Hi, the day at BLAST SLAM VIII turned out very different in style, but with the same result: both LGD Gaming and 1win took their series 2:1. For me, what matters here is even less the score itself than how the teams got there: LGD first survived a tough opening map and then calmly finished the series; 1win, on the other hand, started with a loss but then sharply changed pace and in the next two games simply gave OG no room to play.
LGD Gaming — GamerLegion 2:1
This series started nervously for LGD Gaming: GamerLegion took the first map very convincingly by kill score, 40:10, and closed it in 59:43. LGD Gaming then hit back on the second map, and in the third they wrapped up the match through a tighter, but still controlled, game. From the numbers alone, this felt like a classic series turnaround: at first everything was breaking for LGD Gaming, and then they found a more comfortable draft rhythm and tempo.
- Game 1: GamerLegion win, 59:43, score 10:40.
- Game 2: LGD Gaming win, 35:26, score 28:1.
- Game 3: LGD Gaming win, 45:03, score 24:20.
In the first game, LGD Gaming had Necrophos, Windranger, Storm Spirit, Witch Doctor and Terrorblade, while GamerLegion had Mirana, Earth Spirit, Largo, Sven and Techies. By KDA, the standouts for LGD Gaming were SumaiL- on Storm Spirit with 1/4/9 and Wits on Terrorblade with 0/3/7. But for GamerLegion, the difference was on a completely different level: RCY on Earth Spirit finished with 10/1/22, and Yuma on Sven with 10/0/11. When two core heroes post numbers like that, the first map usually looks almost hopeless, and that is exactly how it turned out here.
In the second game, LGD Gaming changed the picture completely. Their draft with Bounty Hunter, Nature’s Prophet, Dazzle, Slark and Dark Seer looked much more mobile, and the 28:1 score only confirms that. GamerLegion had Mirana, Largo, Ember Spirit, Hoodwink and Ursa, but as the map went on, they seemingly found almost no answer to the opponent’s tempo. The best KDA for LGD Gaming belonged to Thiolicor on Bounty Hunter with 4/0/19 and SumaiL- on Slark with 8/0/13. I think this is exactly the kind of map that shows how dangerous it is to give LGD Gaming room to accelerate: once they start dictating the tempo, the opponent quickly runs out of options.
The third map was noticeably closer: 24:20 in kills and 45:03 in time. LGD Gaming took Pangolier, Nature’s Prophet, Bane, Keeper of the Light and Underlord, while GamerLegion responded with Outworld Destroyer, Winter Wyvern, Windranger, Lycan and Necrophos. There was no feeling that either side was completely collapsing, but LGD Gaming still handled the late game better. SumaiL- on Pangolier finished with 7/1/15, while Wits on Nature’s Prophet went 11/2/9 with a very high GPM of 949. For GamerLegion, the most notable were Fayde on Lycan with 2/3/14 and Yuma on Necrophos with 11/4/5. From a map like this, you can see that the series ended not because of a single lucky moment, but because LGD Gaming managed to stabilize their drafts and no longer let the game slip away the way it did in the first meeting.
1win — OG 2:1
In the second series of the day, the dynamic was reversed: OG started with a win, and a fairly convincing one in terms of the game itself, but after that 1win completely took over. The first match ended 30:20 in OG’s favor in 43:44, but the next two maps were won much more convincingly by 1win: first 27:11 in 24:44, and then 28:4 in 28:20. To me, that is a very telling finish — not just a series comeback, but a gradual ramp-up of pressure after which OG seemingly had no answer to 1win’s pace.
- Game 1: OG win, 43:44, score 30:20.
- Game 2: 1win win, 24:44, score 11:27.
- Game 3: 1win win, 28:20, score 4:28.
