Orange.NeoEs outplays LGD.Int, netting a 2-1 win

 

 

LGD.Int were looking to avenge their sister team, LGD.cn, after being demolished at the hands of Orange.NeoEs on 2 April.  Would LGD.Int succeed and take the lead over Orange.NeoEs or suffer the same fate as LGD.cn?

 

Game 1

LGD.Int decided to contest the tri-lane of Orange to slow down Mushi’s Shadow Fiend farm early on. They were able to get three quick kills on Shadow Fiend along with the supports and looked dominant in this tri-lane versus tri-lane matchup. However, a timely rotation from Weaver paid off for Orange as Ohaiyo managed to net 3 kills for himself and helped regain the momentum in the tri-lane. However, LGD.Int refused to cease on their aggression as Dark Seer scored a triple kill for himself after rotating to the top lane, worsening the discomfort that Shadow Fiend was facing.

 

Realising that he would not get much from the lane, Shadow Fiend was forced to farm in the jungle. However, the situation started to look up for Orange as soon as Tinker picked up his Boots of Travel as the global presence of ky.xy along with Weaver’s mobility forced LGD.Int to spread out and thus created some space for Shadow Fiend to catch up on his farm. Mushi instantly capitalized on the chance provided by this teammates as he was able to farm up his Power Treads, Drums of Endurance and Black King Bar in 21 minutes and surprisingly even out-farming Pajkatt’s Lifestealer. Right after Shadow Fiend completed his Black King Bar, Orange decided to push the top lane but came up against a strong defense set up by LGD.Int. Orange initated on Lifestealer but a well-prepared counter-initiation by LGD.Int claimed the head of Shadow Demon and Sand King in addition to Shadow Fiend. Once again, rotation by Weaver and Tinker saw Orange making the best out of the situation as the duo managed to avenge with 3 kills and the list of victims would have be extended if it had not been for a mis-click by Tinker with his Laser, thus sparing the life of Dark Seer.

 

LGD.Int were looking to pick off Tinker in the bottom lane but unfortunately he managed to blink out in time, at the cost of the bottom tier-1 tower being taken down by LGD.Int. Orange.NeoEs once again called for a push on the top tier-1 tower; an ineffectual defense by LGD.Int was not enough as Sand King and Nerubian Weaver were able to take them down plus the tower. Orange.NeoEs caught Lifestealer off-guard in the river near the Roshan pit, then later secured the Aegis of the Immortal.

 

After 35 minutes, LGD.Int decided to push the top lane after picking off Shadow Demon in the jungle. Tinker teleported to the tower to try and defend but LGD.Int instantly locked him down and knocked him out of the fight. An over-extension by LGD.Int aggressively trying to kill Sand King in the trees saw a bitter ending for them as Mushi showcased his calibre with his signature Shadow Fiend, killing off Silencer and Dark Seer. Meanwhile, Weaver was able to take down the second bottom tower and forced LGD.Int to fall back to defend as he was slowly chipping away at the life of the third tower. However, Ohaiyo made a mistake as he stayed for too long and it cost him his life.

 

Orange.NeoEs grouped up and tried to push the bottom lane 38 minutes into the game. They were able to pick off Dark Seer inside his own base and forced out a defensive Global Silence and a buyback from G. LGD.Int, in an attempt to make something happen, smoked up but was immediately spotted by Shadow Demon, which forced them into a big teamfight. Orange started off with an initiation by Sand King targeting Bounty Hunter but LGD.Int quickly killed him off. Orange.NeoEs would later end up killing Dark Seer and Gondar but decided to play safely and fell back to prepare for another push.

 

 

The game fell into a passive phase until Orange secured the Aegis of the Immortal for Shadow Fiend 43 minutes into the game. An excellent move saw Orange catching LGD.Int off-guard in the radiant base, leading to a clutch team fight in which Orange convincingly came out on top, thus claimed a 1-0 lead in this best-of-3 series.

 

Game 2

 

Fully aware with what Mushi was capable of with his Shadow Fiend, LGD.Int once again decided to pressure the middle with multiple smoke gank attempts by MiSeRy and 1437 which bore good results as they managed to get 3 consecutive kills on Orange’s mid solo. Sensing that Mushi needed more help in the middle lane, Orange decided to rotate 4 of their heroes in an unexpected skirmish but successfully caught LGD.Int off-guard, claiming two kills. Another rotation to the top lane by Orange proved to be effective as they managed to win a huge team fight.

 

LGD.Int, however, was able to stay resolute and gradually took control of the game, taking all of Orange.NeoEs' outer towers after 26 minutes. However, breaching into Orange.NeoEs' base was not easy for the International boys as the damage output from Gyrocopter was not enough to break through Orange’s determination.

 

Meanwhile, Shadow Fiend started to catch up in terms of farm despite getting off to an awful start. LGD.Int was well aware that they needed more farm for their main carry and decided not to rush anything and let their Gyrocopter farm his luxury items. As Brax managed to pick up Butterfly and Monkey King Bar, Orange quickly prepared themselves for the expected push from LGD.Int by securing the Aegis of the Immortal for themselves. Determined not to take any risk, LGD.Int patiently stayed back and simply waited for the Aegis of the Immortal to time out before going for possibly the final push.

 

 

The stalemate was broken when both teams found each other near the Roshan pit and a huge teamfight ensued. Orange managed to take out the Gyrocopter, forcing an instant buyback. However, Orange made a questionable move when they decided to pull back and let LGD.Int pick up the Aegis of the Immortal for themselves. Brax went all-in, selling his Manta Style and picked up a Divine Rapier. Being outgunned by a 6-slotted Gyrocopter, Orange was being put to the sword and finally gave in and called ‘GG’ as the series moved onto the final game.

 

Game 3

 

Game 3 started out in favour of Orange.NeoEs, as they were able to get to a couple of quick kills against the tri-lane of LGD.Int and later dominated the lane by shutting down Gyrocopter. The 2 other solo lanes were not working out too well for LGD.Int either as Mushi was having a great time in mid as Clockwerk was powerless to cope with Outworld Devourer’s superior lane control while Weaver was getting decent farm and experience versus Magnus

 

Being aware of the unfavourable situation, LGD.Int tried go on the offensive as Magnus, armed with an Invisibility rune, immediately used Reverse Polarity on Outworld Destroyer but unfortunately he did not have sufficient mana to use Skewer, which resulted in a failed gank.

 

LGD.Int, in search for their first kill of the game, decided to execute a smoke gank 10 minutes into the game, catching a lone Nyx Assassin in the Dire jungle thus giving them their first kill of the game. Riding the momentum, LGD.Int decided to gank Mushi in the middle lane again and were able to get a two kill exchange.

 

However, Orange.NeoEs quickly reorganized themselves and slowly took control of the game. Multiple teamfights went back and forth and edged in favour of Orange, who were too far ahead in terms of items and levels advantage, which resulted in the Malaysian team finishing the game in 39 minutes, claiming the best-of-3 series over LGD.Int.