The Dota 2 action in the CIS region is slowly but steadily coming to an end.
We never thought that the DPC in CIS would be as interesting as it is. Even though Virtus.Pro and Natus Vincere are dominating the groups, there were loads of surprising results, especially in the last week.
With that said, let’s take a look at a few intriguing series that took place during the week. Don’t forget that we only have one more week of action, after which we just have to wait for the upcoming Major.
Lower Division
The CIS Lower Division is probably the most interesting one to watch compared to every other region and the series between B8 and HellRaisers ("HR") proves that. These two teams definitely deserve to be in the Upper Division, but due to their roster changes, they ended up here.
Game One was probably the most interesting to watch because there was a lot of action all over the map. B8 played aggressively early on and tried to prevent HR from farming. Although they succeeded up to a point, Nikita "young G" Bochko and his teammates managed to bounce back. HellRaiser’s Morphling eventually got a decent number of items and was able to carry his team to victory.
Despite the loss, Danil “Dendi” Ishutin and his squad played a really solid Game Two. Even though they picked Terrorblade (which usually indicates that a team wants to focus on the late-game), B8 gave HR a rampart. Dendi won the mid lane and allowed his carry to push early on. Having no way to deal with TB, HellRaisers decided to forfeit and focus on Game Three.
The last game of this epic series saw two entirely different approaches. B8 wanted to end the game as soon as possible, so they drafted Viper. On the other hand, HR decided to focus on their Anti-Mage. Even though it wasn’t easy, Roman “Resolut1ion” Fominok and his teammates managed to allow their Anti-Mage to accumulate enough farm to carry them. In the end, the team needed just 42 minutes to win.
Following the success, HR is now in third place, so they still have a chance to be in the Upper Division of Season 2.
Also Read: DPC Weekly Recap – Europe Feb 16-20
Upper Division
EXTREMUM vs Team Empire
We didn’t expect this series to be as interesting as it was, but we got to see some pretty unique plays from both sides. Most people thought that Team Empire ("TE") would easily win, but it turns out that Maxim "Shachlo" Abramovskikh and EXTREMUM managed to win the series pretty fast.
The first game between the two was great because it was nearly an hour long. As you can expect from those types of battles, there were tons of ganks, smokes, and other kills. Despite having Outerworld Destroyer, which is often regarded as one of the best late-game INT heroes, EXTREMUM had Medusa in their roster. Needless to say, if this hero has enough farm, she becomes an unstoppable force. This means that the longer the game goes, the stronger she gets. In the end, Dusa and the other four heroes managed to win.
Following the loss, Team Empire seemed somewhat demotivated going into game two. They changed their draft completely and tried to end the game as soon as possible by picking Monkey King. Sadly, their plans didn’t work because their opponents picked Phantom Assassin and Beastmaster.
After 33 minutes of high-quality Dota, EXTREMUM won the series.
Also Read: DPC Weekly Recap – SEA Feb 15-20
Natus Vincere vs Team Spirit
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The second series in the Upper Division that was worth watching was between Natus Vincere and Team Spirit. Na’Vi is one of the biggest surprised of this years’ DPC due to their amazing results.
The first game seemed like it would go in Na’Vi’s favor, but it turned out that Team Spirit managed to snatch the victory. Both teams had good late-game heroes in the face of Morphling and Anti-Mage, but in the end, Spirit's Anti-Mage was able to win.
Also Read: DPC Weekly Recap – North America Feb 16-21
Following the loss, Natus Vincere looked upset, which is why they picked some of their best heroes. We expected the game to end fast, but as it turned out, it lasted for over 64 minutes. We got to see tons of ganks, epic team fights, and clutch moments. In the end, Na’Vi’s Phantom Assassin was able to carry her team to victory.
Sadly, the team was unable to win the series because Game Three didn’t go well for them. Although their Bloodseeker had an amazing game, Team Spirit’s Puck was really strong and helped his team a lot. After just 38 minutes, TS was able to seize the win.
