DreamLeague Division 2 Series 5: HULIGANI, InterActive Philippines and Inner Circle x Insanity win

Hello. DreamLeague Division 2 Series 5 delivered a day that showed just how different Dota 2 series can look: sometimes two clean games are enough, and sometimes teams end up in a three-map slugfest with a long deciding game. The main takeaways are simple: HULIGANI beat Amaru Gaming 2:0, InterActive Philippines closed out Yakult Brothers by the same score, and Inner Circle x Insanity took both a tough series against Zero Tenacity and then another sweep over HULIGANI.

HULIGANI — Amaru Gaming 2:0

By feel, this was the most interesting of the sweeps stylistically, because the second map went very deep in time and barely trailed in kills in terms of density. HULIGANI took the series without dropping a map, but they did it through different scenarios: first through a more confident pace, then through a long game where execution and the quality of late-game decisions mattered more.

• Game 1 lasted 43:31, and the kills were 39:19 in favor of HULIGANI.
• Amaru Gaming picked Techies, Windranger, Earth Spirit, Beastmaster, Ancient Apparition.
• HULIGANI replied with Death Prophet, Rubick, Slark, Grimstroke, Dragon Knight.
• Best for Amaru Gaming: Costabile on Windranger — 4/4/10, GPM 574; 頑張って on Beastmaster — 4/6/8, GPM 541.
• Best for HULIGANI: naive- on Dragon Knight — 10/1/16, GPM 748; Mirage`雨 on Slark — 10/3/16, GPM 602.

Here I’d single out HULIGANI’s Dragon Knight: by the numbers, he simply ran over the map, and 10/1/16 with that kind of farm looks extremely solid. In general, when a team gets that clean a core impact, it becomes hard for the opponent to keep up the pace even with decent individual numbers on their own cores.

In game two, HULIGANI no longer got such an easy script, and the match stretched to 69:29. The kill score was 40:40, so the game was almost perfectly even, and this is exactly the kind of match where you can’t explain the result with just one lane or one good teamfight.

• Amaru Gaming picked Techies, Dark Willow, Necrophos, Earth Spirit, Ursa.
• HULIGANI replied with Bounty Hunter, Witch Doctor, Kez, Largo, Invoker.
• Best for Amaru Gaming: n1ght on Dark Willow — 5/2/24, GPM 340; Costabile on Ursa — 8/3/13, GPM 777.
• Best for HULIGANI: elmo^^ on Largo — 5/3/21, GPM 621; Mirage`雨 on Invoker — 14/9/19, GPM 748.

What stands out to me here is that HULIGANI won a very long map without pulling ahead at all in kills. That usually means the team used their power windows better at the key moment or simply played the closing stage more cleanly. An Invoker with 14 kills and 19 assists is no longer just a good game — it’s almost the central axis of the whole match.

InterActive Philippines — Yakult Brothers 2:0

This series looked a bit more even in the final scores, but InterActive Philippines were noticeably more convincing in terms of pressure distribution. They took both games without much drama, and from the drafts you could see that the team wasn’t afraid to play a fairly straightforward tempo game through strong cores and clear teamfights.

• Game 1 ended in 43:45, with a kill score of 36:20 in favor of InterActive Philippines.
• InterActive Philippines picked Hoodwink, Slark, Death Prophet, Bristleback, Dragon Knight.
• Yakult Brothers replied with Brewmaster, Rubick, Earthshaker, Crystal Maiden, Terrorblade.
• Best for InterActive Philippines: lewis on Bristleback — 4/1/16, GPM 619; onebadbish on Dragon Knight — 10/4/19, GPM 707.
• Best for Yakult Brothers: Emo on Earthshaker — 5/4/11, GPM 489; Ava阿发 on Brewmaster — 2/4/12, GPM 491.

My first impression from this map is simple: if Bristleback and Dragon Knight build momentum that well together, it becomes very hard for the opponent to find a comfortable angle into a fight. Even with decent individual numbers from Yakult Brothers’ players, the difference in team pressure was obvious.

In the second game, InterActive Philippines finished the job again, this time in 47:47, and won 38:23 in kills. What matters here is that the series didn’t get stuck in a long even game: Yakult Brothers had chances to stay in it, but over the course of the map InterActive Philippines converted their stronger picks into trades and map space more effectively.

