Vici Gaming is the first team to reach the Grand finals at ESL One Hamburg 2018. The team managed to score a win over Virtus Pro en route to the finals, which naturally makes them a favourite to win the tournament.
The first game saw Vici pick up a very tanky lineup. With Necrophos, Terrorblade, Treant as well as Phoenix, there was just too much healing and HP for the side. On Virtus pro’s side, they just seemed unable to deal enough damage to the Vici side. In addition to this, Vici were also lucky a few times as they found the Double Damage rune on their carry at crucial moments. Terrorlade with Double Damage and Metamorphosis is no joke as Virtus Pro found out.
Vici Gaming only started to get stronger as the game wore on. With excellent positioning by Fade on the Phoenix, it was almost impossible to kill Yang on the Necrophos. There was even a moment towards the end of the game when Necrophos managed to blink out of the fountain with relative ease. Overall, Virtus Pro lacked damage on their team and No[O]ne’s Invoker just didn’t cut it for the team. The game was characterised by the vision difference between the two teams. Vici Gaming always had a lot of vision deep in the enemy jungle, providing them with the knowledge of Virtus Pro’s whereabouts. They bought almost 2 times the number of wards as Virtus Pro.
Game 2.
The second game saw Virtus Pro dominate from the first minute itself. After a very strong draft, their lineup only increased in strength from there onwards. With No[O]ne on the Storm Spirit Virtus Pro looked undefeatable in their performance. At the same time, we also Vici Gaming only pick up a Bane to counter the storm spirit. He was able to easily outmanoeuvre Bane Elemental and kite the entire Vici Lineup.
The extraordinary performance by Virtus pro was reminiscent of their form in the previous DPC season. As we moved into the third game, the series was already exciting. With the teams having a taste of each other’s draft preference, the draft for Game 3 was crucial.
Game 3.
The third game saw Virtus Pro go back to the Morphling as their carry of choice. The Ramzess Morphling was soon very strong and was very active all across the map. The team, however, could not sustain their early game momentum into the late game. As we headed into the super late game, Solo’s undying was not as useful against Gyrocopters Flak Cannon. Gyrocopter IO combination was extremely powerful and once again Vici relied on healing their cores in order to survive the Virtus Pro burst damage.
Understanding the Virtus Pro draft was crucial to Vici Gaming’s victory in the three maps. They were able to know when they are strong and accordingly waited for a few key items in order to win.
Vici Gaming are already in the Grand finals of the tournament. Virtus Pro now will compete against Team Secret in the Lower bracket finals to earn a chance for revenge. ESL One Hamburg resumes today with a match between Virtus Pro and Team Secret.
