Team Spirit Makes Two Comebacks in Two Games to Beat NAVI in EEU DPC

During the Eastern Europe (EEU) Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) 2021-22 Tour 3: Division 1, Natus Vincere (NAVI) suffered a heartbreaking loss to Team Spirit. In spite of getting the best of NAVI's performance in the early and middle stages, Team Spirit outdid it in the crucial moments later on in both games to win by a score of 2-0. In game 1, early on, NAVI built up a considerable lead but it lost, partly due to mistakes it made, following which Spirit gradually gained momentum. As for the second one, NAVI gradually moved from one objective to the next before Illya "Yatoro" Mulyarchuk’s splendid Monkey King performance turned the tide in Spirit’s favor.

Team Spirit vs NAVI: Match Recap and Highlights

Recap

In game 1, NAVI racked up a 10k lead in 19 minutes thanks to its draft of a mid Keeper of the Light, a carry Nature’s Prophet, and an offlane Venomancer. Nevertheless, NAVI spent too much time and effort finding enemy pickoffs, and sometimes even overplayed its hand, instead of concentrating on the objectives. The game turned around when Spirit successfully implemented a sneaky Roshan attempt, soon after which NAVI sensed that its draft no longer possessed the momentum. By ensuring all lanes stayed pushed, Spirit went on to win the game in 52 minutes.

Game 2 was a close battle between the two sides, with several mini skirmishes during the first phase. During the latter stages, NAVI began to pull ahead due to stronger map moves and occasional kills. However, as it went for the high ground push, Spirit outplayed it to earn a Triple Kill for Yatoro's Monkey King. Yatoro subsequently led his side to win, finishing the game with a 17-2-9 KDA in 48 minutes.

Highlights

Here are some highlights of the series.

The winning teams of the International, especially those in recent years, have shown to lose their form after winning, but it is amazing to see that Team Spirit continues to play well months after its TI10 Victory. As a team, Spirit has demonstrated top of the line teamfighting and has come back from significant deficits to take wins that, in general, should not have been taken. It is this competitive edge that makes Spirit such an intimidating opponent.

While NAVI will be disappointed that it did not win either of the games, it did play quite well in each of them. The squad looked excellent in the last two series as well. So, despite the setback tonight, NAVI is a squad to keep an eye on in this EEU DPC Division 1.

Spirit will next play against Rune Eaters on 26th June while NAVI shall go up against a formidable-looking Outsiders side on 24th June.