In the first game, OG drafted Brewmaster, Gyrocopter, Dazzle, Terrorblade and Pangolier, while 1win answered with Techies, Nature’s Prophet, Doom, Hoodwink and Void Spirit. OG looked best with SSS on Brewmaster at 7/2/15 and Topson on Pangolier at 7/2/14. For 1win, the most efficient player was Pure on Nature’s Prophet with a GPM of 900, although he finished 4/5/7 by KDA. From this map, you could assume OG were better in teamfights and managed to hold control in a long game, but even here 1win already had a very strong economic profile on Nature’s Prophet, and that, I think, became an important thread throughout the whole series.
In the second map, OG picked Techies, Outworld Destroyer, Bristleback, Pangolier and Silencer, but 1win answered with a much more explosive lineup: Hoodwink, Enigma, Nyx Assassin, Invoker and Sven. And here the stats for bzm on Invoker really stand out — 10/0/10 and a GPM of 598 — as well as Pure on Sven — 10/1/4 and a GPM of 703. For OG, the best by KDA were SSS on Pangolier with 4/4/6 and Topson on Outworld Destroyer with 0/3/6. The 11:27 score says it all: 1win clearly found cleaner ways into fights and turned them into results much more effectively.
The third game only reinforced that impression. OG took Lone Druid, Techies, Pudge, Pangolier and Doom, while 1win answered with Largo, Hoodwink, Tiny, Keeper of the Light and Luna. The game ended 4:28, which means OG were barely allowed to get going. Their most notable numbers came from skem on Techies with 1/7/3 and OneJey on Pudge with 0/8/4. For 1win, two players stood out immediately: 33 on Largo with 12/1/15 and bzm on Tiny with 6/0/18. This looked like a map where 1win didn’t just win lanes or a couple of key fights, but actually took control of the entire game. After that, I’d expect them to keep playing at the same pace — when your second half of the series comes together this easily, it’s usually a very good sign for the next match.
Day recap
At the end of the day, one simple thought stays with me: at BLAST SLAM VIII, what matters most is not the start of the series, but the ability to quickly reset after a setback. LGD Gaming did it after a one-sided first map, and 1win did it after losing the opening game against OG. And if you look only at this day, both teams showed something important for the playoffs: they know how not to panic, but to change the tempo right in the middle of a Bo3. For viewers, that is a good sign — these are the kinds of series people remember most. We’ll see whether they can keep that level of flexibility going forward.
Source: OpenDota.
Discuss on the forum (1 reply)
LGD turning a 40:10 opener into a series win is the kind of thing that makes the first map feel almost fake. once they stopped bleeding kills, the whole match changed shape.
Pure on sven and luna type cores looks terrifying when the game gets clean. that second series just screamed “give me one stable lane and i’ll take over the rest”
28:4 – це вже перебір :))
По ощущениям, тут важнее всего не счет 2:1 сам по себе, а то, что обе серии переворачивались через смену темпа. В первой игре LGD Gaming пережили провал, но потом уже не дали GamerLegion разогнаться. У 1win история похожая, только наоборот, после старта они стали играть намного чище и жестче.
БКБ раннє чи ні?
Якщо граєш від ініціації, то раннє БКБ часто рятує. У мене в пабі без нього на п’ятірці просто не дихається, особливо коли ворожий мід починає бігати першим.
1win більше виграли психологією, ніж дотиском
Не дуже. По цифрах видно, що вони ще й краще заходили в кожну наступну карту, а це вже не лише психологія. Коли дві гри поспіль тебе просто не пускають у свою гру, там і виконання на рівні.
Психологія все одно там була. Без впевненості ти так не душиш після першої поразки, особливо проти OG.
Та це більше про драфт, ніж про магію. Даси інвокера і свена в комфорт, потім ще й карту прискориш – от тобі й 2:1.
Не тільки драфт
Ну і що, темп сам з неба падає? Якщо піки не дають нормально зайти в файт і ще корів розганяють, то вже далі грається сама собою. Чи ти хочеш сказати, що 1win просто випадково дві карти так закрили?
bzm on invoker with 10/0/10 is the kind of statline that makes supports uninstall for a bit 🙂
Invoker looked free, but the real story was how fast 1win converted every small win into the next fight. no downtime, no random farm, just nonstop pressure.
only if your team lets him