Blast Slam VI Recap: Grand Final
Recommended watch: Navi vs Liquid game 2
Source: match data from opendota.com, meta from datdota.com
Tournament Meta
Grand Final
Navi vs Liquid
Navi’s first pick SF was looking dangerous at the early stages of the game when he was on top of the networth chart. But as the game progressed, the 4-protect-1 strat didn’t pan out well. Liquid’s roaming supports created a lot for their team. The active WR + the global Underlord easily joined in on ganks across the map. Navi didn’t really have any form of protection for their pos 1 once the BKBs came out for Liquid’s cores. SF died multiple times, which killed any chance of Navi winning the game. Liquid 1-0 Navi.
Must-watch dota. Navi put emphasis on shutting down the Razor mid, which slowed down Liquid as a whole. Gotthejuice’s TA was left untouched and got far ahead of the field. As a result, Navi had a significant gold lead for most of the game. Liquid stayed compact and waited for their opening.
In the 40th minute, Liquid found their breakthrough. Despite TA having an Aegis, a clutch Lotus Orb reflecting Bat’s Aghs Lasso, changed the game. Navi would get wiped. However, Liquid would get too ahead of themselves and try to push high ground. Navi were still the stronger side and would massacre Liquid on the retreat. No buyback on Nisha meant mega creeps for Navi.
Liquid did a brilliant job holding on. But against Aghs + Refresher on Invoker + Batrider and a very farmed TA, Liquid’s only hope at competing was using their buybacks. Eventually, Navi found the moment where they had a significant numerical advantage and went for the naked throne. Navi 1-1 Liquid.
[Pick order/bans were not showing in the data.] The lanes went horrific for Navi. The Invoker got destroyed mid. The Centaur was bullied. The Razor was the only core on Navi who had something. At 14 minutes, Liquid had an 8k gold lead and secured all the Wisdom Runes up to that point. The snowball became an avalanche. Navi tried their best to get anything, but the hole was too deep. This was brutal. Liquid 2-1 Navi.
More of the same from what we saw, Gotthejuice got his farm but his team suffered to get anything. Liquid were the ones who made the better plays and dictated the flow of the game. Boxi’s Earth Spirit was pristine with his movement and influence across the map. Nikku’s Puck had a miserable time against the amount of single target stuns and disables he faced. Micke’s DK got out of control and got to do what he wanted. The last pick Ursa could not 1v9. This quickly evolved into another beatdown. Navi have a lot to learn. Today, they were the students and Liquid were the teachers. Liquid 3-1 Navi.