Team Liquid win Dota 2 Epicenter Moscow with thrilling 5 game victory over Newbee

Epicenter 2016 will be a tournament to remember. We witnessed an equilibrium return to professional Dota 2 following struggles by eastern teams in recent major tournaments. Newbee reasserted itself as not only the premier team in China, but one of the best in the world.

Meanwhile we saw a power shift in Europe with Team Liquid completing its stunning return since re-tooling its roster in October of 2015 and returning to the pro scene in a big way. It wasn’t long ago that they looked down and out of professional Dota 2, but now they’re on top of the world.

Team Liquid: Lycanthrope, Riki, Zeus, Beastmaster, Rubick

Newbee: Phantom Lancer, Faceless Void, Dragon Knight, Phoenix, Lion

Liquid’s lineup was one predicated on the same idea OG used in Game 1 of the lower bracket finals vs. Newbee, which was move fast and strike hard. They needed to push the tempo against a weak early game lineup that needed to buy time for Phantom Lancer and Faceless Void.

Initially it seemed like this strategy wouldn’t work as Newbee jumped to a 7-3 kill lead and getting a lot of fame on Hao’s PL. However this changed around the 10 minute mark when a smart rotation led to a pickoff on Hao, causing TL’s Lycan to shoot to the top of the net worth chart.

Zeus ended up being the difference maker. In team fights Newbee simply couldn’t deal with the ludicrous burst damage TL had at its disposal. At the 22 minute mark TL won a huge team fight that resulted in a five man wipe, a Roshan kill and taking a T1 tower in the safe lane.

Uncharacteristically Newbee began making mistakes. They threw themselves in haphazardly and kept getting punished. The turn was sharp and it was real. It resulted in Newbee suffering their second loss of the day and a quick GG.

Team Liquid: Lone Druid, Natures Prophet, Earth Spirit, Bristleback, Io

Newbee: Alchemist, Doom, Weaver, Phoenix, Disruptor

Hao returned to something a little more familiar with the Weaver pick and the added mobility showed in the early game. The Newbee carry can play anything, but he’s at his best when he has a hero that can get around the board quickly and harass unexpectedly. This is why he excels on Spectre and why the Weaver pick was so good in this game.

It wasn’t that Hao dominated the worth graph, but that he allowed space for his teammates to. The constant pick offs of TL supports meant that any attempt at elaborate group setups wasn’t possible. Game 1 was a stomp in favor of Team Liquid, this was all Newbee.

Team Liquid: Lifestealer, Doom, Puck, Lone Druid, Rubick

Newbee: Juggernaut, Death Prophet, Tidehunter, Beastmaster, Lion

This was a ludicrously greedy draft from Team Liquid and Newbee made them pay. There was such a distinct lack of team fight ability on TL’s side that really this game was won at the pick/ban stage -- provided Newbee didn’t throw it away in the early game. They needed Death Prophet to play defensively in the mid lane and not lose out to Puck early.

The sides traded back and forth, but not in a way that was advantageous for Team Liquid. They took a support kill on Tidehunter, but in exchange lost their Lifestealer in the off-lane thanks to a jungle gank from Beastmaster. That was the pick that really turned the tide in Game 3 as the roars from Beastmaster set the tone of the game by killing critically important Liquid carries.

Liquid attempted a major team fight at the 11 minute mark to turn the tide, but it was thoroughly stuffed thanks to a brutally effective Ravage paired with a Death Prophet silence. It resulted in a team wipe and an ultra kill for Mu on Death Prophet, all in exchange for a single support loss.

These were the big notes in the game, but the background was Hao on an unexpected Juggernaut. Quietly he let other parts of the map be the focus while he farmed up the pieces for his Battle Fury. Liquid had to start forcing fights, but that was impossible when Newbee were able to roam all over the map taking towers at will.

The straw broke Liquid’s back happened when Lone Druid died by the Radiant side ancients. It caused Liquid to lose mid barracks and allowed the team to get its finals key items to push high ground.

Team Liquid: Alchemist, Gyrocopter, Slark, Earth Spirit, Io

Newbee: Clinkz, Doom, Invoker, Nyx Assassin, Tidehunter

The picks in Game 4 were so bizarre. Liquid stuck to the plan it used for much of the day with aggressiveness -- but Newbee strangely double-downed on the aggression hoping they could out-muscle Liquid. It felt as if Newbee was never comfortable playing TL’s style of game and let the European team assert their will early in the game and press the advantage.

The issue (for the first time in the series) was Hao. It wasn’t so much that Hao played poorly, and more that the five-protect-one strategy fell apart. It led to Liquid pushing the tempo and, more importantly, Game 5.

Team Liquid: Slark, Dragon Knight, Earth Spirit, Beastmaster, Enigma

Newbee: Alchemist, Doom, Venomancer, Bane, Enchantress

This was a culmination of everything Team Liquid tried to do during the series. An aggressive opening from Newbee was punished in the mid lane as a hidden JerAx on Earth Spirit barreled into the lane and quickly secured a kill. Meanwhile solid farm in the safe lane by Slark firmly pushed the early game into Liquid’s hands.

Liquid tried this strategy before and failed, but everything came together in Game 7. Newbee were firmly on their back foot during the game and not even a heavily fed Alchemist could pull them back into the contest. The gap between their 2-4 players was too much, and the experiment of putting Hao on Venomancer was an abject failure.

A late Roshan kill allowed Liquid to push high ground and do something few can boast: Beat Newbee.

The lead up toward The International has been nothing short of amazing. Next is the Manilla Major, where we’ll see if Liquid and Newbee can continue their stunning runs. This is shaping up to be an incredible International if these teams can continue their high level of play.