iG.Vitality are the new champions of the recently-concluded World Cyber Arena. Having been eliminated early from the Boston Major (9th-16th spot), the Chinese outfit showed character to bounce back to win this competitive tournament held at Yinchuan, in their home country.
The team suffered some roster changes due to the visa problems in Boston, but the full squad was able to reassemble in China where they claimed the title in the first pro tournament in the new 7.00 patch and won $344,928 from the prize pool.
Despite the lack of some elite Dota 2 teams (given its close proximity to the Boston Major), there was plenty of quality on stage at the World Cyber Arena and fans had the chance to witness some of the leading Chinese professional teams take their first steps into the new revolutionary patch.
iG.Vitality were part of a difficult group A alongside Vici Gaming, Newbee and VINCE TE IPSUM. TNC Gaming were also supposed to be in the group, but they were unable to attend, meaning the rest of the teams from the group started with a point advantage. iG.Vitality were not the favourites but did well to finish second with a score of 3-1, losing only to Vici Gaming.
In the semi-final, they met the first team from Group B, We Are Young, and had few problems in dispatching them 2-0.
The final however, was always going to be more of a challenge as they had to face Vici Gaming once again. After starting with a 2-0 lead, iG.Vitality lowered the tempo and let VG get back into the match with two wins. The final game did not start well and VG gained the upper hand early on. Nevertheless, iG.Vitality managed to turn things around with several well-executed team fights in the mid game and battled back to win after being behind for most of the match.
A champion team with strong individual performances
Paparazi
A hard carry player and one of the first Chinese players to reach the 9k MMR band, Paparazi can be versatile and adjust to a farming style or one that favours team fight. More than capable with heroes such as Luna, Lifestealer, Sven and Juggernaut, Paparazi had the best performances on Luna and Lifestealer. He was provided with enough space by his teammates, but he also joined his team to push for map objectives at the right time.
InJuly
A player who is one of the best Batriders on the Chinese scene, InJuly had a very efficient tournament in the offlane role with this hero. His KDA was the best in the tournament for his team (3rd best overall) thanks to his involvement in the kills his team scored, as well as remaining alive in the laning stage. As initiator, InJuly’s contribution was essential to the team’s success and his best single performance came with Sand King against Newbee.
Sakata
Is the mid player of iG.Vitality and is one who plays Legion Commander in the mid lane. Generally, he has a good hero pool and his strongest heroes are Juggernaut, Templar Assassin and Outworld Devourer. During the World Cyber Arena the hero he played most often was Outworld Devourer, with which he gave a very good overall performance. Sakata also impressed with his Storm Spirit in the match versus Newbee.
dogf1ghts
Exceptional on Riki, he is a position 4 support who thrives during early game roaming. As such, he is charged with making space for his carry and ganking. He played Underworld in one of the games, which was one of the first games that the hero was played since the new patch. dogf1ghts unravelled the hero’s strong laning potential, as well as the split push and escape abilities. Overall, he was able to provide excellent rotations towards the mid lane with heroes such as Riki and Earth Spirit that gave his team the advantage in the early stages of the game.
super
Plays the role of the position 5 support and benefits from a rather uncharacteristic and specific for iG.Vitality hero pool. Heroes such as Witch Doctor and Silencer are not the most often picked in the current meta, but it is with them that super made the most impact in the World Cyber Arena games. When playing Silencer, super is usually a part of an aggressive duo lane, while his team fight presence with Witch Doctor was of great importance in key team fights.
