Fnatic Edges Out Motivate.Trust Gaming in Hard Fought DPC SEA Series

With a 2-2 win-loss record, Fnatic and Motivate.Trust Gaming faced off in a consequential series during the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) Southeast Asia (SEA) 2021-22 Tour 1: Division 1. After moments of brilliance and errors from both sides, it was Fnatic that prevailed in the end to win the series 2-1. Motivate.Trust Gaming had won the first game, and even took a small lead in the second one, but could not hold on for the 2-0 win. In the third game, all eggs seemed to be put in Souliya "JaCkky" Khoomphetsavong's basket, and despite his best efforts, Motivate.Trust Gaming could not pull off the win.

Fnatic vs Motivate.Trust Gaming: Match Recap and Highlights

Recap

During game 1, Motivate.Trust Gaming had a very unfortunate offlane experience with Masaros dying three times in the first 3 minutes, giving Raven's Phantom Assassin a head start. Despite this, he recovered well and Motivate.Trust Gaming was able to land some important kills with its swift movements. Overall, it was a close game until JaCkky's Morphling morphed into Spirit Breaker with the help of an Aghanim's Scepter and started to run over the enemies. Motivate.Trust Gaming won in 50 minutes eventually with a KDA of 18-0-11 on its Morphling.

In game 2, Motivate.Trust Gaming selected a Broodmother for Fearless as its last pick with Fnatic choosing a mid Templar Assassin as a response to it. The first half of the game did not see a clear winner as both teams were content farming to achieve their respective objectives. As soon as the teamfights began, Motivate.Trust Gaming ended up on top due to Fnatic's lack of crowd control. JaCkky once again put on a magical performance on Faceless Void, until DJ, on Pangolier, struck back with spectacular Ultimates. It helped Fnatic regain control and make a comeback to win in 42 minutes.

In game 3, Motivate.Trust Gaming went for Timbersaw for Masaros to try and set the pace. However, with top rotations from Fnatic, along with the mistakes he made, Timbersaw was shut down heavily and his impact as a hero became negligible. Meanwhile, Armel had outperformed Fearless to put himself into a dominant position within the game. JaCkky was, however, on his signature Phantom Lancer and also topped the networth list by a substantial margin. Motivate.Trust Gaming still faced too many difficulties in teamfights and with JaCkky being unable to do a 1v5 miracle, the team lost in 36 minutes.

Highlights

Here are some highlights of the series.

Although Fnatic isn't at the level many would have expected going into the season, the team secured an important win today. The team has looked good at phases, but it has to keep doing that on a consistent basis to begin emerging as a dominant force.

Motivate.Trust Gaming continues to play its own style, which consists of relying heavily on JaCkky's heroes, but it seems that the teams are beginning to counter it effectively. Its series loss to Fnatic that was seated alongside it in the middle pack will hurt its chances of finishing among the top three.

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