G-1 League: Alliance lasso their way into the Winners' Bracket Final

Alliance lasso their way into the Winners’ Bracket Final

Na`Vi faced yet another decisive Game 3 in their last two matches but this time the result was different as Alliance took the rubber game to win the match 2-1 after great plays from S4’s Batrider.

At the start of Game 1, Lina was able to get an invisible rune and they immediately tried to get a kill on Magnus but unfortunately could not and Na`Vi was able to turn the gank around with a clutch ice path from Jakiro where Puck took a few hits from the tier-1 tower that eventually led to her death.

With both teams deciding to abandon the off-lane and leave the opponent’s hard carry farming freely, Sven opted to go for a Hand of Midas 4 minutes into the game but Faceless Void decided to go for the Power Threads instead of the greedy Hand of Midas.

At the 8 minute mark, Faceless Void was able to destroy the top tier-1 tower and while the rest of Na`Vi was able to pickoff both Puck and Lina in the middle lane.

As the game progressed, Na`Vi was controlling the flow of the game by being aggressive constantly and getting a few kills. Alliance sensed that they could not fight Na`Vi head on at that point in the game, so they decided to lay low from the lanes and did most of their farming in the ancients, specifically Sven who was leading the game in Net Worth.

At the 19 minute mark, Na`Vi tried to take Roshan but Alliance was aware of it and immediately went to the Roshan pit where a great 4 hero Coil by Puck led to a three hero kill and later Alliance secured the Aegis of the Immortal for themselves.

At the 24 minute mark, Alliance won another huge engagement when Faceless Void was just too low on life to fight and that led to three hero kills and the top tier-2 tower in favour of Alliance.

At the 27 minute mark, Alliance was able to bag four more kills after Wisp, Sven and Nature’s Prophet first picked off Faceless Void in the bottom lane and then got three more kills as Na`Vi waited for Wisp and Sven to relocate back but unfortunately their plan failed badly allowing Alliance to destroy the middle tier-2 tower.

At the 31 minute mark, Alliance smoked up and went to the top lane where they caught Faceless Void out again which forced him to buyback. Na`Vi then engaged but could not match up as Alliance was just too farmed up, in particular Sven who was just too tanky to be brought down and eventually Na`Vi had to tap out 33 minutes into the game.

In Game 2, Na`Vi decided to go for an offensive tri-lane against Alliance to basically contest the farm of Phantom Lancer, which turned out to be a great move as Anti-Mage was able to out-farm Phantom Lancer despite Alliance having Keeper of the Light. In the bottom lane, Batrider was farming freely as Clockwerk just could not do anything against him while in the middle lane, it was quite even between Storm Spirit and Magnus.

At the 7 minute mark, Alliance decided to go for a 5 hero gank on top lane and was able to leave with 2 kills.

After a few minutes, it was Na`Vi’s turn to try a 5 hero gank in the middle lane and this time was able to pickoff both Magnus and Clockwerk.

At the 17 minute mark, Na`Vi was able to destroy the middle tier-1 tower after picking off Clockwerk but Magnus finished farming his Blink Dagger soon after and Alliance immediately smoked up where they were able to pickoff Anti-Mage in the bottom lane. After a few minutes, Na`Vi grouped up and managed to destroy the bottom tier-1 tower with the knowledge that the Reverse Polarity of Magnus was on cooldown. While all that was happening, it gave Phantom Lancer the opening to farm up his items and take the lead in terms of net worth which was bad news for Na`Vi.

After am engagement at the 18 minute mark, it became a farm fest from both teams when they decided to farm up their core items which saw Phantom Lancer and Anti-Mage leading the way with 20000+ net worth while the rest were 10000+ behind.

At the 40 minute mark, Na`Vi was able to get a quick Roshan and secured the Aegis of the Immortal. They later took down all of Alliance’s outer towers after destroying the bottom tier-2 tower while Anti-Mage continued to push and was able to destroy the tier-3 tower. While that was happening, Phantom Lancer tried to take the top tier-3 tower on his own but unfortunately he was not quick enough and Na`Vi was able to defend it.

At the 44 minute mark, Anti-Mage led the engagement as he blinked into Alliance forcing a huge team fight which Alliance was able to win with a great Reverse Polarity by Magnus and Phantom Lancer just too much for Na`Vi to handle. Fortunately for them, Alliance only got two kills although they managed to force out the Aegis of the Immortal from Anti-Mage.

At the 47 minute mark, incredible play from Anti-Mage as he got kills off Rubick and Clockwerk while Storm Spirit picked off Magnus. Na`Vi however decided not to force anything and backed off.

At the 51 minute mark, Alliance was able to secure the Aegis of the Immortal but immediately lost it because Na`Vi was alert to the danger leading to a huge engagement which saw Alliance able to get two kills in exchange for Magnus. While that was happening, Anti-Mage was in the top lane as he got the chance to destroy the barracks which was not a fair trade for Alliance.

After a few minutes, Alliance grouped up and pushed the middle lane but Na`Vi picked off both Lion and Phantom Lancer which once again allowed Anti-Mage to take down the bottom barracks and with it the game.

In this deciding Game 3, Na`Vi decided to go for another aggressive tri-lane but this time with Tinker who was a stronger hero to help slow down the farm of Alchemist.

At the 3 minute mark, Alliance was able to get first blood on Jakiro with Chen getting the kill.

As the game progressed, both teams were getting even kills all over the map and this gave both Anti-Mage and Alchemist the opening they needed to farm up their core items.

At the 11 minute mark, Alliance took down the bottom tier-1 tower despite facing Tinker, already with a Boots of Travel, defending it. Following that, Alliance grouped up in the top lane and was able to destroy the tier-1 tower after picking off both Anti-Mage and Jakiro while also forcing out the Reverse Polarity from Magnus.

The blink dagger on Batrider was just paying off as they were getting easy and quick pickoffs that led to free towers.

At the 18 minute mark, Alliance was able to pickoff Anti-mage again and were rewarded with three more kills and the middle tier-2 tower later.

At the 21 minute mark, Alliance took down all of Na`Vi ‘s outer towers after Alchemist destroyed the bottom tier-2 tower but while that was happening, Na`Vi was able to pickoff both Nature’s Prophet and Batrider. A minute later, Na`Vi was able to secure the Aegis of the Immortal but at the cost of Tinker who was forced to buyback when Alliance started pushing the middle lane.

At the 26 minute mark, Alliance was able to pick off Anti-Mage in the Dire jungle and later pushed the middle lane. Batrider initiated once again but this time was not successful which it led to his death. Despite that, Alliance still managed to take down the middle tier-3 tower.

At the 30 minute mark, Alliance looked to pickoff Anti-Mage once again but fortunately for him this time, his teammates are nearby and were able to provide instant assistance, killing off Batrider. While that was happening, Alchemist and Windrunner tried to backdoor the middle barracks but they were a bit late and Na`Vi was quick to respond and managed to defend it.

2 minutes later, Alliance secured the Aegis of the Immortal and proceeded to push the middle lane once again where they picked off Jakiro which forced Na`Vi to back off and basically gave them a free barracks. Alliance later picked off Tinker in the bottom lane and proceeded to push the lane then rotated to the middle lane where a huge team fight occurred which saw Magnus get an epic five hero Reverse Polarity which allowed them to get four hero kills out of it.

At the 42 minute mark, Alliance was able to pickoff Jakiro and Anti-Mage and later caught Tinker which eventually forced out the “GG” call from Na`Vi.