Dota 2 The International Day 1 results: Na’Vi and Newbee eliminated from TI:5

Day 1 of the main event in The International Dota 2 Championships is underway with two upper bracket series, and multiple games in the lower bracket being played today. Those best-of-one lower bracket games will be where much of the drama is today, but we already got a glimpse into one of the teams that will be challenging all the way to the end with LGD Gaming dominating Team Empire.

Here are the full results from Day 1:

LGD Gaming defeats Team Empire (2-1)

Team Empire was very much the fan-favorite in this series, but sloppy execution proved to be their downfall. The Russian team had a sound strategy by pressuring LGD Gaming early and trying to prevent them from playing defensive Dota, but couldn’t execute when it counted.

LGD was in control in Game 1, and for much of Game 2 but Empire turned things on a dime. A well-farmed Anti Mage from Silent on Team Empire changed everything with Battle Fury cleaves cutting through enemies and pressuring quickly. One poor team fight resulted in two lost barracks from LGD, and for a while it looked like the tide would turn in the series.

LGD Gaming were done playing around in Game 3. They led an absolute blitz that resulted in 16 kills in 15 minutes to start the game, losing just three lives in response. A huge net worth on Gyrocopter and Ember Spirit was too much for Empire to overcome, and LGD achieved victory in under an hour.

Frustration from Empire fans will stem from seeing glimpses of a team that’s every bit good enough to defeat LGD, but no team can miss so many ultimates and core abilities against a team of LGD’s skill. LGD had booked their ticket for the semi-finals, and earned a guaranteed $1 million for today’s series win. Not bad for a day’s work.

CDEC Gaming defeats Cloud9 (2-0)

CDEC Gaming, everyone. The Wild Card team nobody expected might have become the team to watch at TI:5.

This was a strange series. Cloud9 has an established style and they completely ignored it in Game 1, which CDEC made them pay for. Cloud9 picked a split push lineup that required time and early harassment, neither of which were given to them by CDEC -- it was surgical. At the 30 minute mark the score was 30-7, with an almost 20,000 gold lead for CDEC, then came the gg. It was a stunning performance that immediately pushed them into being a team to watch.

Game 2 saw Cloud9 forego the established meta and pick heroes they were comfortable with. Early on this was effective, but quickly the tide was turned. Agressif for CDEC gained a ludicrous amount of farm on Phantom Lancer, and there was simply no answer for Cloud9. A carry Lina helped round out CDEC’s team, which led to casual hero pickoffs with Laguna Blade, and simply too much pushing power.

It’s going to be so much fun to see CDEC continue in The International.

MVP Phoenix defeats Newbee (1-0)

The 2014 iteration of Newbee is far removed from the team that won The International 4 last year. Inconsistent play and strange hero selection continued into TI:5 where they were blitzed by a similarly unorthodox MVP Phoenix team.

Early it looked like Newbee could pull through on the back of stellar mid play from Mu on Templar Assassin. Backed up by a Winter Wyvern it seemed like the damage would be too much for MVP Phoenix to overcome, but ultimately it was a dangerous combo of Shadow Fiend and Witch Doctor that proved to be Newbee’s downfall.

This means that for the fifth straight year no team has gone back-to-back at The International. It was a disappointing end for Newbee, but now MVP Phoenix has a chance to claw their way back into contention.

Vici Gaming defeats Natus Vincere (1-0)

Full details of this game can be found here.

Virtus Pro defeats Fnatic (1-0)

What began as a typical Fnatic draft took a turn when Mushi decided not to play his signature Shadow Fiend and turn it over to his protege, Kecik Imba. Electing to play Naga Siren was a tactical mistake by Mushi that wa’re not accustomed to seeing, and he never looked comfortable on the hero.

Virtus Pro deserved full credit for a fantastic draft and excellent farm. Illidan got out to a huge lead on Gyrocopter, while G was excellent on Dragon Knight, quickly pushing towers and stopping Fnatic from being able to sit back and slow farm.

Invictus Gaming defeats MVP Hot6 (1-0)

This was a game that felt like it was lost at the draft. MVP Hot6 seemed confused by what Invictus Gaming’s strategy would be, banning heroes that didn’t complement the opposing lineup and gave them many of their signature heroes. Ultimately it was Chaun who deserved all the credit in this game with some of the best Rubrick play we’ve seen at TI:5 so far.

Every fight was set up by a spell stolen by Chaun, his execution was perfect. On a team that’s so often reduced to BurNing and Ferrari_430 it was nice to see the reliable support get his due. Invictus Gaming didn’t look like a cohesive team in the group stage, but they certainly look united now.