Day 2 recap of Team Dignitas at TI3

Team Dignitas vs mousesports

Game 1
Team Dignitas would look for their fantastic play in the latter half of day one to carry over today. They would pick up Vengeful Spirit for waytosexy, Rubick for FoggedDota, Gyrocopter for Aui_2000, Batrider for Universe, and Alchemist for SneykingDota2. Mousesports would counter with Lifestealer, Beastmaster, Weaver, Crystal Maiden, and Visage.

The aggressive trilane did not appear to be going well early on for Team Dignitas, as Rubick gave up first blood (although they would get a quick revenge kill on Visage), and Lifestealer was able to farm up phase boots by the 5 and a half minute mark. Team Dignitas realized this, and had Rubick and Venge roam mid and help Alchemist grab a kill on Beastmaster 6 and a half minutes in. Alchemist would then turn his attentions bot, and help Batrider dive past the Tier 1 tower to pick off the always illusive Weaver. Venge would show up again mid and help set up another easy kill, as Crystal Maiden disappeared to the potent combo of Magic Missile and Unstable Concoction.

Things would continue to go Team Dignitas' way, as another pick off of Beastmaster led to a Tier 1 tower 11 and a half minutes in, and that gold would help Batrider pick up a 12 minute blink dagger. Mousesports had no chance in this one, as dual roam of Venge and Rubick continually found heroes to burst down,and the combo of Lassoe and Unstable Concotion shredded whoever they picked on.

When Team Dignitas began taking top lane rax 30 minutes in, Mousesports would try one more infest bomb. When that failed, Mousesports would tap out at the 31 minute mark.

Game 2
In game two, SneykingDota2 would again run on Alchemist. They gave Aui_2000 Lifestealer, Universe Nature's Prophet, FoggedDota Crystal Maiden, and Waytosexy Enchantress. Mousesports would run a lineup consisting of Dragon Knight, Venomancer, Weaver, Razor, and Vengeful Spirit.

First blood would be drawn by Enchantress. Mousesports thought they had an easy kill when Veno landed a gale on Crystal Maiden, but things turned around quickly as Lifestealer ate his way through the tree line, and Enchantress showed up from the low ground to secure the kill on Veno in their own jungle. Mousesports would retaliate by smoking Veno and Razor and helping pick up a kil on Alch mid.

Until the 13 minute mark, things would move rather slowly, as small scale skirmishes led to trading kills and a 4-4 score. That would change as Team Dignitas moved into the Rosh pit and forced Mouseports to fight. Team Dignitas would not only take the Aegis, but also take down Veno and Razor.They would shift top, where they would find DK and Veno out of position for easy kills. Howver, they overextended in the process, and paid for it by losing CM, NP, and Alch.

Things would slow down again, with both teams farming and trying unsucessfully to find kills with smoke ganks. 22 minutes in, Crystal Maiden and Enchantress would be caught by 4 Mousesports members trying to enter their jungle. Quick thinking by Enchantress saw her TP out under the onslaught just in time, but CM would fall. However, Team Dignitas would TP NP in with a surprise inside of him. The combo of NP and LS was to much for Mousesports to handle, as Veno and Razer would go down in quick succession. Team Dignitas capitalized by taking Tier 2 bot.

In a major mistake, Team Dignitas waited too late to Mousesports Rosh attempt 25 minutes in. Team Dignitas would lose 3, lose the aegis, and only get 1 return kill. Alch would get caught out shortly thereafter trying to defend his Tier 2 mid, which would fall immediately after. On the back of the aegis, Mousesports would push down all of Team Dignitas' outer towers. Mousesports would try to force the issue at the 32 minute mark by trying to take down the bot Tier 3 tower. It would blow up in their face, as they would lose 4 and Team Dignitas only lost 2.

35 minutes in, NP found DK hovering at his Tier 2 mid, and a combo of Scythe and Abyssal blade brought him down. This kill was huge, as it allowed Team Dignitas to bring down that mid tower, then transition to an uncontested Rosh. Mousesports knew they were in trouble, so they tried once again to crack the base bot. By this point, they were simply too far behind and lost 4. Team Dignitas would push all 3 lanes in, then began to methodically pick apart the Mousesports team, forcing a GG call from them at the 42 minute mark.

Team Dignitas vs Team Zenith

Game 1
Team Dignitas would go with Waytosexy on Bane, FoggedDota Rubick, Universe on NP, Aui_2000 on LS, and SneykingDota2 on DK. Zenith picked up Weaver, Shadow Demon, Dazzle, Batrider, and Dark seer.

A disastrous start saw Zenith jump out to an early 4-0 lead. However, Weaver got overconfident, and would go down even after being Shallow Graved. The trilane of LS, Bane, and Rubick would then turn their attentions to Shadow Demon, who also dropped. DK somehow survived a gank by 3, and with the help of NP and Bane, were able to kill Dazzle in return. It would then be Team Dignitas' turn to be perplexed, as what appeared to be an easy kill on Batrider turned into a death for DK, Bane, and Rubick as a perfectly timed Shallow Grave saved Batrider and let Zenith counterinitiate.

The big story of this game was that Batrider grabbed a very early blink dagger, yet simply could not find any kills around the map. Instead, it was Team Dignitas who would find opportune pick offs, and turn small encounters into big teamfight victories. Case in point, 26 minutes in would see the two teams clash in Zenith's jungle. Zenith would blow everything they had, and were only able to bring down Rubick. Team Dignitas then turned around and teamwiped Zenith.

