Cover-Credits:
B8 Esports, a team founded by the well-loved Dota 2 legend Danil "Dendi" Ishutin, has finally won its first-ever tournament since it was founded back in 2020. The team played at the European Pro League Season 14, a Tier 3 Dota 2 tournament. Notably, this was also the first time in the organization’s history to reach the grand finals in a Dota 2 tournament. The team also overcame the hurdle of having to bring in a stand-in for the vacant carry role after Alik "V-Tune" Vorobey left the team last month.
B8’s First Tournament Win
Three years after its inception, B8 finally tasted the sweet taste of victory after a tug-of-war that lasted five games. The team faced off against Team Tickles, a formidable team that it lost against previously at the Pinnacle Cup: Malta Vibes #4.
Recap
Game 1 was the shortest game of the series lasting just 31 minutes. B8 opted for an early-game aggression draft with huge tower-pushing potential. Lone Druid and Wraith King together in the same team proved devastating as towers were crumbling. Team Tickles had a team fight strategy but could not find the proper team coordination to make the draft come to its full potential.
Game 2 saw the beginning of the four-game appearances of Denis "StoneBank" Korzh’s Slardar and Nikolay "CTOMAHEH1" Kalchev’s Shadow Shaman for B8. The game lasted 51 minutes and B8 opted for Chaos Knight carry who was recently nerfed. Nikko "Force" Bilocura of Team Tickles was clearly the MVP of the game as he made fantastic catches throughout the game, punishing B8 for being off-position and killing them. Team Tickles equalized the score with this win.
During Game 3, StoneBank’s Slardar made his hero a force to be reckoned with a deadly game presence. After a series of back-and-forths, Team Tickles eventually called it quits at the 50th minute, unable to answer StoneBank’s Slardar. With the momentum from the previous game, B8 continued its aggression and opted for a Lone Druid carry again in Game 4.
Now, StoneBank’s Slardar already made his presence known in the previous game and he sought to replicate his performance from the previous game.
B8 managed to stomp Team Tickles in the early game but in the 34th minute, things took a turn when a clash at the Roshan pit ended in favor of Team Tickles. This gave Team Tickles the necessary momentum to elongate the game for its carry to farm. Stefan “Ulnit” Gavrila of Team Tickles eventually styled on B8 with three Divine Rapiers, secured a Rampage in the 63rd minute, and won the game shortly after that.
Now with a score of 2-2, both teams were on the edge as the deciding game number five was underway. B8 Esports was one victory away from winning its first-ever tournament. Dendi opted for Puck, a hero he has close ties to. Notably, Dendi won the first-ever TI with Na’Vi in 2011 and he was playing Puck in the final game of the tournament. Dendi outdid himself in the final game against Team Tickles and had a KDA of 13/0/15, dominating and securing its sweet grand finale victory.