• Yakult Brothers picked Winter Wyvern, Earth Spirit, Rubick, Clinkz, Beastmaster.
• InterActive Philippines replied with Techies, Viper, Shadow Demon, Timbersaw, Alchemist.
• Best for Yakult Brothers: Ava阿发 on Beastmaster — 5/5/8, GPM 512; 天命 on Winter Wyvern — 3/7/12, GPM 312.
• Best for InterActive Philippines: lewis on Viper — 4/2/17, GPM 692; onebadbish on Timbersaw — 13/4/10, GPM 716.

Timbersaw with 13/4/10 and that kind of GPM really stands out. These are the kinds of games that make sweeps feel convincing: when one core can fight, farm, and apply pressure all at once, the opponent starts playing reactively instead of following their own plan.

Inner Circle x Insanity — Zero Tenacity 2:1

This was the most substantial series of the day, because it gave us both a long reply game and a very quick decider in game three. Overall, it was clear that both teams can win through their drafts, but Inner Circle x Insanity adapted better after losing the second game.

• Game 1 ended in 31:47, with a kill score of 29:13 in favor of Inner Circle x Insanity.
• Zero Tenacity picked Dazzle, Ringmaster, Tiny, Doom, Invoker.
• Inner Circle x Insanity replied with Bounty Hunter, Dark Seer, Winter Wyvern, Terrorblade, Earthshaker.
• Best for Zero Tenacity: nefrit on Doom — 1/4/6, GPM 534; ็ on Invoker — 1/4/6, GPM 496.
• Best for Inner Circle x Insanity: Norma on Dark Seer — 5/0/16, GPM 711; Hyuga on Winter Wyvern — 3/2/15, GPM 328.

The kill score here says a lot: Inner Circle x Insanity immediately took control of the game and never let the opponent turn the draft into a comfortable scenario. Dark Seer at 5/0/16 is exactly the kind of performance where initiation and teamfight merge into one very unpleasant structure for the other side.

In game two, Zero Tenacity responded much better and took the map in 65:09 with a kill score of 50:35. This was exactly the kind of series where every mistake was expensive, and the game went on for almost a full marathon.

• Inner Circle x Insanity picked Dark Willow, Witch Doctor, Invoker, Dragon Knight, Timbersaw.
• Zero Tenacity replied with Techies, Earthshaker, Pugna, Lifestealer, Dark Seer.
• Best for Inner Circle x Insanity: Ethereal on Invoker — 5/5/21, GPM 784; Norma on Timbersaw — 15/7/11, GPM 744.
• Best for Zero Tenacity: nesfeer on Lifestealer — 13/1/20, GPM 776; nefrit on Dark Seer — 3/5/36, GPM 763.

If you only look at the numbers, you can immediately see the level on both sides: 36 assists on Dark Seer and 21 assists on Invoker means this was anything but a walkover. But in the end, Zero Tenacity managed the game better into their own power spike and tied the series.

The third map was much quicker: 34:01, with a 46:23 kill score in favor of Inner Circle x Insanity. And this kind of response after a rough second game feels like the most valuable thing for a team: not just surviving the setback, but immediately returning to their style and closing the series without any extra nerves.

• Inner Circle x Insanity picked Brewmaster, Hoodwink, Ringmaster, Death Prophet, Shadow Fiend.
• Zero Tenacity replied with Techies, Earthshaker, Witch Doctor, Weaver, Timbersaw.
• Best for Inner Circle x Insanity: Ethereal on Death Prophet — 12/3/14, GPM 675; yowaai on Shadow Fiend — 14/4/10, GPM 821.
• Best for Zero Tenacity: nesfeer on Weaver — 6/5/10, GPM 521; ็ on Earthshaker — 2/9/13, GPM 457.

Shadow Fiend with a GPM of 821 is the kind of performance where the game starts falling apart not just in fights, but economically as well. After that third game, Inner Circle x Insanity left a very complete impression: this is a team that can punish quickly, adjust after a difficult map, and just out-execute through individual skill.

Day summary

Overall, DreamLeague Division 2 Series 5 gave us a very telling day: HULIGANI and InterActive Philippines took their series without dropping a map, but did it in different ways, while Inner Circle x Insanity showed they can win both comfortably and through a long test of endurance. For me, the main takeaway is this: at this stage of the tournament, it’s not only the heroes in the draft that matter, but also how well a team can keep its pace after a tough map. Those are the series I usually follow most closely — they show best who is really ready for the next rounds and who is still only playing isolated good stretches.

Source: OpenDota.

Discuss on the forum (no replies yet — be the first)