Shanghai Major Qualifiers – China
The Shanghai major begins in just in a couple of weeks’ time. The newly created Majors are now one of the biggest leagues on the Dota 2 scene and have grabbed the attention of the community.
After an interesting cycle of qualifiers, LGD and NewBee are the Chinese teams that will compete in the main event, at the expense of the TI 2 winners IG, who are struggling to emerge from their current crisis.
LGD
LGD’s unbeaten run through the qualifiers suggested they deserved a direct invitation for the event –delivering an almost flawless performance. They finished first in their group with three wins and one draw in the company of Invictus Gaming, iG Vitality, Team FanTuan and TongFu. In the winner’s bracket they were paired with the other successful qualifier – NewBee, who they defeated 2-1.
That led to a decisive match for the first Shanghai spot where LGD faced the underdogs of iG Vitality.
Game one started in a predictable fashion with LGD controlling the game and securing important early kills which gave them the advantage. LGD exploited iG Vitality’s late game roster and continued to punish their opponents with well timed and executed ganks and team fights, Sylar, rOtk and Maybe doing the majority of the damage.
Game two started promisingly for the previous game’s losers, with iG.V.Rong killing rOtk’s Clockwork for the first blood. LGD regained control of the game and followed up with a few kills, some of which were returned by iG.Vitality.
In the 16th minute a risky Roshan attempt didn’t pay off, as iG.Vitality were caught by LGD and lost 4 heroes in the fight, while they also failed to take the Aegis. LGD continued to press home their advantage and went to high ground, prevailing in team fights and destroying a melee rax in the 21st minute. The game didn’t continue for much longer and having been utterly destroyed, iG.Vitality gave up after 24 minutes of play, having lost their second set of raxes.
LGD’s current form is certainly impressive – achieving a record of 13 wins, four draws and four losses, with a 62% win rate in January. The team will enter the Shanghai major in a good shape, having also reached the top 4 at the MarsTV Dota 2 League last week, losing to the finalists EG.
With such a dominant display, LGD rightfully took their place amongst the other Chinese representatives in the face of EHOME, CDEC Gaming, Vici Gaming and the other qualifier, NewBee .
Their previous major run in Frankfurt ended up with them finishing in 7-8th place, after being eliminated by fellow compatriots EHOME, who went on to become one of the top four teams in the tournament. Currently ranked 2nd in China and 5th in the world, LGD will certainly be confident of bettering this achievement in Shanghai.
NewBee
Unlike LGD, NewBee started unconvincingly and finished their group with one win and three draws, having played against CDEC Avenger, Wings Gaming, NewBee Young and CDEC Young. Being on the verge of elimination, they had to play a tiebreak against Wings Gaming to secure their place in the winners’ bracket. Their 2-1 loss to LGD sent them to the losers’ bracket, but with two consecutive wins against CDEC Avenger and iG Vitality, they managed to secure their spot at the main event.
Despite the unconvincing performance, NewBee performed when it mattered in their crucial match, totally outclassing iG.Vitality.
Game 1 started fairly evenly, the two teams exchanging a couple of kills. A quiet period of safe play and farm from both teams followed until the midway point.
The pace of the game was controlled by NewBee, who became more aggressive after the 27th minute and started pushing towers, while iG.Vitality were reserved to enter a battle, fearing the team fight potential of their opponents. Eventually, a clash near Roshan went with a teamwipe for iG.Vitality and they forfeited the game after 37 minutes.
The second game offered more intrigue to the viewers, as both teams were eager to fight from the start.
NewBee employed lots of hero rotations with Gyrocopter, Vengeful Spirit and Spirit Breaker, while iG.Vitality used Witch Doctor, Nightstaler and Disruptor in attempt to counter the ganks and do some damage of their own.
Eventually, NewBee managed to build up a kills advantage which was increased throughout the game. Their well-organized team fights were just too much for iG.Vitality to handle. NewBee continued to dictate the game and easily overwhelmed the resistance of their enemies. Hao managed to reach a “godlike” killing streak before the game ended in the 37th minute with a score of 33-11.
The International 4 winners are currently ranked 4th in China and 10th in the world and, despite going through a challenging qualifications cycle, will be fired up for Shanghai.
Their current January form is nine wins, six draws and four losses, with a win rate of 47%. NewBee also participated in the recently finished MarsTV Dota 2 League and finished the group stage with three draws and one loss in a difficult group featuring three potential winners – VG, EG and OG. Eventually, they managed to overcome Team Secret in the first losers’ bracket match, before being eliminated by LGD.
Although not at their best, NewBee have the aura of one of those teams that can always spring a surprise. Their presence at the Shanghai Major will certainly make the event more interesting.
Dafabet will be offering odds on the Shanghai Major.
