The International 3
Prelims Recap

So, the TI3 Preliminaries came and went, and here we are now at the Main Event. This last weekend was one of the most action packed ones we've had all year, with four games at a time being played for three days. Sadly, all good things must come to an end, and here we are now, at the beginning of the Main Event.

This TI3 update from TL Dota 2 Coverage takes you into the Preliminaries, with group recaps and recommended games. We hope this piece helps whet your appetite for the five days of continuous Dota that are coming our way in just a few hours.

Eight teams are in the Upper Bracket, eight teams are in the Lower Bracket, and in five days, one team will walk away with the Aegis of Champions.





Group A was filled with many surprises; only Na’Vi and DK managed to fulfill their pre-tournament expectations. Indeed, if you want variety and creative drafts, these are the two teams to watch. Outside of their initial games versus Fnatic, Na’Vi displayed excellent coordination and rotations throughout the early-mid game. It looks like they have finally found the perfect fit for Xboct, as his Weaver dominated nearly every match. Given that Na’Vi almost always underperforms in group stages (8-6 in TI2 -> 2nd place; 1-7 Alienware Cup -> 1st), their 11-3 record and 2-0 versus DK makes them arguably the most dangerous team in the playoffs. Drafting wise, Na'Vi has combined their own innovations with the stability of Chinese drafts, making them probably the most difficult team to prepare against. They have singlehandedly brought mid solo Shadow Fiend back into vogue, an age old staple of competitive Dota that was previously thought obsolete. Other teams have followed their example and this has allowed top solo players like Mushi or Ferrari to win games on their own with Shadow Fiend. However, what sets Na'Vi apart here is the solidity of their draft. They defensively anchor the SF with a Chen and offlane Dark Seer or ancients Windrunner, while safe laning a frontline dps like Alchemist, Weaver or Dragon Knight so the enemy team cannot devote too many resources against the Shadow Fiend. And lastly but certainly not least, we cannot leave out Na'Vi's 15 minute dismantling of LGD with the flashy Pudge/Mirana combo.


Contrary to their reputation as a bland 4 Protect 1 squad, DK displayed the most variety out of any team in the tournament so far. They mixed in standard Alchemist/Weaver/Dragon Knight/Lifestealer dual core strategies with a variety of exotic lineups. The most notable ones included a safe lane Tinker fueling a Chen/Dragon Knight push strategy that aimed to create room for an offlane Lifestealer. They also traveled back in time to utilize a Lone Druid, Pugna, and Chen fast push strat taken straight out of their playbook from 2011 when they were the best team in the world.

Dignitas and Fnatic.EU were the positive surprises of the group. Fnatic.EU in particular showcased a thorough understanding of the laning phase, most notably against Zenith where they ran a Wisp-Morphling mid and jungle Enigma, while Timbersaw stalled Zenith’s offensive trilane. By the ten minute mark Fnatic forced several rotations, snagged several kills, and was in complete control of the game. Both these teams demonstrated play several levels above what we have seen from them in recent months and earned a well-deserved 5th and 3rd place respectively.

Outside of the rise of Dignitas and Fnatic, the biggest shock was the collapse of LGD, which barely scraped a 4th place seed. The most consistent team of 2013 seemed lost in many of their games and almost always fell behind in the laning phase. Their insistence on deploying big teamfight ultimate heroes like Magnus and Tidehunter, as well as a general sloppiness, meant that they played almost every game from behind at some point. On the plus side, Sylar is still his typical brilliant self and can be relied upon to do his job even in the worst of circumstances. Furthermore, LGD still retain their lategame prowess; they engineered a quick victory from an even game against Fnatic by planting an observer ward at Fnatic's secret shop, then sniping a courier that had a Reaver and Satanic recipe on it. In the ensuing teamfight, the Shadow Fiend's lack of Satanic or buyback ensured a decisive LGD victory.


