This article is part of our Dota 2 Recap series.
Sixteen of the best Dota 2 teams in the world began competition today in Boston, MA for Valve's Fall Major. Half of the teams were directly invited to the event based on recent accomplishments. The other half earned their spots by fighting their way through the regional qualifiers several months earlier. The teams have been divided into four groups of four, where they will play a round robin style format to determine their seeding for the main event. The main event is a single elimination bracket, wherein the top seeded teams will be able to select their initial opponent from the lower seeded teams. The winner of the Fall Major will receive $1,000,000 USD and an automatic invite to the next Major.
Group A
Digital Chaos became one of the first two teams to move on from the group stages, winning Group A, after defeating Warriors Gaming.Unity and LGD.Forever Young 2-0.
Digital Chaos made quick work of Warriors Gaming.Unity, finishing both games in under one hour. Roman "Resolut1on" Fominok did not give up a single death in either game as Naga Siren or Morphling respectively. Despite some lanes struggling early, Digital Chaos' frequent and efficient rotations helped recoup any setbacks. Playing surgically, Digital Chaos was able to control the map and subsequently pick which engagements to take or avoid.
Digital Chaos' second series ended 2-0 as well, but their opponents did not go as quietly as the last. LGD.Forever Young was scrappy until the end. Though Game 1 was short, the kills were few and far between, making the sparse skirmishes even more important. Digital Chaos' teamfight oriented lineup gave them an advantage over LGD.FY and they were able to force a surrender after securing one lane of barracks.
Digital Chaos managed to avoid Wings Gaming on their path to victory and, as a top seed, will be able to select their first opponent in the main event.
Group B
Virtus.Pro became the first team from Group B to advance to the main event and they will do so as the group's top seed. Virtus.Pro defeated Team NP and Newbee 2-0 en route to their top finish.
Virtus.Pro reaffirmed that their performance at The Summit 6 was not a stroke of luck. They dominated Team NP in both games, with no Team NP members recording more than three kills in either game. Volodymir "No[o]ne" Minenko recorded only one death through both games and racked up 24 kills. Virtus.Pro was able to facilitate their mid laner's massive success by ensuring Team NP was corralled or caught off-guard. Virtus.Pro's offlane and hard support heroes did not change between games, helping them to execute the same strategy in both games.
Against Newbee, Virtus.Pro secured a quick Game 1 victory, displaying the same dominance as they did against Team NP. Virtus.Pro ran a push oritented lineup with No[o]ne on Dragon Knight and, hard support player, Ilya "Lil" Ilyuk playing a surprise Weaver. Lil found his farm by killing Newbee's supports finishing with 12 kills in Game 1. The second game showcased Virtus.Pro's ability to survive and secure the necessary win. Despite being down heavy in kills, Virtus.Pro were able to use Relocate to split push Newbee, trading structures favorably to help keep their heads above water. Virtus.Pro played patiently, rebuffing Newbee's highground attempts again and again until they were able to strike back with deadly effeciency.
Virtus.Pro will be able to select their first opponent in the main event and, barring a shocking upset, appear to be the emerging tournament favorite.
Group A Decider
After a shocking 2-1 loss to Warriors Gaming.Unity earlier in the day, Wings Gaming was able to regroup and best their opponents when it mattered most, securing their place in the upper half of the main event bracket by defeating them 2-0 in the Group A decider match.
Warriors Gaming.Unity managed to keep it close through most of Game 1, but was unable to overcome Wings in the same manner they had earlier. Learning from their previous mistakes, Wings was ready for the Phantom Assasin pickup by Warriors Gaming.Unity and answered with a Drow lineup. Although it seemed very similar to the lineup that was defeated previously, Wings made a few hero changes that enabled them to kite the Phantom Assassin, protect their Drow Ranger, and control the teamfights.
Game 2 showed that Warriors Gaming.Unity's earlier victory was not just a fluke, keeping this game even closer than the previous one. Completely shutting down Wings' offlane hero, Warriors Gaming.Unity erased an early game deficit and took control of the game. Wings' carry Alchemist, Yang "Blink" Zhou, took it upon himself to accelerate his teammates item progression, bestowing two Aghanim's Scepters on two of his teammates. This was the boost Wings needed to help turn several crucial teamfights, turning the game and securing their place in the upper half of the main event bracket as second place finishers from Group A.
Group B Decider
Newbee bounced back from a heartbreaking loss to Virtus.Pro by defeating Team NP 2-0 in the Group B decider match. With this victory, Newbee finished as the second place team from Group B and earned a top eight seeding in the main event.
Newbee's Game 1 victory could go down as the most exciting game of the tournament. The teams traded the lead early on, with both squads keeping things close. Team NP began to take the lead after winning several decisive teamfights. Jacky "EternaLEnVy" Mao's Alchemist became an absolute terror, bringing down heros in the blink of an eye with his quick attacks and consistent stuns. Incredible teamfight control from Team NP's Dark Seer helped to maintain their lead as they looked to end the game. Trying to force the win proved to be Team NP's undoing, as Newebee's Morphling deleted an unprotected EternaLEnVy on a daring push to secure Mega Creeps. He was able to do the same twice more as Newbee flipped the tables on Team NP, securing Mega Creeps for themselves and ultimately the victory.
After a deflating Game 1 defeat, Team NP folded in Game 2. Newbee picked on EternaLEnVy through the whole game, forcing his teammates to perform without him. With one of Team NP's core heroes sidelined, Newbee kept pouring on the pressure. They were able to force Team NP into unfavorable teamfights and take objectives off of those victories. As the game went on, Newbee's carry heroes became too much for the gimped cores of Team NP and they surrendered in just under 30 minutes.
