https://www.cybersport.ru/dota-2/articles/neozhidannyi-lesnik-70-minutnaya-karta-i-voina-v-kommentariyakh-chego-my-zhdem-ot-matcha-navi-i-virtus- pro

Swap positions from Virtus.pro

First of all, we will wait for interesting decisions, of course, from Virtus.pro. For the team Vitaly Save-Melnik the first of two possible best-of-3 series with NAVI is akin to a training match. Virtus.pro can try out interesting developments like changing positions in combat conditions. For example, on one of the maps, the center line could well go DM or Save-. The first in matchmaking recently featured mid-lane Lycan and Dark Seer, and the second played four games in the last week on Windranger in the center.

In Virtus.pro, we practically did not see any swaps between core players, although in the Major it could help them confuse their opponents, and at the same time add more variability at the draft stage. It is one thing to test such a strategy in practice, but completely different is to change positions and lanes in a match with the main competitor in the region, which is at the same time as motivated as possible.

Virtus.pro meeting with NoTechies has already shown that she can even play with a forester and not lose the line. However, a match with a team that is falling apart at least in terms of the quality of play Solo can hardly be called indicative. In a duel with NAVI, the Save- team is quite capable of showing a more adequate forester than Huskar, for example, Enigma or even Legion Commander. It would be extremely interesting to see a farming Miller again, who by the tenth minute would come out of the forest with a high level and one full-fledged item.

In theory, Natus Vincere could surprise positions with a swap. For example, it would be very curious to see RodjER on the center line. In matchmaking, he regularly goes mid with support characters like Phoenix, Dark Willow and Earth Spirit and often destroys opponents. Unfortunately, there are very few chances that NAVI will take the risk, since they simply do not have the right to make a mistake, unlike VP.

Alchemist and other unexpected heroes in the draft

If swapping positions looks like a more risky and cardinal decision, then we will definitely see an unusual draft on at least one of the maps performed by Virtus.pro. In the last fight, the team remembered Bounty Hunter (played by DM) and Huskar (for Save-), which was used only in Southeast Asia. But, in addition to these characters, VP also has Lion – only the Nightfall team in the CIS was able to effectively implement it. Pugna and Windranger, also not popular in our region, also appeared in the picks of the team. Therefore, Virtus.pro can definitely surprise at the draft stage. Plus, over the last week Egor Nightfall Grigorenko played five matches on the Bounty Hunter carry and won all of them. Why not use it again on the DPC, only now not in third, but in first?

From gpK ~ it would be interesting to see Broodmother, which I recently remembered Team Liquidthan surprised Alliance and won the card. At the same time, the hero still has one of the highest win rates in high MMR matchmaking. And gpK ~ took Broodmother twice this week – coincidence? We hope not.

Probably, the Alchemist of the third position, whose strength has already been shown in Europe, can also drop into the drafts of the teams. The hero quickly farms and collects Aghanim’s Scepter for his core players, which noticeably accelerates their development rate, allowing him to break away from the opponent’s carry. Even myself Puppey, who was used to “not banning, but countering”, blocked Alchemist in the first stage on the third map against OGafter seeing what kind of impact Ceb can make on this hero. Other professional players also began to mark the strength and usefulness of the character on the “three”. So, perhaps, European trends will reach the CIS just in the match between NAVI and Virtus.pro.

Unusual drafts from NAVI should be expected only if Virtus.pro banned their signature characters. The RodjER team already created their own meta with Phoenix, Chen, Doom and Enigma during the tournament. Therefore, it is unlikely that the conditional GeneRaL will refuse the Beastmaster if VP gives him this hero. Analysts have repeatedly noted that a possible vulnerability of NAVI is the limited choice of characters for each of the positions. However, who knows, maybe NAVI “didn’t fire strata” throughout the group stage especially for this match, to surprise Virtus.pro?

“GG” up to the 20th minute

Considering that Virtus.pro will allow itself to try experiments and fun at least once, it is highly likely that the conditional first map may turn out to be very short. Moreover, both teams can surrender before the 20th minute. If Virtus.pro reveals to us, for example, the carry Bounty Hunter or the mid Broodmother, for which NAVI will not be ready, and gains dominance on the lanes, it will be able to snowball the opponent very quickly and force him to write two cherished letters.

On the other hand, not all VP finds may be successful. For example, even in a match with Team Spirit, which is objectively weaker, Save- lost with an unexpected carry to Chaos Knight, despite the early dominance. So Virtus.pro is far from being an invincible monolith, at least within one map, even by the standards of our region. Therefore, if the team decides on the same cardinal strategies as on the second map with NoTechies, and quickly realizes that they do not work against NAVI, they may well decide to give up quickly. This shouldn’t be a big problem for Virtus.pro – you can remember how the team in the EPIC League final wrote “GG” on one of the maps and at the same time cheerfully laughed at their inner jokes.

Probably, we will see at least one single-card card, and it would be better if Natus Vincere won it. So, despite the guaranteed second chance in tie-breaks, Virtus.pro can get motivated to get down to business in earnest already in the first best-of-3 series.

Non-stop battles and 70+ kills

Virtus.pro has not played against NAVI since the EPIC League group stage, which was three months ago. Therefore, it is difficult to judge how comfortable it is for them or not to oppose each other. However, that confrontation turned out to be extremely tense: one of the maps lasted more than 70 minutes, and the match itself ended with a score of 2: 1 in VP’s favor. If we evaluate the performances of both teams at the DPC, we can conclude that they are, plus or minus, in the same condition. Therefore, if Virtus.pro will probably experiment on the first or second map, then by the decisive third (and in this match there will probably be just three maps) both teams will probably come up with the most charged. So we have the right to expect a twisted scenario in which there will be a place for Divine Rapier, or even several, protection from megacreeps and even an exchange of thrones in the 70th minute.

In addition, both teams in the DPC already had maps that lasted longer than 60 minutes. The teams are clearly ready to go to leith. Another question is that during the group stage they rarely had such a need, given the frankly low level of competition in the region. So “two by 20” in this best-of-3 is definitely not worth waiting for. And most importantly, both teams have got used to aggressive play over the past month. The collectives were not afraid of exchanges, actively pressed opponents, seized territories and spared ransoms if necessary. Therefore, the pace of the game and its entertainment, especially on the decisive map, are likely to be very high, which, of course, will delight the fans. By the way, playing to the audience can also be one of the interesting aspects of this confrontation. It is clear that in any interview, representatives of both rosters will not say that they see this as a “battle for the top 1 in the CIS”, but all esports players understand that this match will receive increased attention and prohibitive online broadcasts. Therefore, we should expect both a cool personal performance from the players and constant types of opponents and spam phrases from the chat wheel.

War in the comments

No matter how this confrontation ends, it will definitely cause a resonance in the community. Media personalities will more than once remember the ESL’s decision to revise the rules and reproach Valve, and fans of the teams will arrange a real war in the comments, “crowning” their roster as the best roster in the CIS or, conversely, justifying it in case of defeat. Only the lazy will not share their opinion about this match – therefore, we will probably discuss the VP and NAVI meeting until the start of the Major itself. After all, this month, the fans must have missed the really spectacular and intense matches between tier-1 teams in our region. So stock up on popcorn, free up Friday night and get ready for the brightest match of early 2023.

What do you expect from the Virtus.pro – NAVI match? And who, in your opinion, will win this battle for the top 1 CIS?