Guys, let's push together now.
We can go top I guess, I'm on my way.
Watch out, make sure you don't get caught bottom.
They might pick Alchemist.
Which mid hero should I ban?
Templar Assassin.
I can pick Zeus and then ban TA.
Go on Andrey, I can body block you more.
Animal! Hey, bear!
With this matchup, it'd be nice for Ursa to have a Mango.
Actually, in most mid matchups, Mango would be way better on him than Faerie Fire.
Walk me throught your yesterday's match against Vega.
How did you it go for you?
Did you expect things to unfold the way they did starting from the drafting phase?
Obviously, the game was difficult, we expected it to be easier, to be honest.
Our laning stage against PL in top really took its toll.
I don't know, when we picked Phoenix and Earthshaker I thought we'd lane better.
However, it turned out that Undying is very strong and he was just zoning us out.
And the second thing, I chose the wrong skill build - I started maxing out Enchant Totem.
Overall, the game didn't go as planned.
Well, it wasn't like we were losing hard, we had a well-farmed Alchemist that could win the game single-handedly,
and we felt we were strong enough.
Vlad, a couple of words about yesterday's game.
The last one against Vega?
Yes, what went wrong at the beginning?
We didn't do as well in lanes as we thought we would, particularly in top lane.
Overall, we handled early team fights really poorly,
and because of that we gave up a lot of advantage.
It got down to the point where Alchemist wasn't able to win the game solo,
so we had to stall into late and pack Divine Rapiers.
Actually, I messed up my build a bit, but we certainly had a better draft.
I thought it'd be a quite easy game,
however, at some point we made a pretty huge mistake, I personally made it,
and this led to a very difficult game.
We had a solid draft and a game plan.
It was just that we made a lot of mistakes, also the execution was poor,
that's why we ended up playing a very long game.
Vega performed better, but they made some mistakes and couldn't quite close out the game.
Near the Roshan pit.
What do you mean?
They chickened out.
You see, they were chasing Shadow Shaman.
Show me that fight.
The entire team is about to jump on Shadow Shaman.
No, look here.
Do you see what he's doing? Look, just look.
He's going on that side of the map.
That's a pretty low net worth, 7300.
He wants to keep going.
He's hiding.
Probably I...
What?!
I don't wanna know.
Had no Magic Wand probably?
Wow, Fissureman is down.
WK had no ult either, we had just killed them a moment before.
Look how many seconds WW used her ult.
It was a really close one, there was a chance of losing it just as well as winning.
Yeah, in terms of building up trust, this was the right move.
But it'd be a safer play to wait for me to get my Blink Dagger, Brewmaster's ult to go off cooldown,
moreover, WK would still have no ultimate, and we could just finish off Roshan.
Day 2 of the second Open Qualifier for the Kuala Lumpur Major is underway.
We're waiting for our next opponent, this is either going to be Team Empire or Funnik's stack.
If we win this Bo3 series, we'll advance into the closed qualifiers.
We could go for Zeus and ban TA.
Broodmother, too.
If we want Zeus, we'll have to ban TA in the second stage.
What position 5 support they could pick?
Undying, Bane, Wyvern.
Maybe I should ban Phoenix?
Against Chen.
They've already picked Earthshaker.
- Do you think they'll play Earthshaker and Phoenix? - They might.
Once again, we're lacking lockdown against Storm Spirit.
Well, he looks good here, but you'll have CC later on.
What other option do we have?
- I want to Smoke up with Slardar. - Go on.
Earthshaker is not visible on the map.
Wait up, let me get my Blink Dagger first, it's too early.
Okay, we're waiting for you.
I'll stun him! I'll stun!
I can't proceed.
We've got this, we'll kill him without you.
- I'm gonna send one of you back to base and you'll push it out. - Okay.
We should go back. Get back, guys.
I stunned Tiny, guys!
Focus Earthshaker!
Guys, Weaver has got no buyback, if you kill him, the game is over.
I Hexed him! - Good job! Well done.
We lack a melee hero here, guys. Alchemist would fit in well.
We can ban Ursa and go for an Alchemist pick.
What about banning Storm and picking Kunkka?
She's smoked up and TPing in.
- It's mid then. - Be careful in mid. - Or maybe bot, watch out. - Okay.
Relocate in! Relocate!
- Spectre's here, too. - I'm going on Spectre.
Swap is on cooldown.
Homing Missile is following.
I'll swap!
Here's Earthshaker.
Keep going.
I'll use Smoke and we'll head for Roshan straight away.
Smoke's up, go Roshan.
Spectre's not getting a new item soon, she's just finished Manta Style.
Idan, can you engage in bottom after this?
Can you use Relocate at least?
I'm very low on mana.
Force Global Silence.
Pick up fast.
They might want to steal Aegis.
Let them use Global.
They did, awesome.
I'll swap you. Or I won't.
You can't pierce through?
I'll stun him.
Shaker's Blink got cancelled.
We got no detection.
Guys, back away.
Spectre's almost dying.
I can buyback, guys.
Go back to the Shrine.
We need to push out top lane, we still have time.
And pick up a Bounty Rune.
We need to check whether Brood has a BKB or not.
She probably does.
We can chain stun her, although they have Shadow Demon.
Anyway, we're very strong now.
If we're going as 5, Vlad you can use Haunt and we'll pick up a fight.
You need to heal up.
They might be going for Roshan now.
Yes, they're coming. Ursa jumped into the pit.
I can go in and check.
Finish him off!
I used Abyssal Blade on the real one.
- Go throne, guys. Just hit the Ancient. - Go.
The guys have made it through the Open Qualifier.
Although, there's going to be a final series to determine seeding, but anyway, we've advanced into the Regional Qualifier.
So, 3 heroes, if you got Necrolyte, and Enchantress is banned...
I think if Furion or Chen comes to our lane, we might lose it.
They won't, they're banned.
They're usually banned.
Share your impressions of the qualifier.
Well, it was quite a challenge.
Did the games make you nervous?
Definitely. Especially against Vega at some point.
But in the end, Akbar saved the day with his calls and moves.
Overall, it was a really difficult run.
You know, sitting behind the players' backs,
seeing how Akbar goes all out in the games, makes a lot of calls and does a lot of coordinating,
what's it like for you to play with him?
Now that you've been at the bootcamp and played official matches in the qualifiers together, could you share your impressions?
Well, it makes it much easier for me to play, since I can fully focus on my game.
And he definitely has a better understanding and more Dota knowledge than I do.
Were you nervous in the last games?
- Against Empire? - Yes. - A bit.
They were probably the most difficult opponent you faced in the qualifiers.
Well, yes, but I think the game against Vega was harder.
What are your expectations for the Closed Qualifiers? It's going to be tough.
Sure it is. We'll do our best.
I'll be honest, I think we have a good chance of making it through, really.
I believe we're capable of doing it.