Dota 2 Frankfurt Major Grand Final Round Up

Dota 2’s first Major came to a close this weekend with a rather fantastic finish. OG met Team Secret in the Grand Finals in a fairy tale finish for OG. OG had to battle their way throughout the loser bracket, defeating hopefuls Evil Geniuses who were sent down by Team Secret. It’s not an uncommon occurrence for a team to make their way back to the Grand Final, but OG came prepared and showed the world that there’s a new team in town. Naturally Team Secret were the favourites but OG had them down and the draft was really the cherry on top for OG as the continued to pick wisely against the European titans. At the end of the day Europe’s two best teams went head to head, proving that the West is still the best at Dota 2.

Game One

• Team Secret: Queen of Pain | Antimage | Slardar | Tiny| Shadow Shaman
• OG : Phatom Lanceer | Tuskar | Winter Wyvern | Invoker | Dazzle

The pressure was on from the get go as five kills went down before the creeps even spawned, and it was an all out brawl from there. The first game in the best of five series is always aggressive from the get go, and this was the best showcase of an opening game, ever. Before the five minute mark we already had 8 kills down, and it was clear it was not going to stop there. You’re going to hear a reccuring name throughout this round up, and that’s Miracle – The new player in the scene and quite possibly one of the best. His Invoker in game one was unstoppable, and you could almost feel the fear that Team Secret had for Miracle.

EternalEnvy seemed to be doing well getting a great early triple kill and acquiring an early Battlefury on his Anti-mage, but unfortunately it was not enough to hold off OGs aggression. It was cut-throat from then on out as the game progressed to the mid game and OG weren’t stopping. Their supports were farming outstandingly, even with Dazzle ahead of Queen of Pain. What we then saw was an outplayed Team Secret as OG took game one.

Game Two

• Team Secret: Queen of Pain | Slardar | Bane | Slark | Rubbick
• OG: Winter Wyvern | Gyrocopter | Alchemist | Dazzle | Clockwerk

What was clear from the draft phase was that OG were able to secure an extremely strong lineup. Putting faith once again in Winter Wyvern and Dazzle, OG seemed to have the upper hand straight off the bat. Unlike the first game the two teams took their time, backing off on that early aggression we saw in game one. This could have been the nerves which had now been shrugged off, or Team Secret realizing OG thrive on the aggressive playstyle they allowed in game one. A few early engagement in the top lane allowed Slark a late arrival to the game. OG tried to continue their aggressive style to a point, but after losing a few engagements decided to back off a bit. The failed aggression top allowed EternalEnvy’s Slark to begin roaming, acquiring a few crucial pickoffs.

OG seemed to be on the backfoot, but Miracle’s Alchemist seemed to top the net worth tab regardless. Playing a crucial role once again, Miracle was able to keep his team in the game with outstanding plays. n0tail’s Gyrocopter also managed to secure quite a bit of farm despite the roaming Slark and aggression from Queen of Pain. Alchemist proved to be too much to handle as he refused to die, tanking throughout team fights. This proved to be a major issue and OG managed to stay ahead in team fights with only a few standing. It seemed as if, with early team fights, that Team Secret may have been holding on to a small lead, but OG weren’t giving up yet.

The game from the mid game throughout was a continuous slug fest between the two teams, but a few good team fights by OG pushed them ahead, and successfully pushed Team Secret back into their base. The final fight came down to Roshan at the 50 minute mark. A few miss-plays by Slark and Bane awarded OG the Roshan.

OG then attempted to push, but were wiped upon arrival. This seemed like the jump Team Secret needed, since OG immediately wiped again upon respawn and engaging on mid. Team Secret had the finish line in sight until EternalEnvy was spotted by an observer ward giving OG one final jump. This could have been seen as the tipping point for Team Secrets success as OG then snowballed out of control and secured the second game.

Game Three

• Team Secret: Wraith King | Lina | Slardar | Dazzle | Ancient Apparition
• OG: Shadow Fiend | Sven | Tuskar | Earthshaker | Bane

We now stood on the verge of 3-0 from OG, and although a fantastic story for the fans, this isn’t really what we wanted from a Major Grand Final. Team Secret were up against the ropes, and drastic changes were needed. The pick of Wraith King and Lina meant Team Secret wanted to add some aggression to their farming lane.The combination of Ancient Apparition provided the burst and disable needed to combo some quick, easy and aggressive kills.

Team Secret decided to turn the heat on after trading equally in the early game. The Ancient Apparition added the much needed burst and Team Secret kept pushing on the throats of OG. There were glimpses of hope from plays by Moonmeander on Earth Shaker, but it was unfortunately not enough to stop the aggression from Team Secret.

In the end it was the perfectly picked Wraith King by Team Secret which aided in the downfall of OG. There was nothing stopping his resurrection and the initial burst offered up by Earthshaker and Shadowfiend would just see EternalEnvy rise back up and bring the pain. Team Secret managed to put one in the bag, and we now had a Grand Final on our hands. OG still had the lead, but Team Secret were on the board.

Game Four

• Team Secret: Juggernaut | Alchemist | Bane | Slardar | Dazzle
• OG: Shadowfiend | Doom | Brewmaster | Rubbick | Lich

Initial analysis of the daft seemed to be favouring OG as the got a few heroes they were comfortable with. This game was a race against time as a drawn out affair would favour Team Secret with high net worth possibly on the Alchemist and Juggernaut, but OG needed to play their usual aggressive style and end it quickly. The Doom was amazing pick, but we will get to that a bit later.

The Brewmaster acted as a fantastic initiator and the ultimate acted well to spread damage offered up Team Secret. OG stopped at nothing and pressured Team Secret into awkward engagements and acquired a few early picks off. The aim of the game of OG was not give much space to the Alchemist, Slardar and Juggernaut. The managed to secure a few early pickoffs on the aforementioned heroes and this put OG ahead by just a bit. One thing that became clear was that the Doom was not an easy kill for Team Secret. A combination of his abilities and Ice Armor from Lich meant that he had sustainability in team fights which is always a major issue with a Doom.

OG gave Team Secret no space at all and at 15 minutes we almost had our first tier three tower down for Secret. Secret then altered their mindset a bit and instead attempted to punish OG for their over aggression. This occurred more than once, but around the 20 minute mark Secret delivered a fatal blow to OG. OG, visually impaired, tried to catch out a hero who they thought would be trying to catch up on some farm. Little did they know they’d run straight into a Secret trap and they were punished for that.

OG now had two options, continue their aggression or back off and look for more towers. They decided to combine both and offered very little room for Team Secret to play the game of catch up. Despite leveling the gold graph Team Secret lost a big ancient stack to OG which was meant for the Juggernaut. This was a pressure point which was felt by Team Secret and OG were once again in the lead, and on the hunt. At this point Shadowfiend was buffed to high heaven and OG delivered their final push. They managed to catch out the Alchemist who immediately bought back and died again. This was the final blow to Team Secret as OG secured their first Major and were crowned Champions at Frankfurt.

Last Updated: November 23, 2015