Alliance dominates Group B Action on Day 2 of Shanghai Major

— -- The second of four days of group play at the Dota 2 Shanghai Major featured the teams from Group B. Even with numerous delays and frustrations, the quality of play was fantastic and diverse once action got underway.

Each squad showcased a different style and philosophy, and it made for some compelling matchups when a team paired up with a polar opposite. With Fnatic, early game objective damage and push was the strategy. Team Spirit, the upstart in the group, played with a similar speed to Fnatic's but prioritized team fights and grouping up. Chinese juggernaut Vici Gaming boasted arguably the strongest individual talent in the group, and Alliance was the tried-and-true late game specialist.

Alliance vs. Team Spirit

It was a battle of experience against mostly fresh faces in the opening contest. This set was dictated in the picking phase, as Alliance was allowed to select its comfort picks (Nature's Prophet, Batrider, Queen of Pain and Tiny) to combat the fighting mentality of Team Spirit.

Game 1 was a convincing Alliance victory. They dominated the laning phase and picked on the Faceless Void. The Faceless Void was a pick that worked on paper and not in practice for Team Spirit, and coupled with another low-impact hero, Shadow Demon, it was too big a deficit to overcome. Team Spirit's only farmed hero was the Gyrocopter.

The next game was competitive from the start. Team Spirit forced several fights in the early game that went in its favor, but Loda's Slark was never a victim in the engagements. At one point the Chaos Knight from Team Spirit was the hardest monster to take down, but the composure and late-game savvy of Alliance showed up in the nick of time. It would hold tight defensively, regardless of where on the map, and kept the game close. The end came from one fast pick-off from an overextended Zeus, which allowed Alliance to break down the base and Team Spirit.

What we learned: Team Spirit is a team with ideas that look great on paper, but it lacked solid execution here. Alliance is still a lane-phase beast of a team, but it continued to pour resources into three players only -- and that could potentially hurt in the end.

Fnatic vs. Vici Gaming

This was the one set that did not appear to have a clear winner in the pregame. Both teams encouraged their stars to shine and emphasized teamwork over everything. One common theme in this set was passivity, and it was clear by the end that Vici Gaming's decision to lay back killed its chances against Fnatic in a series full of rotations, counter play and team fights.

It all came down to execution, and Fnatic's supports were the features of this game. In the beginning it was late in rotations for Mushi and prioritized ganks to other lanes instead, and Vici Gaming took the first lead with its lineup built around Phoenix and Batrider using Tusk combos. Despite a lead of nearly 10K, Fnatic clawed back with risky objectives, great Chen and Nyx play and favorable trades in every fight; it would close out the game with this comeback momentum.

In the second game, Vici Gaming countered the movements of Fnatic's Chen rotations. Behind an incredibly greedy itemization from Vici Gaming, it mounted a lead out of the laning phase that it continued to extend throughout the match. One big fight at Roshan -- one that crushed four heroes for Fnatic -- was enough to snowball the team's advantage into an unstoppable wave of momentum. The combination of a Veil of Discord and Elder Titan into Morphling shotgun pick-offs was too lethal for Fnatic.

Vici Gaming tried to approach Game 3 in a similar fashion to its Game 2 execution, with a passive and farm-heavy approach, but Fnatic countered passivity with greed. A Midas start Invoker, ancient stacking Tidehunter, free-farming Sven and a Chen jungle allowed Fnatic to absolutely lock up the win from the start. The puzzling part of the deciding game was Vici Gaming's refusal to fight into Tidehunter's ultimate, "Ravage." This passive play to avoid Tidehunter ravage allowed for continued free farm and towers for Fnatic. The first (and only) fight into ravage ended in a team wipe and barracks for the final Vici Gaming "gg."

What we learned: This was not the cohesive and authoritative Vici Gaming from the past. The team lacked the decision-making and teamwork that made it one of the best in the world. Fnatic took advantage of that weakness, and it all snowballed from there, putting its team fight and push speed on display in a big victory.

Vici Gaming vs. Team Spirit

The loser of this set would automatically be entered into the lower bracket of the main event, and the deterioration of Vici Gaming's identity as a top team continued against Team Spirit. In both games Vici waited for timings that never came, and either a big spell or item in both games cost it the time and space on the map it needed to establish any kind of momentum.

Team Spirit took the reins and established dominance early in the first game. The movement from Nature's Prophet and Io allowed for advantageous fights and trades. Only Vici Gaming's "Iceiceice's" Tidehunter had good experience and farm, but he was forced to make a mekansm. Vici Gaming's wait for a mekansm stalled the game long enough for Team Spirit's own item timing. Unfortunately for Vici Gaming, the waiting game was not the smart move because Team Spirit featured a Chaos Knight and its ultimate, "Phantasm." Team Spirit would crush Vici Gaming in two separate fights -- one in the top lane with ravage and another easy one from a two-hero shackle. The pick-off potential from Windranger, Io and Nature's Prophet allowed Team Spirit to control the entire map. Two tries at bottom lane for Team Spirit finally got mega creeps and the game.

