iG are finally back among the Dota 2 elite after a long time in the wilderness.
The team have aspired towards having an elite squad for a few years now so winning the Dota 2 Asia Championships in Shanghai is a significant milestone. Despite occasionally winning on home soil, DAC 2017 is the first significant international tournament featuring the world’s greatest teams that iG have won since ESL One Frankfurt in 2014.
Path to the final
The Chinese team finished top of Group B, undefeated with 11 points from three wins, two draws and no losses. This secured them a place in the Upper Bracket for the Main Event, where in the opening round they had some trouble getting past Team Empire before prevailing 2-1.
Then in the Upper Bracket Finals they faced the most impressive team up to this point – the heavy favourites, OG. The Boston Major champions defeated iG 2-1, meaning they had to play Newbee in the Lower Bracket for a spot in the Grand Finals. Despite being underdogs, iG won 2-0, which gave them the chance to claim their revenge against OG in the title deciding match.
The Grand Finals
Both teams started farming tentatively in Game One, but mid-game iG took advantage of the Alchemist still not being fully up-and-running and gained control. As expected, going into the late game OG looked more intimidating and started dominating their opponents by attempting high ground pushes. However, iG mounted a strong defence and not only prevented OG from taking down the first set of barracks, but then destroyed a melee barracks. Repelled, OG started treading carefully, as at this stage one successful team fight could have decided the game. Such a fight did indeed happen and after an excellent initiation from Op, OG were caught unprepared and were wiped out one-by-one near their base on the top lane. 1-0 to iG.
iG had BoBoKa on Riki and this proved a good move yet again in the second game. Creating space and being a real nuisance to JerAx’s jungling Enigma, BoBoKa disrupted his farm and provided space for his team. As a consequence, iG gained early momentum and started taking down towers. OG never managed to get back into the game and lost after 30 minutes. 2-0 to iG.
The third game started better for OG, who were in the lead 8-5 on kills after only 10 minutes. Unperturbed, iG regrouped and started to use their superior team fight line-up to force team clashes. From this point, iG continued to apply pressure in the mid lane and secured Roshan, followed by mega creeps after only half an hour of play. It was then only a matter of time before OG conceded that they were bested and five minutes later, iG triumphed to claim the crown with a flawless 3-0 scoreline.
A team reborn
iG’s progress has been gradual, but signs had been on show in their performances during their 4th-place finish at Dota Pit League Season 5 in January, as well as in the DAC 2017 qualifiers. The Chinese team demonstrated drafting superiority, tactical versatility and impeccable team fight execution in both of these events.
Their fast and aggressive style at DAC along with the ability to close down games quickly was successful both with line-ups designed for pickoffs as well as those more suited to team fights. The team were aggressive and at their best when controlling the tempo of the game. They also surprised their opponents with some pocket strategies as well.
The achievement means a lot to the whole team, but more so to the almost forgotten man of Chinese Dota, Xu “BurNIng” Zhilei. The living legend has been struggling to find a recipe for success since his DK days back in 2014, but is now enjoying a renaissance with iG.
Famous for his farming style and need to be given space to farm by his teammates, BurNIng showed that he is now a more complex player who is able to adapt to the recent faster meta. Although his farming skills are still strong, BurNIng is no longer the centre of the four-protect-one strategy, but a much more active carry. He aids his team in all stages of the game by making plays and entering team fights before he has finished his farming cycle. He is also comfortable when not playing the main carry role (e.g. with Vengeful Spirit in Game Three of the Grand Finals versus OG) and is happy to let his teammates shine.
Despite all this, BurNIng is not the only player behind the success of the team. When he needs to play a more secondary role, rising Mid star Ou “Op” Peng takes on the responsibility of making plays, shining with high impact heroes such as Shadow Fiend, Storm Spirit and Lina.
Offlaner Lin “Xxs” Jing is another on the roster who impressed throughout DAC. Mechanically gifted, the youngster is quite capable of flashy displays and is one of the most impressive players on the scene with Legion Commander.
Not long ago Ye “BoBoKa” Zhibiao used the nickname BorAx as a tribute to OG’s position 4 player Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka. Having now outplayed him in the Grand Finals, BoBoKa can be proud of himself. His Earth Spirit is in no way worse than JerAx’s, and BoBoKa is a great space maker, which proved crucial in many games throughout the tournament.
The future looks bright
One of the key strong points of this new winning iG roster is their ability to out-draft their opponents. The mastermind behind this is Fu “Q” Bin, who does not receive enough praise for his strategic abilities, despite guiding CDEC to the final of The International 2015. Apart from Game One in the Grand Finals, where the line-ups were quite even, iG drafted much better than OG and the result was two pretty comprehensive wins in the second and third games.
Despite their progress, with recently impressive teams such as Newbee and VG.J, few were expecting iG to be the home team to grab the title at DAC. The Kiev Major is now only weeks away and iG will go there with the confidence that they can beat anyone. And a team that comprehensively beats one of the world’s most consistent teams, OG, is certainly one to be feared.
