It's all over: Virtus Pro are your ESL One: Katowice champions! The east vs west grand final was a thrilling contest, with both teams giving it their all, from the draft screen to the final points of damage to take down the throne.
SEA representatitve Fnatic finished 4th after a 2-1 loss to Liquid. Here’s a brief recap of the Final day of ESL One: Katowice – Dota 2 Major
This series, in all honesty, was a bit of a clown fest as Liquid looked like they were just having fun, picking up unorthodox heroes and switching around roles for the heck of it.
Game 1 started off on a poor note for Fnatic as Liquid managed to secure themselves an early lead with their Miracle- Phantom Assassin with whom they easily secured multiple objectives. The game saw Matumbaman buying a Level 5 Dagon on his Veno and KuroKy buying an Aghanim's Scepter on his Bane. Liquid easily closed out the game in 36 minutes to take the win.
And they close it out!@TeamLiquid force the GG call from @FNATIC and take a 1-0 series lead. #ESLOnehttps://t.co/07tp2cjzXF pic.twitter.com/Plzvu5RtyV
— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) February 25, 2018
Game 2 saw Team Liquid switch up their roles a little bit with Miracle playing the Position 5 Bounty Hunter and Kuroky on an Arc Warden. Fnatic too opted to cheese their way with a Broodmother for Abed. Fnatic absolutely stomped Liquid, winning the game in just 28 minutes with a 43-8 kill score.
? Rampage
— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) February 25, 2018
? Godlike Streak
? @abedyusop Brood#ESLOnehttps://t.co/RUTJQiyOsP pic.twitter.com/peYTRFRwyH
Game 3 started off on a much more even note with both teams playing extremely well with their drafts. Miracle- and Abed in particular were phenomenal for their teams as they refused to give an inch for their opponents playing aggressively, yet effectively managing to keep up their farm. In the end, Terrorblade’s broken level 25 talent which gives his Sunder, a 5 second cooldown, sealed the victory for Team Liquid.
S U N D E R Gaming!!@Liquid_Miracle's non-stop sundering Terrorblade secures @TeamLiquid the 2-1 victory over @FNATIC! #ESLOnehttps://t.co/RUTJQiyOsP pic.twitter.com/V4PziNKNDo
— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) February 25, 2018
Game 1: In Game 1, Virtus Pro dominated right out of the gate. N[o]one took the reigns of his signature Gyrocopter going 12/0/10, to destroy Vici Gaming. It was a quick win for VP, just taking 30 minutes to wipe Vici Gaming at their base to force the GG call.
With blazing speed @virtuspro gain control of the series!
— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) February 25, 2018
They carve out a 1-0 lead over @ViCi_Gaming and are now two wins away from winning #ESLOne Katowice!https://t.co/RUTJQiyOsP pic.twitter.com/ljgv0nvY1k
Game 2: Game 2 was a fast-paced one and N[o]one’s Gyrocopter once again dominated going 12/2/8. Vici Gaming had resorted to a Teamfight heavy draft for this game with an eleven Engima, Ori Death Prophet and Fenrir Warlock, but Ramzes' Faceless Void neutered their threat as his Chronosphere pinned down Vici Gaming perfectly to kill them off before they could use their ultimates ideally. Virtus.Pro were one game away from the major title.
.@virtuspro seems completely unstoppable here in Grand Finals! #ESLOnehttps://t.co/RUTJQiyOsP pic.twitter.com/IvYf1d9t1F
— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) February 25, 2018
Game 3: Virtus Pro took a slight net worth lead early on in Game 3 thanks to a cheesy Broodmother pick. They had last-picked the hero, perhaps thinking they could cheese out Vici Gaming to close out the series. However, Ori's spectacular Puck play on the midlane was just too hard to handle for Virtus Pro's lineup, which lacked any kind of instant disable. Vici Gaming ran over their opponents in this game to take it to the 4th game.
HUGE DREAM COIL COMBO!!!@ViCi_Gaming with the 4-man Coil into 4-man Blinding Light!
— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) February 25, 2018
Picture perfect. #ESLOnehttps://t.co/RUTJQiyOsP pic.twitter.com/SeLIDOvb1L
Game 4: Game 4 was another close one initially, but this time Ramzes had the Gyrocopter. He farmed up a storm, racking up 724 GPM while also joining in fights and finding kills almost every other minute. The game went on till the 32-minute mark when VP claimed a double rax, after killing off one Vici Gaming hero after the other to win a 3rd Game and take home the ESL One: Katowice Trophy.
Looks like Game #3 was a one-off game for @virtuspro who are back to their usual tricks in Game #4! #ESLOnehttps://t.co/RUTJQiyOsP pic.twitter.com/WopgEBaEe8
— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) February 25, 2018
IT'S TIME FOR THE TROPHY LIFT!!
— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) February 25, 2018
Congrats @virtuspro!! #ESLOne pic.twitter.com/xG5DHBkIHe
The MVP of this tournament was voted to be VP.RodjER who walked away with a brand new Mercedes Benz.
With this win, Virtus Pro move on to 1st Place in the DPC Points table eclipsing both Team Liquid and Team Secret. They are now statistically guaranteed an invite to TI8. Fnatic, have leapfrogged LGD Gaming to move up to 10th Place, while Mineski is on the verge of dropping out from the Top 8 after they failed to collect any points from this event.
The next Dota 2 Pro Circuit event will be The Bucharest Major which kicksoff on 4th March 2018 in Romania.
