This article is part of our Dota 2 Recap series.
With half of the teams who attended the Boston Major already eliminated, The remaining squads battled to stave off elimination and double their winnings by securing a top-four finish. The previous days of the tournament featured lower-seeded teams defeating the higher-seeded teams, but that wasn't the case Friday as the underdogs finally fell back down to Earth.
Evil Geniuses: The Quick and The Dead
Evil Geniuses were the first to secure their place in the semifinals of the Boston Major with a convincing victory over tournament favorites, Virtus.pro. Evil Geniuses has now secured at least a top-four finish in six of the seven Valve events that they have attended, including this one. Such a dominant display begs the question, is Evil Geniuses the new tournament favorite?
In Game 1, Evil Geniuses blistered Virtus.pro, forcing out a 19-minute surrender, the second fastest finish during the main event. Evil Geniuses drafted an aggressive lineup with one late game hero as a kind of insurance policy. Intent on creating space for carry player Artour "Arteezy" Babaev with their other four heroes, Evil Geniuses achieved an unexpected amount of success. Arteezy could have put his feet up in the booth for the amount he was involved in Evil Geniuses early accomplishments. Virtus.pro was hemorrhaging kills left and right as EG made their greedy support pickups look foolish.
Virtus.pro pulled out all the stops in Game 2, drafting several heroes that seldomly see tournament play. Evil Geniuses were willing to play along, nabbing an uncommon hero selection of their own. Fighting for their tournament lives, Virtus.pro had no intention of holding back or playing it safe, pushing Evil Geniuses back into their base, mowing down objectives quickly and efficiently. Having been rebuffed numerous times, Virtus.pro went for the Hail Mary play, picking up a Divine Rapier. Unfortunately for them, Evil Geniuses immediately scouted the Divine Rapier, prompting a Blademail pickup for Sumail "Suma1L" Hassan's Alchemist. Beliving they had the element of surprise, Virtus.pro ambushed Evil Geniuses, releasing their secret weapon, only to have it turned against them as the Blademail reflected the damage back upon its sender. With the massive amount of damage doing far more to Virtus.pro than Evil Geniuses, the Russian squad recognized that their final card had been played, submitting to the might of Evil Geniuses.
Evil Geniuses will face OG, who defeated Warriors Gaming Unity 2-1, in the semifinals on Saturday. With their strong showing against Virtus.pro, Evil Geniuses will have to dethrone the reigning Fall Major champions to continue their pursuit of the Eaglesong Trophy.
Ad Finem: Greek Gods
Ad Finem continued their Cinderella run through the Boston Major with a 2-1 victory over LGD Forever Young in the last matchup of the quarterfinals. Proving to the world that they are among the strongest teams from Europe, Ad Finem only dropped one very close game to LFY before rebounding in Game 3 to dominate the Chinese veterans.
Ad Finem broke out the Morphling strategy that they used to beat Newbee in Game 1 against LGD Forever Young. Despite facing the Zhang "Xiao8" Ning's legendary Enigma, Ad Finem appeared inceasingly comfortable, allowing their carry player to decimate LFY. Omar "Madara" Dabachach put on a show for the second time this tournament, his elusive and deadly Morphling carry breaking the ankles then crushing the skulls of LFY's heroes.
In Game 2, LFY's aggressive pushing strategy, utilizing Terrorblade, put Ad Finem on their back foot early. Ad Finem had great teamfight potential and executed well, but could not finish due to lack of damage and range. LFY were able to scout the movements of Ad Finem's carry player, keeping him from flash farming and subsequently weakening their damage output. Unable to close the gap, Ad Finem were powerless to stop LFY's siege.
In a do-or-die Game 3, Ad Finem started off at a perceived disadvantage, having all of their comfort heroes banned out by LFY's captain, Xiao8. Once the game got underway, Ad Finem did not seem phased, even after giving up three kills early. The Greek squad bounced back executing several seemingly impossible plays to dominate a slew of teamfights and take the lead by 10 minutes. Ad Finem never let go of that lead, standing tall against LFY's powerful carry heroes that were only growing stronger by the minute.
Ad Finem, securing themselves a top four finish and a guaranteed $250,000, will look to increase their earnings tomorrow in a showdown with Digital Chaos. In a juxtaposition of two experiences, Ad Finem has had the toughest tournament run, while Digital Chaos has had the easiest. All of Ad Finem's games have gone the full length, while Digital Chaos has not dropped a single game, defeating Team NP 2-0 earlier in the day.
