WePlay! Dota 2 Tug of War: Radiant - Day 1 Recap

Kaban vs. Vega Squadron

In the first game, Kaban chose to play with Chen and Slardar who equipped an early Helm of Dominator instead of Blink Dagger. They had considerable success in the early game, but the Vega lineup was more well-rounded, and once gold infusion on Morphling’s Hand of Midas kicked in, Madara’s team started dominating. The game was decided by the 25th minute.

In the second game, Vega relied on a mid-lane Kunka with Radiance instead of the usual Daedalus, while Madara invested in an early Hand of Midas. These two decisions gave Kaban a lot of initiative and the team felt really strong in the midgame. Around minute 30 the two teams started a brawl near Rosh Pit, resulted in several deaths and multiple buybacks.

Vega Squadron had the upper hand in the brawl but overextended during the following push, allowing Kaban to pounce and go straight for Tier 4 tower, forgoing the Barracks.

In the third game, Vega played with Troll Warlord “empowered” by Magnus and Vladmir’s Offering. The line-up was rounded up by Natures Prophet and Bloodthorn to enhance the troll and add some magic damage to the plate. Kaban countered it with Leshrak, Chaos Knight and Bristleback.

The supports tilted the advantage in favor — the KotL vision and Batrider control let Kaban play around the Troll Warlord and close the series.

Congratulations to Kaban on winning in the first round of the Tug of War: Radiant. They will play against Ninjas in Pyjamas in the next round.

Pavaga vs. Nemiga Gaming

In the first game, Pavaga drafted a roster oriented at team fight with heroes like Winter Wyvern, Beastmaster and Elder Titan.

Nemiga successfully countered it with split push strategy by picking Ember Spirit armed with Drums, Boots of Travel and Maelstrom. The other heroes of Nemiga were able to execute pick-offs, punishing mistakes of the Pavaga players.

In the second game, Nemiga decided to play with Lifestealer themselves, using Monkey King as the secondary carry hero. Pavaga put up a very valiant fight, and up until minute fifty, it was pretty much, though Nemiga had a solid start.

The fate of the series was sealed when Nemiga took down the third Roshan and caught Enigma out of position, knocking the hero down without the ability to buy back.

Congratulations to Nemiga Gaming on winning in the first round of the Tug of War: Radiant. They will play against Gambit Esports in the next round.

Team Empire vs. The Pango

Have you seen Techies in a professional Dota 2 game lately? The Pango decided to use the hero in the opening game versus Empire.

Techies didn’t feel impactful at the beginning of the game, he only zoned the Empire heroes from the trees, and made them play safe in the lanes. You could tell that The Pango were banking on Medusa in the late game and tried to buy time. There was a long period when The Pango seemed to have made made a bad call with Techies since they couldn't win a team fight, but the wind started to blow in another direction around minute 35. Eventually, Ursa and Medusa turned into an unstoppable force, while Techies kept stalling until The Pango closed the game out.

Empire jumped into the second game with Huskar, who spent the initial 10 minutes of the game in the middle lane. Equipped with Armlet and three Bracers, he started roaming around the map, picking up enemy heroes and creating space for Dream's PA. Once he bought BKB and found a DD rune, Dream killed Roshan, making The Pango uncomfortable anywhere on the map. The game ended a couple minutes later with the Team Empire victory.

In the third game, Team Empire used  Phantom Lancer and Kunkka as the main cores, while The Pango draftedPhantom Assassin and Razor. The teams played very aggressive Dota 2, trading kills left right and center. The Tracks from Bounty Hunter tilted the favor in The Pango's favor and helped the team win.

Congratulations to Team Empire on winning in the first round of the Tug of War: Radiant. They will play against Natus Vincere in the next round.

You can find the stream channel, the official bracket and the Tug of War: Radiant news feed HERE.