vs.
Vikin.GG		High Coast Esports
0		2

Game 1

Vikin.GG (Radiant)						High Coast Esports (Dire)

The draft in game 1 had two heroes that stood out: VikinGG's Naga Siren and HCE's Chen. We can't say much as to why HCE picked Chen, other than they felt like it fit their draft, but seeing Shad on Naga isn't that big of a surprise. We have seen him play it in the past, and play it well enough that it can be considered a (somewhat) viable pick for the team no matter what meta we're in.

Coming out of the laning phase, the game was dead even. For a while, it looked like VikinGG would come out ahead but a well timed move from Supreme^ meant that HCE could turn on Tobi's Timbersaw, instead of losing their Juggernaut, and this gold influx evened things out. Overall, though, it felt like VikinGG was still slightly better off. After an early kill in the lane, Chessie had been completely shut down by Shad and Seleri in the bottom lane, leaving him far behind the other cores.

This is usually where we see VikinGG excel. They move around the map very efficiently and end up claiming a few kills. Not this time. Instead, almost everything they tried fell apart. Either because of nice play from HCE, often led by Supream^ who had a great performance on the Storm Spirit, or simply by indecision. As VikinGG wasn't pressing as hard as they have in the past, HCE found the ball in their court and found a few key kills themselves. However, they still couldn't find the Naga Siren who was busy getting huge. And when the Shad decided to show up, things got very scary for HCE, very quickly.

With that in mind, HCE's hand was forced. They saw the amount of damage Naga could dish out and knew she was far from done farming. If they didn't move in right now, their chances to win the game would start to dwindle quickly. Turns out this would be a brilliant move, since VikinGG hadn't anticipated this and was thus spread out over the map. The resulting fight was definitely sloppy from VikinGG who seemed confused as to what the plan was. They lost both Puck and Timbersaw and suddenly HCE was 5k ahead, as well as a side of rax. And then a Rosh. And 10k gold. In just 5 minutes the game had gone from even to clearly in HCE's hands. The Swedish org wasted no time with this lead and simply pushed in the lanes. All VikinGG could do was watch from a distance as the game spiraled out of control.

Game 2

Vikin.GG (Radiant)						High Coast Esports (Dire)

After the second draft of the series, it became clear that VikinGG didn't think that their cores were the problem contributors in their loss. They again went with a slow farming carry for Shad, Medusa this time around, and Puck mid. The draft wasn't exactly the same as the first game, though, as they opted for a position 5 Brewmaster. An interesting choice. On the other side, HCE also seemed to like their lanes as they picked up Juggernaut and Beastmaster again.

Yet again, we saw an even laning phase. HCE had a lot of success top, getting two kills for Charlie that resulted in him having level 6 before Tobi could reach level 5, and a nice rotation from BOOM allowed for kills to happen bottom. In general, this would favor the team with the carry that comes online first. And that was definitely HCE, in this case. A Juggernaut will come online so much quicker than a Medusa. So when VikinGG's offlane tower fell just 8 minutes into the game, it was go time for HCE. They immediately rotated bottom, got two nice kills, and suddenly VikinGG was down to a single tier 1 tower.

Still, Shad's farming didn't take too much of a hit as he was forced to his triangle. Medusa is a hero who can farm that part of the map easily and VikinGG invested the required resources to keep him safe in that area of the map. With little pressure on the Dusa, HCE becomes more and more desperate. They try to be aggressive towards the mid tower, in an attempt to force VikinGG's carry out of the shadows, and while they succeed in that mission they don't get the tower or the carry. Instead they drop kills. At this point they seemed destined to drop this match and be forced into a decider.

Then disaster struck. Just as it seemed like VikinGG was in a position to pull ahead, they lost it all. A failed Rosh attempt, combined with some pristine pre-fight movement from Supream and Charlie, resulted in seven(!) deaths while they only managed to claim a single hero from HCE. The result was that Shad was still at the very top of the networth chart but the gap down to his supporting cast was simply huge. While Medusa may be a 1v5 type of hero, she needs way more time to build up to that point than HCE was willing to give them.

In the end HCE knew how to take care of their advantage and pushed down mid lane, forcing a fight where they, yet again, won so much more than they lost. And with that came the series. They claim their first win in the EU DPC and, for the first time, climb out of last place.

Series MVP: Supream^

The Czech midlaner was definitely the shining star for HCE today. His play in game 1 kept his team alive long enough to get into a position to win it and in game 2 his decision to wrap around the Rosh pit before engaging won them the match.

Recommended game:

Game 1 was not one of those "you can't miss this" games. But it wasn't a bad game. It was a a lesson in how to play Storm Spirit and how to handle impending doom as a team. It was also a lesson in how important it can be to catch your opponents off guard.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/908891169

Writer: Julmust
Editor: OmniEulogy
Graphics: Julmust / DreamHack