Zenith would try a 5 man smoke minutes later, but it was revealed by a Shadow Blade NP. Team Dingitas would capitalize and take down Dazzle, Bat, and DS as well as picking up the aegis. Knowing it was their only chance, Weaver picked up a Diving Rapier. It was the shortest lived Divine in Dota, however, as Weaver lost in less than seconds later in a teamfight in his own jungle. GG was called by Zenith shortly thereafter, 34 minutes in.

Game 2
Game 2 would see Io slip through, and Team Dignitas snatched it up for FoggedDota. They decided to pair it with CK who was run by Aui_2000, then pick up Gyro for SneykingDota2, Beastmaster for Waytosexy, and Dark Seer for Universe. Zenith took Weaver, Visage, QoP, Timbersaw, and Earthshaker. The decision to run Io and CK mid turned out to be a disaster, as Gyro was zoned out of top lane by ES and Weaver, QoP was able to level bot, and Timber was able to level mid. Things went from bad to worse when Timbersaw got firstblood solo against Io, then CK died to an ES fissure seconds later. Once Timbersaw hit mid, the game was essentially over. Zenith roamed all over the map, exerting their will wherever they saw fit. When it became apparent there would be no comeback, Team Dignitas called GG at the 31 minute mark.

Team Dignitas vs NaVi

Game 1
Team Dignitas would grab Alch for SneykingDota2, Naga Siren for Aui_2000, NP for Universe, Visage for FoggedDota, and a surprise support Zeus for Waytosexy. NaVi would counter with Enigma, Lifestealer, OD, Bane, and Bounty Hunter.

The Bounty Hunter pick paid huge divedends right off the bat, as he was able to block camp after camp after camp in Team Dignitas jungle, denying crucial XP for Zeus and Visage. The second big mistake, in my opinion, came when Alch decided to not level Greevil's Greed mid against an OD. Instead he leveled his two mana requiring spells, which in a lane against OD, you simply don't have. This led to OD dominating the lane. NP fell top, and NaVi would press the advantage by taking Tier 1 top at the 5 minute mark. 6 minutes in and Team Dignitas was down 4k gold, with only 1 kill and 1 tower boosting that mark for NaVi.

With their underleveled supports, Team Dignitas couldn't take fights. 15 minutes in, they gave up rosh while getting nothing in return. A teamfight at their bot Tier 2 turned into a disaster when miscommunication saw Naga pop her ult, but the rest of the team didn't move into position to capitalize on it. When the Naga sleep wore off, NaVi teamwiped them. NaVi would slowly strangle the map from there, with Team Dignitas calling GG 23 minutes in.

Game 2
Team Dignitas would put Waytosexy on Visage, FoggedDota on Vengeful Spirit, Aui_2000 on Alchemist, Universe on NP, and SneykingDota2 on OD. NaVi countered with Razor, Lifestealer, Earthshaker, Chen, and Windrunner.

Team Dignitas against lost the laning stages, as Razor dominated OD mid thanks to Static Link, while the LS/ES combo bot zoned out NP ad gave them first blood once the free farming LS picked up phase boots. However, Alchemist was able to pick up an incredibly fast sub-7 minute Hand of Midas in top lane, giving Team Dignitas some hope for the late game. It was not to be, however, as Alch would die after being blocked in at the Tier 1 tower by a fissure. 9 minutes in, after Razor picked up a triple kill, and Team Dignitas was down big to NaVi once again. At the 12 minute mark, the score was 8-1, NaVi had the entire map warded, and Team Dignitas simply couldn't get anything done. They would call the GG 3 minutes later at the 15 minute mark.

Thoughts on Day 2

Team Dignitas started off very strong, taking a 2-0 victory over Mousesports and putting them into a tie for the top spot in the bracket. When they beat Zenith in game 1, they were very briefly all alone in first place. They were playing fantastic Dota, backed by really good drafting. The draft came back to haunt them in Game 2 against Zenith. The draft in this game reminded me of their Day 1 games against DK. Beastmaster in the jungle and Dark seer on bot lane simply had no impact on the game, and led to early leads for Zenith. Team Dignitas found most of their success in this tournament with aggressive trilanes with 2 supports who can roam and gank. They went away from that in this draft, and they paid.

In the first game against NaVi, support Zeus just didn't get anything accomplished. They had a trilane, but without getting any kills (as they didn't have anyone to kill in basically a free lane), they couldn't get the gold and levels they needed to be successful. In game 2, NaVi picked the perfect counter to OD mid. They once again ran a trilane that didn't have anyone to fight in it, which again led to underleveled supports, a bot lane that got zoned out, and a massive advantage for NaVi.

Team Dignitas ended the day 3-3, and after 2 days in the group stages find themselves tied with LGD at 7-5. They can still end the group stages in the top 4 if they can take 1 game off of Fnatic. Do that, and they will end 8-6. LGD has to go up against NaVi, and I just don't see them winning either of those games, as NaVi has looked incredibly strong up to this point. Team Dignitas is still looking good for ending in the top 4, as long as they can pick up 1 win today. Go 1-1, and they will be in the driver's seat to place Top 8 in this tournament.