Overview of The Kuala Lumpur Major Main Event Day 1

Day 1 of the Main Event of The Kuala Lumpur Major had two Upper Bracket matches and one Lower Bracket match. It was hosted in the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

PSG.LGD vs Team Secret

First series of the day was PSG.LGD vs Team Secret in the Upper Bracket. Team Secret picked up Arc Warden for Nisha and LGD picked up Lycan to counter it, just like the TNC vs Vici Gaming match yesterday. And yet again, Arc Warden dominated the game. It was going even for both teams until the mid-game, but if you pick a Lycan and you cannot finish the game quick enough, you know you’re going to have problems. Nisha got a lot of time and space to farm and finished with a GPM of 800. Secret won Game 1 without much of a hassle at all.

Even after getting demolished by Nisha, LGD did not ban Arc Warden and Secret picked it up again. This time, LGD picked Slark instead of Lycan to counter it. This game was much worse than the first one for LGD. Ame on the Slark had a really rough game as he was up against both Lion and Shadow Demon who are really good against that hero. Although LGD managed to find some good skirmishes here and there, Arc Warden just did what he does best and won the game for Secret. This series was almost like a free win for Secret.

Virtus.pro vs Ninjas in Pyjamas

The second series of the day was Virtus.pro vs NiP. Mind_Control was standing in for 33. There was a lot of hype over this match. PPD has been on a losing streak against VP for a very long time now, and he mentioned various times that he wanted to beat them. Sadly, VP just completely rolled over NiP in both the matches. In Game 1, Ramzes solo carried his team with his Terrorblade. He was 6 slotted by 35 minutes. NiP was running a Drow strat and picked Razor (who is completely out of the meta) to counter No[o]ne’s Dragon Knight. This did not work for them at all.

In Game 2, NiP went for a Drow strat again, but this time they did not pick Razor, at least. No[o]ne was playing mid Dragon Knight and he went for a very unusual build. He completed Treads by 9 minutes and went straight for a Radiance. This item is really strong against Drow strats as it gives his entire team a miss chance. On the other hand, Pasha on his Axe completely free farmed, as he was against a helpless Drow who was struggling to farm creeps under her tower. Pasha got a very early Blink and just kept getting kills all over the place. VP played so aggressively that NiP had no chance to play the game at their own pace. Another easy win for VP. Looks like Peter will have to try his luck against VP some other time to break the streak.

TNC Predators vs Ninjas in Pyjamas

The final series of the day was the Lower Bracket match of TNC Predators vs Ninjas in Pyjamas. After getting stomped by VP, NiP was fully ready to unleash their fury. Game 1 was stomp. Mind Control got to play Axe against Gabbi’s Spectre in the laning phase and he got an incredible start. After he picked up his Blink Dagger, he was everywhere on the map killing Armel’s Ember Spirit and Kuku’s Weaver non-stop. This gave a lot of time for Fata’s OD and Ace’s PL to farm and they finished the game by 40 minutes with a solid 31-8 score.

Game 2 was a bigger stomp. TNC picked up Arc Warden for Gabbi hoping to tie the series 1-1. But apparently, Centaur is the best counter to Arc Warden this meta. Mind Control got a free lane and picked up Vanguard + Blink in 14 minutes. Ace on his Spectre somehow managed to win her lane against a Winter Wyvern + Beast Master and we know what happens when Spectre wins the laning phase. Ace went for a very interesting build. He made a Mask of Madness and went for a Manta Style. And after that he got a Radiance at 28 minutes. None of this mattered however as Mind Control, Fata on Necro and ppd on support Nature’s Prophet started killing in all 3 lanes. Gabbi was not able to do anything with Arc Warden and NiP just finished the game by 35 minutes with a 34-8 score, eliminating TNC from the Major.

All the 3 matches were very one-sided on Day 1. Hopefully we’ll get to see more intense Dota in the remainder of the event. Watch the games live on PGL’s Twitch stream. Here’s a schedule for the upcoming matches.

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