Yet another previously scoreless team is now on the Dota 2 Pro Circuit leaderboard.
In yesterday’s StarLadder ImbaTV Invitational games, the Moscow-based Vega Squadron mirrored OpTic Gaming’s results in the first day of the event, going 2-1 against Brazilian team SG E-sports, then 2-0 vs. Fnatic.
Their first game against SG got off to a fast start, but their advantage of almost 8,000 gold got away from them after a disastrous mid game teamfight saw them wiped from the face of the Earth. This turned the tide heavily in favor of the Brazilians in the late game, which was when Adriano “4dr” Machado rolled Vega over with his carry build Lina.
The Russian team struck back in the next game, using Tiny and Night Stalker to great effect in their rotations and regular ganks. Vega held SG to just 10 kills compared to their 35 in game two, even managing to teamwipe their rivals three times throughout the game. Every single player on Vega worked together flawlessly, showing the Brazilians that this was their turf and that they were here to defend it.
They nailed the coffin shut in the third game, once again turning to Tiny and Night Stalker to form the core of their draft. This time, however, it took Vega almost 52 minutes to put SG away, in no small part due to 4dr’s intervention once again. The 24-year-old mid laner made sure that SG wouldn’t go down without a fight, dealing more than 38,000 points of damage with Timbersaw.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be for SG. One good teamfight for Vega at the Radiant base all but sealed the deal, eliciting cheers and chants from the home region crowd.
Vega then suited up for the group winners’ match against Fnatic. A strong late game-focused draft combined with stalwart defense and great use of Nature’s Prophet’s global presence allowed them to successfully stave off Abed Yusop’s Broodmother—buying time for Nikita “Palantimos” Grinkevich to come online as Terrorblade.
Fnatic couldn’t survive the onslaught of illusions coming at them, forcing them to tap out in 42 and a half minutes.
The second game, though, was closer than the first one. Fnatic held the early advantage up until the peak of the mid game, thanks to some good engagements and smart play. Fortunately for Vega, they wrested control of the game and the series thanks to a monstrous performance by Dmitry “UnderShock” Bolshakov on Jakiro. He easily matched Abed’s damage output on Lina, despite not really being on a hero that’s known for being at the top of the damage charts.
This sets Vega up with 30 Pro Circuit points, and a slot in the playoff bracket. They await the winner of the match between Na’Vi and SG.
