A Day 3 recap of TI3 and a look ahead at the main event

Day 3 of the group stages began with Team Dignitas tied with LGD for the final spot in the top 4 of Group A. If Team Dignitas took both games from Fnatic and LGD split with NaVi, Team Dignitas would capture the final spot. If both split, Valve was adamant that a tiebreaker game would be played even though Team Dignitas took both games in the head to head matchup; and of course, if Team Dignitas lost both games, they would likely find themselves relegated to the loser's bracket.

Team Dignitas vs Fnatic

Game 1:

Team Dignitas picked up Enchantress for Peter "waytosexy" Nguyen, Rubick for Ioannis "FoggedDota", Luna for Kurtis "Aui_2000" Lang, Batrider for Saahil "Universe" Arora, and Alchemist for JingJun "SneykingDota2" Wu. Fnatic countered with Nyx, Chen, Gyro, Weaver, and Dragon Knight.

The Chen would pay off early for Fnatic, as they pushed down Team Dignitas' bot Tier 1 tower 4 minutes in. Alchemist shifted into lane to contest the tier 2 push, but dropped after a well-timed spiked carapace from Nyx made him easy prey for Gyro's Rocket Barrage. Chen overextended however, and got popped by the tower. Small-scale skirmishes and tower pushing dominated the next 10 minutes, with neither team claiming a clear advantage.

That would change at the 14 minute mark as Fnatic tried to take Team Dignitas' Tier 1 tower top. What looked to be a Fnatic win in the fight turned around in a hurry when FoggedDota, always dangerous on Rubick, managed to steal Call Down from Gyro. Gyro's Call down missed all of Team Dignitas, but FoggedDota had better aim, hitting 4 with the stolen spell and leading to a complete team wipe of Fnatic.

A blink dagger and gem on Batrider allowed Team Dignitas to feel comfortable enough to take Rosh at 18:30. Team Dignitas would use the aegis advantage to take the Tier 2 bot and mid towers minutes later. In a display of just how far ahead Team Dignitas was, Chen finally picked up a Mekanism at the 25 minute mark.

At 29 minutes, Fnatic would try to catch Team Dignitas unawares by smoking in while Team Dignitas attempted to Rosh. Team Dignitas was simply too far ahead, wiping all of Fnatic while only losing Alch in return. Fnatic would not give up, but finally called GG 32 minutes in after being overrun trying to defend their mid barracks.

Game 2:

In the second game, Team Dignitas put waytosexy on Enchantress, Aui_2000 on Lone Druid, FoggedDota on Rubick, SneykingDota2 on Dragon Knight, and Universe on Lifestealer. Fnatic ran a lineup consisting of Weaver, Visage, Viper, Treant, and Nature's Prophet.

Team Dignitas' trilane would crumble early, giving up a triple kill to Weaver at the 5:30 mark, and those heroes would never recover. The beacon of hope was the free farming Lone Druid. Unfortunately, Fnatic had a lineup perfectly suited to killing the bear, slowing the farm of Lone Druid in the mid game while also giving themselves nearly 1500 bonus gold. Fnatic was able to take Rosh uncontested 17 minutes in and then exert their will across the map. After overextending and losing 4 in an ill-advised attempt to force the issue in the bot lane, Fnatic would come right back after finding Lone Druid by himself and take the bot Tier 2 tower. Fnatic took their second uncontested Rosh at the 27 minute mark, then finished the game 9 minutes later, forcing Team Dignitas to call the GG after losing their bot set of barracks.

Team Dignitas ended the preliminaries with an 8-6 record. Unfortunately, LGD was able to split their series with NaVi as well, meaning that there would need to be a tiebreaker game. This was a terrible decision by Valve, as Team Dignitas took both games when the two met up earlier in the week. Had they split the series, I would agree with an extra game. However, when one team goes 2-0, they should not be forced to play a tiebreaker. Unfortunately, I don't make the rules, and Valve decided an extra game was the way to go.

Team Dignitas vs LGD

Team Dignitas decided to go with FoggedDota on Rubick, waytosexy on Chen, Universe on Dark Seer, SneykingDota2 on Queen of Pain, and Aui_2000 on Gyro. LGD went with Tidehunter, Alchemist, Magnus, Bane, and Visage.

The early game belonged to Team Dignitas, with Gyro drawing first blood against Tidehunter 1 minute into the game. Chen again showed his early power, pushing the bot tower down shortly thereafter. By the 10 minute mark, Team Diginitas was firmly in control. The score was 4-1 and they had a 2 tower advantage after destroying the mid Tier 1. That lead would evaporate in LGD's jungle 17 minutes in, as the power of Tidehunter and Magnus' ultimates turned the fight in their favor.

The game turned for good when LGD went into the Rosh pit at the 29 minute mark. Team Dignitas could not get the entire team there in time, so Queen of Pain popped her BKB and blinked in in the hopes of stealing the aegis. Unfortunately, she couldn't and dropped before the teamfight began. Dark Seer and Rubick would fall seconds later. Another teamfight that appeared to be going Team Dignitas' way turned on its head when Tide Ravaged, and Team Dignitas traded a kill on Bane for 4 of their own. Team Dignitas would put up a valiant fight, but ultimately call GG 44 minutes in after losing all 5 members in defense of their bottom barracks.

After setting themselves up for a top 4 finish, Team Dignitas saw that victory slip through their fingers. As SneykingDota2 tweeted (follow him @SneykingDota2) it truly was "A Series of Unfortunate Events".

All hope is not lost, however. Team Dignitas sits atop the loser's bracket for Group A, and therefore was able to pick their opponent in their first Best of 1 elimination game. They picked Rattlesnake, who won the wildcard spot by beating Quantic, then went 3-11 in the group stages. Should Team Dignitas win beat Rattlesnake, they would then face the loser of NaVi/Orange. Winning that best of 1 game would give Team Dignitas Thursday off, then have them play either LGD.int, Mousesports, Tongfu, or Fnatic depending on how their games go. For a full list of all the action, head here.