https://www.cybersport.ru/dota-2/articles/skandalnaya-pereigrovka-i-neveroyatnyi-lorenof-chem-zapomnilas-stadiya-wild-card-na-animajor

The server went down and Nigma rebelled

The main event of Wild Card was undoubtedly the incident in the Team Secret – Nigma match. On the second map, there was a problem with the Dota 2 server, due to which the teams were thrown out of the game. It was then that all viewers had to remember again that Valve had not added the function of saving matches for so many years. As a result, the teams were forced to replay the second map from scratch, although before the fall of the server Nigma was in a rather advantageous situation. Team Secret played with Ursa against Specter, clearly counting on early domination. However, the beginning of the map was dictated by Nigma, so before the server crashed, both cores of the team overtook the usually snowballing Ursa in gold. Yes, in monetary terms, Nigma’s advantage was small (one thousand gold), but in terms of the pace and overall dynamics of the game, Team Secret had big problems.

After the announcement of the upcoming replay of the second map, the question arose in what format the match should take place. The decision for the teams was made by Valve, obliging them to fight with the same picks, starting items and lineup. At the same time, as it became known, Team Secret advocated for the replay to be complete with new drafts. It would seem that the situation is in favor of Nigma, since it was already leading with such peaks before the restart, but this is not the case. As Illidan correctly pointed out, the team that had lost before the replay was in a better position. And the point is not psychology, but the ability to adapt: ​​Team Secret players chose other late artifacts, MATUMBAMAN started pumping abilities on the lane differently, and the general team actions of the team changed noticeably. As a result, Team Secret brought the game to victory without serious problems.

This incident reminded the entire community about the vulnerability of Dota 2. In the end, a similar situation could have happened not at the 16th minute, but at the conditional 50th, when one of the teams would already have megacreeps. And if we imagine that we are not talking about the Wild Card of a major (although this is a status event), but about the playoffs of The International, what then? Such a replay could create a loud scandal and noticeably hit the image of the discipline. The problem is that this is not the first replay in the professional scene, however Valve still hasn’t taken any measures to correct such situations.

The incident with the replay of the second map ended in a happy ending thanks to the fact that Nigma was still able to win the slot in the group stage. Although for this, the KuroKy team had to spend another replay – this time with IG for the second place.

Nigma has a really good move right now and is arguably the best European team in the Major. It is noticeable that iLTW has already fully adapted to the new team and is starting to show its maximum. Filatov, without exaggeration, can be called the most successful and stable carry in the Wild Card. However, Nigma’s success is not only due to iLTW. GH also proved to be excellent, who on Io or Winter Wyvern saved allies in the most difficult situations. An excellent performance was shown by MinD_ContRoL – confident laning and timely initiations throughout the games. And the fact that after a demoralizing replay with Team Secret, the team managed to pull themselves together and play a perfect match against IG at 1 am shows that everything is in order with the atmosphere and mood in the team.

Team Secret took the fifth line in the Wild Card without winning a single series, and if not for the replay with Nigma, the team, quite possibly, would have completely dropped to the very bottom of the tournament table. However, it is unlikely that the Puppey team is so bad that they are not able to defeat AS Monaco Gambit or Execration, the roster simply did not need all these matches. At times it seemed that Team Secret was openly cheating and having fun. And really, what is the use of efforts if the team guaranteed itself a slot at The International 10? And it’s sad that we have a system of the season, in which several teams simply have no motivation to fight and show their maximum at the second of two majors.

Lorenof was good, but it wasn’t enough for Gambit

It was impossible to demand a result from AS Monaco Gambit in Kiev, given the situation in which the team found itself a couple of weeks before the start of the Major. With the new roster (and with a new captain and drafter), the team had practically no time to prepare. In such circumstances, the only thing that Gambit wanted to see was a decent game without “two by 20” in each series. And the CIS squad coped with this task perfectly. Moreover, the game Gambit showed the potential for great achievements. The team could easily take cards from Vici Gaming and Nigma and in that case would even claim a slot in the group stage. However, Gambit made too many mistakes in every match, and most of them were due to poor coordination – the roster often organized a feed festival. For example, on the first map against Team Secret, there was a moment when the Gambit players wanted to defend the T1 tower, but entered the battle in turn and, as a result, lost not only the tower, but also three characters.

