by Sören “Fantasy” Vendsahm
The new Dota 2 competitive season has officially kicked off, and the road leads to Boston for the coveted first Major tournament of the season. As is tradition, once again the best of every region had the chance to go to work on their domestic rivals in order to punch a ticket to the first big showdown on the “Road to The International 7”.
As always, the Dota 2 crew of compLexity Gaming, anchored by third year captain Kyle “melonzz” Freedman, wouldn’t take the easy route, but rather put their fans, friends, and family through the highest highs and excruciating lows from the get-go. Once more the path to the clinching spot led the bunch through an Elimination match – this time against Peruvian hopefuls Infamous. History had a chance to repeat itself with the first major of the new season – a year ago it was a struggling compLexity Gaming failing to punch the ticket for the first ever major in Frankfurt, while a Peruvian team with Infamous members Kotaro and Accel made it to the big dance in Germany.
Illustration by Ming Ming
After a convincing Day 1 in the Group stage, followed by an up-and-down Day 2, a great outing in the Semifinals, and ultimately a loss to Team NP, the big question was which coL would show up. Against Infamous it took the squad a while to get the engine started, as Game 1 went down the drain quickly, but they soon started firing on all cylinders.
Spot-on arrows by ZfreeK on Mirana, clutch ultimates by melonzz on Warlock, and the cores on alternating heroes made the turnaround from a 0-1 deficit possible. In the end it was once again a nailbiter, as the draft of both teams in Game 3 could destroy a base in no-time. coL kept their cool, was level-headed, and patiently waited for a weak moment to capitalize on. Several times it was Moo on the Sand King getting a key initiation off, followed by lock down on key targets to stop Infamous in their tracks. A back-and-forth edged towards the side of the black-and-red minute after minute with carry player jk keeping the lanes pushed out with his Naga Siren, as the rest of the squad got ready to pounce.
A well-orchestrated counter to an Infamous push and suddenly the doors were opened wide for a devastating push to once and for all swing the game in compLexity Gaming’s favor. With a methodical and risk-free approach the squad showed off their prowess with “rat” strategies, and finally the last team fight once more demonstrated the high level of coordination that this young team already possesses.
Tea party in preparation for The Boston Major
A lot of room to improve still, as this week’s off-performances on some matches showed. With the Boston Major still a month away, compLexity Gaming will have time to address those issues and represent the North American region with confidence on our home turf! Boston, here we come!