Now that we've finished TI for another year, I thought I might just word vomit some of my thoughts about the tournament.
1. It was extremely well run. Lessons were learnt from last year. The format was so much better, the production value was amazing, the panel was good. RedEye filled the role of host really well. DotA has come so far since TI1 and thats really good to see. The soft focus on a player on each team added a human element to our idols which DotA was lacking a little.
2. EG wins TI5. Another year, another 5 new champions. Xiao8/Hao/S4&Puppey wasn't able to win a second TI. With a huge win at DAC and now at TI, EG can make a strong claim as being the greatest team of this generation. Because CDEC had to waste a first ban on techies every game, EG was able to open up the draft.
3. CDEC and the power of friendship. CDEC's run through the wildcards to the grandfinal is nothing short of amazing. A team with no TI experience, no LAN wins and no notable prolific players, CDEC's run was extraordinary. They had to play through the wildcards, and looked solid then. When they secured themselves upper bracket, I scoffed. Taking down C9 was not unexpected. Then they beat LGD and I scratched my head a little. It was only when they finally beat EG in a comprehensive 2-0 with PPD calling Q a genius, I became a believer. At the very least, China has found a new power house team and with it 5 blooded young players to compete on the world stage for many years to come.
4. Secret and the failing of the all-star team. They looked so strong during the group stages with no real loses, yet finished in the same rank as MVP.P. Then they just inexplicably lost to both EHOME and VP. The last two draft against VP left me scratching my head, when VP were simply allowed to pick up 4 out of the 5 exact same heroes in consecutive games; only changing out a 1 position Silencer for a Drow. Secret should have punished that. (Being out drafted against EHOME is not the end of the world, I mean, it is ROTK who drafted VICI to a third place at TI4.)
5. China vs. West. I think China did alright in general, taking 4 of the top 6 slots or 3 of the top 4. Obviously, they didn't take first place but in general they did alright.
6. FNG and VP. There were many success stories at TI5; two Korean teams doing better than previous years and CDEC are just a couple of examples. But I do want to highlight FNG and VP. FNG at one point led Na'Vi before unceremoniously dumped during a LAN. FNG was then picked VP. Since then he led VP to CIS's best result, kicking Secret out of the tournament in the process. He essentially stuck it to Na'Vi.
7. Deadmau5, holy shit what the hell was that? How does Valve manage to find a way to screw up the close of DotA every year?
8. Kaci was amazing as usual. Never change Kaci! March Roar, RoTk's interview and G fan boying all over Kaci all stood out to me.
9. The meta was a little more stale than I would have liked. Gyro, Lina, Lesh was just pick/banned wait too many times. I would have liked to have seen more heroes.
10. The future. With the majors coming up and the post-TI shuffle, it'll be interesting to see where DotA goes from here.
~TastyJacks~
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