Cover-Credits:
OG, Tickles
When the 2021 DPC WEU season began, many believed that Team Tickles would be one of the teams fighting for survival in Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) Western Europe (WEU) Tour 1: Division 1. However, now at the midway stage, the team has left everyone by surprise with a series of impressive performances. Team Tickles secured its fourth series win in the league by taking down OG by a score of 2-1. After OG secured a facile win in the first game, both teams stuck to their style of drafting and gameplay in the second and third games, but Team Tickles came back to excel in all departments. After this series win, Team Tickles is just one series away from qualifying for the first major of the season.
OG vs Team Tickles: Match Recap and Highlights
Recap:
In game 1, ATF put on a Timbersaw clinic. He played the lane perfectly and then translated this into objectives and kills, ending the game with a 17-0-9 KDA. Some of OG's hero picks, such as Vengeful Spirit and Earthshaker, might have looked out of place during the draft, but they proved vital to enable their cores. Team Tickles managed to find some kills on Kunkka, but it was not enough and it lost in 34 minutes.
In game 2, both teams stuck to the heroes that we usually see in this meta. During the laning stage as well as the mid-game both teams made excellent decisions to score crucial kills. At the 33 minute mark, the game was largely even. It all came down to playing the one crucial teamfight better. It was Team Tickles who did so, even though Yuragi had Aegis, and went on to win in 38 minutes.
In game 3, OG chose an offlane Faceless Void for ATF, something that had worked well in the past. However, as the game progressed, OG had a drastic damage problem. Despite ATF landing some good multi-hero Chronospheres, Team Tickles' heroes managed to sustain themselves easily. This OG weakness was exploited to great effect by Team Tickles, who secured the victory in 34 minutes.
Highlights:
Here are some highlights of the series.
Key takeaway:
Although none of Team Tickles' players are flamboyant, they all do their job well. Drafting and strategizing well with an experienced Dota 2 coach in Daniel "ImmortalFaith" Moza and playing the games in a meticulous manner, they have taken down some of the strongest teams in the league so far.
OG has continued the tradition of the previous roster to draft and play quite unconventionally and while it has worked at times, the team has fallen short today. Even though OG has three wins and two losses, they are still in the running for one of the four Major slots. The remaining two series will be critical for the team's hopes of making it to the top two.
