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Dota 2 Frankfurt Major 2015: Unknown eliminates TI:4 champs Newbee in Frankfurt

Nov 16, 2015, 10:49 PM UTC

James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.

We’re one day into the main event of the Frankfurt Major and already the stage is set for an amazing rematch from The International grand final. Both Evil Geniuses and CDEC won their opening series, and now they’ll meet in the upper bracket.

The big story of the day was Unknown, the relatively, well, unknown team from Peru who nobody thought would do anything. On Monday they shocked TI4 winners Newbee in a game that will be remembered as one of the best this year, without a doubt.

Let’s break down how it happened:

CDEC defeats LGD Gaming (2-0)

The two juggernauts of Dota played very different opening days. For CDEC it was more of the same. They have an established style and hero pool and leveraged that to great effect, steamrolling through LGD Gaming en route to a 2-0 series win. LGD never looked comfortable, first struggling on a Gyrocopter/ Windrunner carry combo, then attempting to add more beef to their lineup with Bristleback, which was easily countered.

Evil Geniuses defeats Vega Squadron (2-1)

Evil Geniuses showed their unpredictable and deep pool against Vega Squadron, and it wasn’t quite so easy for them. In Game 1 Arteezy took Sven and went on an absolute tear. This was turned on its head in Game 2 with SumaiL playing Invoker, a hero who has really been out of favor in the pro scene. This proved to be a mistake with Vega punishing the unpredictability with a Doom/Shadow Fiend hard-carry combo that got too much farm early.

Game 3 saw EG return to what they know. Arteezy took a late-game Anti-Mage and split push to perfection, gaining an insurmountable gold lead and ending the game before the 40-minute mark.

All four teams still have chances to advance and had room to make mistakes. The same couldn’t be said for the lower bracket, where a series of best-of-one games would determine who survived in the first Major tournament under the new structure.

Alliance defeats Cloud 9 (1-0)

Alliance has been an inconsistent team with a lot of problems in the pick-ban stage of tournaments, and this looked like it could rear its head again against Cloud 9. They gave up a tough lineup of Ancient Apparition, Earthshaker, Spectre, Queen of Pain and Winter Wyvern but despite having the hero advantage Cloud 9 couldn’t get their play together. Alliance played fast, aggressive Dota with s4 playing a near-perfect game on Windranger.

At the 20-minute mark things looked firmly in Alliance’s hands, but the scoreboard was misleading. They were trading carries for supports and Spectre was getting a lot of farm quietly. A greedy haunt play put things back in Alliance’s hands, giving them the Aegis and a lot of gold. The next 10 minutes were disastrous for C9, who allowed Alliance to jump to a 12K gold lead. After several unsuccessful pushes Alliance broke through with team fight wins. Is Alliance back? It looks like it.

OG defeats Fnatic (1-0)

HUSKAR! Yes, that’s right, OG took Huskar in a best-of-one series that became the stomp of the day. Fnatic is a deeply problematic team right now, but still OG’s complete decimation was a surprise. Here’s the funny thing about OG: They might not have the most talented players in the world, but they could have the best teamwork and be the best team top to bottom. That alone makes them scary.

This game was so one-sided because of options. The Io pick perfectly gelled with a dual carry selection of Tiny and Huskar. It required Fnatic to pressure early and press the advantage, but they couldn’t. It felt like OG knew what Fnatic was planning before it happened. Watching the game was unreal.

Unknown defeats Newbee (1-0)

If you haven’t watched Peruvian team Unknown play then you need to rectify that immediately. They might be the most important team to watch in professional Dota today. Their execution is spotty, their decisions are questionable and it’s through this reckless play that they are able to surprise teams.

That’s just what happened against Newbee. A team that thrives on predictability will suffer against Unknown. Plans will unravel, fights will dissolve, because expecting the unexpected isn’t something teams do well. This game was a series of punches and counter-punches with team fights being traded, but with each trade Unknown came out ahead slightly more.

Ultimately a ludicrously farmed Alchemist proved to be too much for the relative glass cannons of Gyrocopter and Ember Spirit. The victory was unfathomable and now Unknown -- who lost to every team in groups -- is a team to watch in Frankfurt.

EHOME defeats Newbee Young (1-0)

There has been plenty of behind-the-scenes drama for EHOME, but this was a game even a fractured team should win. They leveraged map control from Bounty Hunter to roam around de-warding while track gold put the curve in their favor.

At 15 minutes Cty landed a top lane rampage with Queen of Pain and the game was academic. QoP had a 4k gold lead over Shadow Fiend and it was an absolute bloodbath. EHOME wasn’t going to finish this quickly and they leaned on their slow, methodical pace to systematically dismantle the young team.

Newbee Young called the GG before the 40-minute mark. Simply put: It was a drubbing.