Fnatic Forces Three Way Tiebreaker in DPC SEA

In the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) Southeast Asia (SEA) 2021-22 Tour 1: Division 1, Fnatic delivered its best Dota 2 performance yet, beating T1 with a 2-1 scoreline in a vital series. Fnatic, T1, and Team SMG have each finished with five wins and three series, which means that a BO1 tiebreaker will be played amongst these teams to determine the second, third and fourth place teams. As far as the series was concerned, Fnatic executed its strategies to perfection in the first and third games, something which they had lacked in past games. Fnatic outplayed T1 and claimed the victory. With this series outcome, BOOM Esports also finishes as the league's top seed.

T1 vs Fnatic: Match Recap and Highlights

Recap

Game 1 saw T1 go for a greedy core trio of a safelane Kunkka, a mid Invoker, and an offlane Queen of Pain. The laning stage was relatively quiet, with both teams content with farming their side of the map. However, Fnatic focused on Raven's Monkey King and Armel's Lina's early BKB timing, and as soon as they picked the item, they went on the offensive. T1's draft was not ready to fight and as a consequence kept losing heroes one after the other, while Fnatic secured one objective after another to win in 35 minutes.

Game 2 saw T1 go for a more conventional draft, picking comfort heroes. With Karl getting hold of a mid Lina this time, it was time for him to take over the lane. In addition, T1 did well on the other lanes, finding some crucial kills with the help of its supports. T1 gradually built up the lead, but Fnatic did everything it could to prevent T1 from taking its high ground. The hero matchups, however, made it quite difficult for Fnatic to turn things around, and it lost in 50 minutes.

In game 3, T1 went for an early Doom in the draft phase, a strategy that has worked well for it in the past. However, with Karl's Ember Spirit having a tough game, T1 did not have a reliable hero to set up teamfights and ganks. In contrast, Fnatic had a lot of playmaking potential and kept occupying a large part of the map. None of T1's heroes found a footing, and Fnatic won in 42 minutes.

Highlights

Here are some highlights of the series.

This series was a perfect example of Fnatic fixing the minor errors and inconsistencies it was making throughout its previous games. All five players did a great job from laning to late game. It was particularly notable in the first and third games when Armel Paul "Armel" Tabios, renowned for his midlane, found the mojo to destroy the enemy midlaner. Fnatic can take pride in its ability to bounce back in the tournament given its loss to Team SMG in the opener. Fnatic now finds itself in the race for second place.

Although T1 came forth with some fresh strategies, Fnatic had a great understanding of how to counter them. The series was more about Fnatic outplaying T1 than it was about the latter fumbling. The off day against OB.Neon has hurt T1's chances of finishing in the top spot and it will now have to compete in the tiebreakers for second place.

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