunov’s “Beyond Godlike” streak, Na’Vi would call “GG”.
Vega won the first game of the series.
Game 2
The second game of the series was very fast, ending in less than 30 minutes. The first blood was secured by Vega’s Bounty Hunter, who killed Chen, but ended up paying for it with his life. Although there were some even exchanges at first and the Bounty Hunter had a lot of farm from the many kills he had taken, the Ursa would turn out to be useless, as he was not able to find the space and farm that he needed to do anything or get his items in a good time-frame. In fact, Ursa was near the bottom of the net-worth chart.
Na’Vi fans root for Dendi at DreamHack Masters Bucharest 2014
Na’Vi were leading in both net-worth and xp, even though the kills were about even. A 4:1 trade for Na’Vi at minute 24 in Vega’s base as they were breaking high ground forced a buyback on the Queen of Pain and just minutes later Vega would call “GG”. Vega had not even taken down a single tower by the end of the game, because their heroes were mainly geared towards pick-offs and they had no pushing power or team fight advantages.
Na’Vi took the second game, evening out the series.
Game 3
Na’Vi secured first blood. By 10 minutes into the game, an encounter would result in a 5:1 trade in Na’Vi’s favor, helping them to secure the early game lead and giving them momentum to continue to take the favorable exchanges and pick offs. Juggernaut had a Mask of Madness at minute 10. Na’Vi took Roshan at minute 17.
By minute 24, Na’Vi would have a 14:4 kill lead and a 9k gold lead. A 3:2 exchange for Vega would end up not being enough to give them a lead or momentum to turn the game. A four-hero wipe on Vega at Roshan, as they came in to contest Na’Vi taking it, would signal Vega to call the “GG” and end the game.
Na’Vi took the third game.
Dendi and XBOCT, Natus Vincere
Game 4
The first kill of the game went to Ivan “ArtStyle” Antonov, after a courier snipe. Vega’s Beastmaster killed Chen to take the first blood and they were able to secure the second kill of the game as well. Ancient Apparition denied himself on the Roshan and things were looking good for Vega early game. Despite Vega were handling the laning phase well, Na’Vi were still in the lead. At minute 13, Vega secured a four-hero kill and a tower giving the Beastmaster a triple kill. At minute 16, there was a 5:3 trade in Vega’s favor, followed by a Roshan and two kills on Na’Vi which gave them the chance to push mid-lane.
Vega survived the early game strength of Na’Vi. The sheer push power of Na’Vi would be troubling for Vega, as 21 minutes into the game they had already taken down the tier 1 towers and the mid tier 2 tower. Na’Vi broke high ground at minute 27 and took the middle and bottom barracks and killed four heroes easily. Vega took Roshan at minute 29, but it wasn’t enough to stop or deter Na’Vi from pushing top and taking the top barracks, at minute 32. Mega creeps were spawned and Vega called “GG”.
Na’Vi won the last game, thus qualifying for the TI5 main event in Seattle.
Natus Vincere roster:
Ivan “ArtStyle” Antonov (captain)
Gleb “Funn1k” Lipatnikov
Daniil “Dendi” Ishutin
Alexander “XBOCT” Dashkevich
Akbar “SoNNeikO” Butaev
Vega Squadron roster
Semen “Cema” Krivulya
Pavel “9pashaebashu” Khvastunov
Vladimir “no[o]ne” Minenko
Andrey “Mag” Chipenko
Aleksey “Solo” Berezin
Due to the numerous recent roster changes and inconsistent performances, Na’Vi did not receive a TI5 direct invite. The organization has always been an ever present fixture at the event. Na’Vi won first place at The International 1, and second place at TI2 and TI3. Last year, at TI4, the team slipped to 7th-8th place.
Their last roster change occurred on April 5, when they welcomed back Gleb “Funn1k” Lipatnikov and Ivan “ArtStyle” Antonov and the team had recently been bootcamping in order to improve their performances and team cohesion.
Na’Vi headquarters
Na’Vi will join recently qualified Southeast Asian team MVP.Hot6ix, North-American team compLexity, and Chinese team E-Home, as well as the already invited teams, to compete for the most prestigious title of the year.
TI5 participants:
- ViCi Gaming
- Evil Geniuses
- Team Secret
- Invictus Gaming
- LGD Gaming
- Cloud 9
- Team Empire
- Virtus.Pro
- Newbee
- Team Malaysia
- E-Home
- compLexity
- MVP.Hot6ix
- Na’Vi
The International 5 will take place August 3rd through 8th at the Key Arena, in Seattle, Washington, the same venue as last year. The Key Arena has a total seating capacity of over 17,000. The total prize-pool has so far reached $10,238,861 ($8,638,861 added).
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