At the same time, the team did not play without ideology – there were interesting ideas both in drafts and in further movements around the map, however, roughness in performance and lack of play spoiled everything. I would like to note that ASM.Gambit really didn’t break after the leaders left and came to the tournament with a fighting spirit – including not hurrying to write “GG”, fighting to the last, which probably frayed the nerves of Vici Gaming, which even with a 20 thousand lead. for almost ten minutes could not successfully enter the base of our team. But what really upset Gambit in the game was, perhaps, the actions of dream ‘, who this time made an unacceptable mistake for the carry.

As for Lorenof and 633, which came instead of No[o]ne and SoNNeikO, they performed differently. Lorenof has definitely become the main star of AS Monaco Gambit in Wild Card. His game on Morphling on the second map of the match with Team Secret will surely be remembered by all fans of the club: not a single death, spectacular kills and competent movements. Lorenof generally felt very confident on the center lane, in fact, without losing to any opponent, although his competitors were of extra class. Another question is that later in playing on the same Storm Spirit he did not always manage to avoid mistakes, but after all, we are here, after all, talking about a player from the second DPC division in the CIS who was able to fight (or even outplay) Miracle -, Ori and Nisha.

633 left a more mixed impression. He performed well on Treant Protector, but otherwise there were a lot of questions about his game: AS Monaco Gambit was inferior in vision in almost every match, besides, 633 had problems with choosing a position in team fights. If the numerous deaths of Immersion on Nyx Assassin can be explained by the performance of tactical tasks, then the multiple deaths of 633 on the same Snapfire are often at the very beginning of a fight or before it is much more difficult to justify.

Anyway, AS Monaco Gambit left a good impression given the circumstances. There was no hopelessness in the actions of the team, and in every match one could notice a more or less clear picture of the game and a plan for victory. Wild Card showed that AS Monaco Gambit did not fall apart after the departure of two key players, so in the regional qualifiers for The International, the team will be an extremely dangerous rival with good chances for a slot. Perhaps No[o]ne and SoNNeikO will have time to regret their decision.

Wounded China is still China

As for the rest of the Wild Card participants, everything went smoothly here. Vici Gaming, despite the health problems of the players due to the jet lag (the Chinese teams flew to Kiev last), was able to guarantee itself the first place. Thanks to this, the roster increased its own chances of getting a slot at The International in terms of DPC points. The roster, perhaps, has not shown anything phenomenal yet, except that it reminded opponents and fans that giving Abaddon to the Chinese is a bad idea.

IG, like Aster at the first major, failed to show its maximum and looked rather dull compared to itself during the Singapore times. “GG” before the 20th minute in the match against Vici Gaming also clearly demonstrates that the motivation of IG, which, like Secret, guaranteed itself a slot at The International, was clearly not at the highest level. But even taking these factors into account, the team was close to taking the second place in the table, and this once again proves that even in this state, the Chinese teams remain incredibly dangerous.

Execration proved to be a fighting team, which is still too early to enter the group stage of the Major. Although the roster can fight the giants, even if they are not in the best shape, right now. In addition, the team from Southeast Asia reminded us of Kunkka and Slark, for which many thanks to him – perhaps this will lead to more variety in the meta in the subsequent stages of the Major.

Today, June 4, the group stage of the Major starts in Kiev. At this stage, Team Spirit will join the fight, which will meet with Evil Geniuses at 16:00 Moscow time. At the end of the group stage, the two best teams will advance to the upper bracket of the playoffs, the teams that took places from third to sixth – to the lower one, and the two weakest rosters will leave the Major.