The Best of Summit 5
The Best of Summit 5
Wings Gaming really clogged the feeds with not only well played games but also with stunning plays by various members of their team. Wings players Faith_Bian and y’ were especially impressive. If you play BatRider, you’ll want to see Faith in game 2 of the grand finals, and if Vengeful Spirit is your gal, check out y’ in game 3 of the UB quarterfinals.
Navi’s performance earlier in the tournament also impressed, even if they couldn’t seem to pull it together in their last matchup against Liquid. But since we’re speaking of Navi, that brings us to the first on our best of list…
Navi vs Wings: UB Quarterfinals, Game 2 (FIGHT!)
Navi and Wings played aggressive DOTA this entire game. Neither were reckless about it, but it wouldn’t be far from the truth if you said that both teams were practically running at each other for the duration. Whenever advantage or momentum shifts, you’ll notice that each team makes full use of it to press their advantage.
OG vs Liquid: LB Finals, Game 1 (FIGHT!)
This is one of the most balanced matches of Summit 5. You might want to prepare yourself emotionally for the bloodletting that occurs between these teams. In a little under an hour, you’ll witness 84 hero deaths, which is enough to fill a modest sized cemetery. Both teams exchange advantage like a hot potato, but eventually a spectacular fail of a team fight for Liquid results in OG winning the match and heading on to the grand finals.
Favorite Plays
The Stolen Shield
You’ve heard the sword in the stone, I’m sure, but what about the shield in the stone? The Aegis safeguarded by the rock-skinned ancient Roshan is the focus of this play. It was looking like OG had Rosh mostly sewn up, though I wasn’t sure how they were planning on handling Wings once they emerged from his den.
Turns out pretty badly, as they didn’t manage to get the kill or the Aegis. Spirit Breaker, though an unlikely hero for the meta, hopped into the fray to steal both the precious kill and item drop. From there on out, it was downhill for OG.
Blink or you’ll miss it
Sometimes, you have to follow your gut. N0tail did just this in game 1 of the quarterfinals. Playing as Slark, N0tail blinks to a nook in the forest hugging the bottom of the map in the Radiant’s safelane to make short work of FDL’s Timbersaw, played by CC&C.
Gotta Catch ’em All: Daily Recaps
Big shout out to Reddit user xJSxGaming who put together these sweet recaps. He covers the major points and gives a great overview of the games/matchups. Each of these recaps are between 6 and 10 minutes, making them the perfect resource for sifting through the 36 games played without having to devote hundreds of minutes of your free time to watching every one.
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Closing thoughts
Honestly, Summit 5 surprised me in a lot of ways. Nanyang left me with a little bit of a bitter taste in my mouth, especially after so. Many. Teams dipped out at the last minute. It also wasn’t the most fun (embarrassing, really) watching a team throw a hissy fit in the Nanyang qualifiers, or how about that moment when another strong competitor got stomped in the main event? I don’t expect perfection, but it’s not like I watch these tournaments for my health. Why would I want to see players make the same mistakes that I make? I want something that keeps me gripped to the screen and my heart going thumpity-thump.
And you delivered exactly that, Summit 5. So it is with renewed excitement that I await SLS2. Hope you’re all as excited as I am.
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