Team Yandex lived up to their status as favourites and secured a grand final spot without dropping a map at PARI Universe, the Tier 1 online tournament organised by FISSURE with a $250,000 prize pool. Our prediction from this morning came true: 2-0 to Yandex. Still, GamerLegion showed they did not reach this stage by accident, especially on the second map.

Map 1: In control from start to finish
The map started at a furious pace, with 7 kills in the very first minute, 4-3 in Yandex’s favour. From then on Yandex held the gold lead, sitting at around 3,000–4,000 for a long stretch. At the 25-minute mark the kills were almost level (24-23), but Yandex were 8,000 gold ahead.

The next five minutes decided the map. Yandex went on a 7-0 kill run, and by the 30th minute their lead had jumped to 20,000 gold. GamerLegion had no answer and conceded at 37:35, with the kill score at 40-23.

The map MVP was CHIRA_JUNIOR on Storm Spirit, with 13 kills, 4 deaths and 19 assists and the highest hero damage on the map (33,916). watson on Lone Druid played the whole map without dying (8/0/19) and almost single-handedly took down the enemy towers with 11,949 building damage.

Map 2: GamerLegion in kills, Yandex in gold
The second map started in a completely different way, calm and cautious. First blood came only at 2:16, for Yandex. At 10 minutes GamerLegion led 7-6 in kills, while Yandex held a slim 1,000 gold lead.

Around the 18th minute GamerLegion took the initiative. They led 15-10 in kills, the gold was even, and Yuma became the player with the highest net worth on the map. Soon the kill score stood at 21-13 for GamerLegion, and for the first time in the series Yandex had no gold advantage.

But Yandex did not panic. Despite trailing by 11 kills, they were 3,000 gold ahead again at 25:30 thanks to better use of the map’s resources, with each team having destroyed 3 towers. At 26 minutes CHIRA_JUNIOR attempted to steal Roshan. The attempt failed and Yuma died in the fight, but GamerLegion secured Roshan and the Aegis went to RCY. They could not capitalise on it: RCY lost the Aegis within the next few minutes, and Yandex extended their lead to 6,000.

From there Yandex controlled the tempo. Their gold lead grew minute by minute: 9,000 at 30 minutes, 15,000 at 35 and 20,000 at 40. This happened even though GamerLegion were still ahead in kills (28-20). Without any big teamfight, Yandex built their advantage through farm and map control. The decisive fight came at the 42-minute mark: a team wipe for Yandex and a 25,000 gold lead. The map ended at 52:42, with Yandex ahead 37-35 in kills. That means 17-7 in the last 17 minutes.

The map MVP was ATF on Timbersaw, the same hero he used to decide the series against PARIVISION. He finished 12/5/12 with the highest hero damage on the map (48,425) and was the only player to reach level 30. watson on Naga Siren had just 3 kills, but collected 889 last hits and finished with the highest net worth on the map (45,942).

Saksa’s role
Saksa played Shadow Demon on both maps. On the first map he went 7/6/18, taking part in almost two thirds of his team’s kills. He also had the most healing on the map (4,053). The second map was tougher on paper (4/10/15), but he remained part of the key fights that decided the map. Across the series he finished with 11 kills, 16 deaths and 33 assists. It is work that rarely makes headlines, but it allowed watson and ATF to collect the farm that won the series.

GamerLegion: Good, but not enough
GamerLegion’s carry RCY played at a high level on the second map (10/4/14 on Earthshaker), and Yuma had 10 kills and 43,183 damage on Windranger. However, on both maps GamerLegion failed to turn their kill advantage into gold and objectives. Against a team that controls the map’s economy this well, that is not enough.

What’s next
GamerLegion play in the Lower Bracket final tonight at 18:00 CET for the second grand final spot. Team Yandex and Saksa will face the winner of that match tomorrow, Sunday, 1 November, at 14:00 CET in a Bo5 series. The champion will take home $125,000. Follow the grand final live on our portal and cheer with us!