Blast Slam VII Recap: Upper Bracket Quarterfinals, Semifinals, & Meta
Recommended watch: Yandex vs Aurora game 1
Source: match data from opendota.com, meta data from datdota.com
Meta
Upper Bracket Quarterfinals
Yandex vs Aurora
We have ourselves a banging opener. Aurora had multiple chances to end the game, but always suffered setbacks when going high-ground. Yandex always found a way to counter-punch and send their opponents reeling back. Watson’s TA was incredible. The damage from Lanaya with Slardar’s minus armor gave Aurora a lot to think about. In the latter stages, it was all about execution and this was where Saksa’s Snapfire shined. A late Refresher Orb on Snap gave Yandex a lot of firepower and cookie stuns in the exchanges. Yandex survived some scary periods but were superior in the latter stages and pulled through. Chapeau, Monsieur Watson. Yandex 1-0 Aurora.
Aurora had a decent start, they were able to slow down Invoker by killing him multiple times, but that didn’t bother Yandex. Watson’s Tiny was still getting huge and Yandex had a good lineup against Ursa. In the late game, Ursa jumping into Timbersaw didn’t feel effective at all. With a shorter BKB duration, Nightfall was easily kited and controlled by Invoker and his friends. Once Wyvern’s ults started to hit, Aurora had no chance. Aurora found it hard to take objectives, while Tiny with Alacrity demolished buildings with ease. This was a more comfortable game for Yandex and were the superior side across the 2 games. Yandex 2-0 Aurora.
Falcons vs Liquid
Sumail is standing in for Malrine.
This was a brutal game for Liquid. Both sidelane cores for Falcons were unbothered, Skiter’s Alch and ATF’s Necro got what they wanted. The early Aghs Blessing for Sumail’s Ember meant Falcons could be even more aggressive. Ember pushed the tempo and made it hard for Liquid to find favorable fights. The Puck was constantly caught and made vulnerable by Crit’s Lion. Sney’s Phoenix was owning in the fights. The NP and Pudge supports for Liquid felt useless as Falcons were taking over the map. Pudge’s contribution in fights was a defensive hook, and blinking away (just like in our pubs). Falcons were constantly on the move and cleaning up any prey they found. The deficit (50k+) was too large to overcome for Liquid. It was more than a 1k gpm hole. In the end, Falcons were playing with their toys. FLC 1-0 Liquid.
A first pick Drow Ranger for Skiter. A last pick Invoker for Liquid. Nisha, uncharacteristically, was dying a lot again. Sumail’s Ember was constantly in the faces of his opponents giving them a bad time. The stand in finished 16/3/24. Another brilliant display from Sumail. After back-to-back teamwipes orchestrated by a dancing Ember, Liquid was at the point of no return. Falcons would shut out their opponents and close the game out comfortably. Sumail still got it. Falcons 2-0 Liquid.
Upper Bracket Semifinals
LGD vs Yandex
LGD fans, look away. This was one of the more lopsided games of the tournament. The early Drow pick wasn’t particularly handled well. The Doom and DP pick into LGD’s 3 beefy melee cores cemented the outdraft. Yandex walked all over their opposition. The Doom up front was bullying any target he saw. The Alchemist was constantly picked off trying to find farm on the Dire’s side of the map. Drow was living the good life being able to right-click her targets down with no worry for her own safety. Honestly, LGD should have called this 15 minutes earlier but I guess they liked getting beaten to a pulp. Yandex 1-0 LGD.
It was LGD’s turn to do the ass whooping. Yandex’s mid and off lane suffered. Dm’s Largo could not show his face in lane without getting assaulted by Kez. Yandex were not allowed to get any proper footing in the game. They were beaten up and destroyed all over the map. LGD’s supports were actively hunting and setting up for their cores. Kez and Puck were able to do as they pleased in the exchanges so this was another one-way affair. A brilliant response from LGD. LGD 1-1 Yandex.
This game lasted an hour but this was very one-sided once again. Yandex took complete control of the map. Their cores ( + Saksa’s KotL who finished with a higher NW than Yuma’s Tiny ) were able to get to their items with ease. Anyone Slardar got on top of was dead meat (bar the Puck). Anyone the Doom Doomed was also dead meat. Kez was able to do Kez things. Yuma’s Tiny struggled to survive in the frontlines. Wisper’s Snapfire did her best with a Rapier in the end but the deficit was too much. Yandex played it safe and built up another ~1k GPM advantage. LGD could not climb out of the deep hole they were in and are now sent to the Lower Bracket. Yandex spanked LGD in the final game which earns them a spot in the UB Final. Yandex 2-1 LGD.