China’s newest superteam Elephant claimed their first trophy today after an emphatic 3-0 sweep vs. Team Aster in the grand finals of the China Dota 2 Pro Cup S2.
The two teams previously met in the first round of the upper bracket, where Aster won 2-1. Elephant were forced to run through a gruelling gauntlet of some of China’s best teams, including PSG.LGD and EHOME, before returning for a grand finals rematch.
Those series include exhausting games like an 80-minute victory against EHOME where they managed to accrue a more than 140,000 net worth lead, and a 93-minute grind vs. PSG.LGD’s Techies strategy. The team learned from their experiences quickly, however, swiftly dispatching Aster in three games that lasted no longer than 38 minutes.
Game one started slowly, with both teams content to farm up their hard carries. While Elephant’s heavy lockdown and teamfight with Earthshaker, Lina, and Ancient Apparition posed a significant threat to Monet’s Morphling, Aster did not have the same answers for Eurus’ Anti-Mage. Eurus’ free farm and gold lead made him a nightmare for his opponents, completing a deathless performance and carrying his team to victory.
Elephant picked up an unorthodox Arc Warden support, but the second game’s early game pace was equally turgid. Aster picked up the pace for a brief spell, but a fortuitous Sacred Arrow on Monet’s Sven spelt the beginning of the end for Aster. Elephant’s ranged damage output was overwhelming due to Drow Ranger’s Marksmanship and Arc Warden’s Magnetic Field, allowing them to demolish Aster’s base in the blink of an eye.
Game three was Aster’s best shot at sneaking a game off Elephant. While most of their team found themselves dying to Maybe’s aggressive Leshrac, Monet’s Terrorblade occupied the top spot in the net worth chart. But, Elephant played the fights near-perfectly, properly zoning out Monet and leaving him for last. Elephant managed to kill Monet once–and it did the trick.
The Elephant organization was mired in drawn-out transfer sagas over former Vici Gaming carry Eurus, but the lineup looks good when finally free of red tape. The players showed both their immense skill and mental fortitude through the tournament, and were duly rewarded with the trophy—hopefully for them, the first of many to come.
Champions Elephant walk away with their first offline championship, as well as $30,405 in prize money, while runners-up Aster earned $22,804 for their efforts.