A cheeky global lineup from Team Spirit led to a level-one Roshan in Game 3. From there it was a domination of lanes from a Tiny/Io middle lane and Beastmaster safe lane against the Faceless Void. The map was Team Spirit's, as it controlled the Roshan pit with three aegis tokens before 21 minutes. Vici Gaming was picked off from Io, Nature's Prophet and Beastmaster time and time again. Despite several great base holds, an overextension cost Vici Gaming its middle barracks. The end came when Vici Gaming focused on the wrong heroes in the last fight -- and lost its base as a result.

What we learned: This is not the Vici Gaming fans are used to. If it's not missed team fight execution, it's fearful play -- and this must be corrected if Vici Gaming wants to stay in this tournament. Team Spirit showed that its strategies range from traditional to very bold -- and it showed in its play style.

Alliance vs. Fnatic

No lead was safe, and this set was defined by overextension from both teams. The winner of the set would emerge as the top team from Group B and advance to the upper bracket, while the loser would have to fight again for the second spot in that upper bracket.

The first game was dictated from the picking phase. Alliance balanced sustain and burst damage with a late-game win condition in Spectre, while Fnatic employed a pick-off supporting cast coupled with carries with fast power spike, Templar Assassin and Leshrac. With superior vision control from wards, Beastmaster and Zeus ultimate, Alliance was the team that picked off and not the other way around.

Fnatic's trump card in the fight was its star mid-laner, MidOne's Templar Assassin. His farm and damage stalled the game to the ultra-late state. While the pick-off potential of Fnatic's lineup finally showed up toward the end, every team fight favored Alliance. Eventually the late-game ending power of Spectre showed up and crushed the chances of Fnatic. An overextension for a kill from Fnatic led to clutch uses of both Oracle's "False Promise" and a buyback from Spectre for the victory in Alliance's favor.

Alliance was allowed to dominate thanks to its aggressive picks during the picking stage, grabbing Puck and Weaver. A dominating S4 start led to space for easy kills for Loda's Drow and Bulldog's Weaver, but it would get hairy when Puck was caught out and Fnatic held its base in three successive attempts -- but Alliance continued to push the action. Both teams traded fights and extended past their safety point to break the stalemate. Eventually, Alliance broke the base with an aegis and did not rush in, finishing off the set.

What we learned: Alliance was the cream of the crop in this group with a 4-0 finish, showcasing signature heroes and styles as the team was hardly challenged. Fnatic's weakness of closing games came back to haunt it in a big way.

Fnatic vs. Team Spirit

There was a lot on the line in this final set, as the winner of would move on to the upper bracket of the tournament and the loser would go to the lower bracket. This was a clash of similar styles; both teams are aggressive, fight early and often, and prioritize a frenzied style over traditional "laning phases." Team Spirit's early aggression was tempered, and it traded well with Fnatic. It was counter for counter on both sides -- the Dark Seer ultimate and Gyrocopter "Manta Style" accounted for Juggernaut, while a multitude of rotations prevented Earth Spirit ganks. Fnatic avoided fights (and a farmed Outworld Destroyer) with the split push. One highlight-reel snatched aegis and two pick-offs pushed the map control firmly in Fnatic's favor, but Team Spirit held strong and picked off Mushi in key situations and rode their farmed carry, Outworld Destroyer (24-4-13), to a first-game victory.

Fnatic shifted its priorities in the second game to an early game team-fighting composition. Behind a strong core of Phoenix, Gyrocopter and Outworld Destroyer, Fnatic trampled through the Team Spirit defense and threatened to end the game on several occasions before action even entered the "midgame." The resistance from Team Spirit only stalled the game for a few extra minutes, and the great team fight of Fnatic led to a dominant Game 2 victory.

The drafting of Enchantress and Vengeful Spirit by Fnatic gave the team roam and fight potential -- and it was a big factor in the early game play in the deciding game, with Team Spirit countering with Faceless Void and Earth Spirit. It would lead to a topsy-turvy lane phase, with cores and supports trading lives.

Fnatic used the early lead with Templar Assassin to take objectives, Roshan and map control, as they returned to their signature pushing strategy. With every pickoff, Fnatic's split push pressured Team Spirit's base and suffocated its farm. Team Spirit spent most of the game in its base with just Ember Spirit to push lanes, while Fnatic waited and stalled for better items, Roshan or a pick-off.

In tragic fashion for Team Spirit, a kill of the Ember Spirit in three shots by MidOne's Templar Assassin would open up the base and lead directly to a Fnatic victory.

What we learned: Fnatic's lack of a closeout mentality will cost it later in this tournament, and an overreliance on MidOne is concerning. Team Spirit needs to adapt more quickly and show that it has more than one dimension to its play.