Like LGD, Mouz failed to replicate the form they displayed in the Western qualifiers. Their games were not necessarily bad, but they lacked the extra edge they displayed in the recent past. Zenith on the other hand couldn't find suitable drafts and close out games, and found most of their victories from Ursa, of all heroes. Their first game against DK was a microcosm of all their matches so far; they gained an early 15-2 lead from good coordination and skilled plays, but then gave up 19 straight kills without compensation. Finally, we come to MUFC. Though the team came into TI3 as one of the underdogs, even those who predicted they would end up in last place would not have imagined they could not secure a single game. While some games were close, overall their performance was marred by too many inconsistencies.

As if planned from a script, Group A was decided by the most narrow of margins. LGD went 1:1 against Na`Vi, while Dignitas and Fnatic also drew on day 3. These draws forced LGD and Dignitas to play an extra match to determine who advanced. In the tiebreaker game, Dignitas seized what should have been a decisive 12k gold lead in the first twenty minutes. However LGD demonstrated once again that no matter how bad their laning phase may be, they are still one of the best teams at playing the mid to late game. After feeding seven kills early on and giving up lots of space, LGD efficiently took advantage of several mistakes by Dignitas to quickly turn the game around and took the lead before Dignitas could even attempt to breach their high ground.



If Group A was the group of surprises, Group B had virtually none. The big headline is of course Alliance’s dominating 14-0 whitewash. Yet the scoreline doesn’t tell the whole story; Alliance won multiple games in 20 minutes or less and seemed unphased by whatever their opponents tried. They combine solid dual core lineups with the occasional curveball, and most notably used a Furion treant Roshan fake against Orange. The only truly close game they had was a 70 minute thriller versus Tongfu, with both teams showcasing a mixture of excellent plays and glaring mistakes. The big question heading into the playoffs is whether the Swedes will in fact drop a game.

As expected, Tongfu, Orange, and iG rounded up the seeded slots, though the manner in which they did so was quite a surprise. Tongfu was perhaps the biggest shocker of the group. Based on previous performance, their only serious competitor should have been Alliance, yet they barely squeaked through to the Upper Bracket with an 8-6 record. Though they performed well against Alliance and the other top teams, they dropped several games to Liquid and LGD.int in very questionable performances. Tongfu and iG both only managed to secure their advancement by 2-0’ing their last opponents on Day 3. Though Ferrari has been playing superbly, Zhou has not delivered the performances one would expect from a player of his stature, and iG’s teamwork still lacks the perfection they showed at TI2. Orange meanwhile delivered their usual laning excellence throughout the prelims, but also found unique ways to sabotage themselves. Perhaps the most egregious display of this was against Alliance, where they placed Mushi’s Storm in a hopeless 1v2 lane against a Wisp-Ursa. Not surprisingly, Mushi ended the game 0-7 and helped Alliance more than his own team.


Team Liquid showed the great highs and lows that one has come to expect from them. On several occasions they controlled games from the start with unique drafts, and for example, managed to trounce Tongfu with Viper/Ursa. They took an early lead against Alliance with a bizarre triple core of Spirit Breaker, Prophet, and Shadow Fiend. However, like many of their other games, Liquid overextended and lost several offensive teamfights. Their final, seed deciding game versus iG showed their worst side: Liquid drafted a rather low damage core lineup including Weaver, Slark, and Windrunner along with treant against iG’s tanky cores of Dragon Knight, Timbersaw, and Alchemist. Along with some questionable deaths, Liquid ended up 3-20, and were thus one game short of reaching the Upper Bracket.

LGD.int, Rattlesnake and Virtus Pro all displayed similar issues: severe inconsistency and somewhat ineffective drafts. Each team managed to snag several wins, but also fell apart in several games. They can’t be counted out as all can devise devious pocket strategies, but they seem to lack the stability needed to make a deep run in the tournament.



Though there were many games played out over the weekend, we've scoured them all for you and come up with the ones you simply cannot miss. Here to watch the Main Event? Make sure you've seen these prelims games first!