The ESL ONE Birmingham 2019 has recently come to a close. As you’d expect from a Dota 2 tournament, there was some incredible Dota on show and a lot of great talking points. But one talking point stands out from the rest: that Miracle- 1v5 rampage.
Stick around as we bring you the breakdown on exactly what went down when Miracle- single-handedly took Forward Gaming apart.
In contrast to the closing stages of the game, Amer “Miracle-” Al-Barkawi did not get off to the best start. He is up against Quinn “CCnC” Callahan playing Sniper, a great counter to his Outworld Devourer. Outworld Devourer has a short attack and cast range and non-existent gap close. This makes it hard for Miracle- to unleash his damage against CCnC.
Image courtesy of Team Liquid
Just 3 minutes into the game, CCnC, with the help of Arif “MSS” Anwar, secures a kill on Team Liquid’s star man. Team Liquid also loses their mid lane tower before minute 13, leaving Miracle’s lane open to pressure. There was no sign at this stage that a Miracle- 1v5 rampage was just around the corner.
Despite this early-game setback and FWD’s mounting kill lead, Miracle- still manages to find kills. He itemizes into an early Blink Dagger and BKB to give him crucial initiation and sustain. This gives him the freedom to right click without fear of control abilities. He hits a dominating streak at minute 26 and things begin to spiral down for FWD from there.
At minute 31, Miracle-, complete with double damage rune, is loitering in the enemy jungle just off their mid lane. He is completely alone, with the rest of his team either farming their jungle or pushing the top lane.
FWD don’t expect anything.
He catches FWD’s Jingjun “Sneyking” Wu playing Pudge as he moves through the treeline and instantly hexes him. With just eight attacks the Pudge drops. Miracle- retreats for but a moment, then moves into the Radiant bottom jungle. There, he is jumped by the rest of Forward Gaming.
Miracle- dodges the Rolling Boulder initiate from MSS’ Earth Spirit with a blink downhill to FWD’s back line. Taking revenge on CCnC, Miracle- almost insta-kills the Sniper with a single Sanity’s Eclipse. A single right click finishes off CCnC.
Image courtesy of Reinder88 on Deviantart
He then activates his BKB, having not needed it prior to this point, and kills Johan ‘pieliedie’ Åström’s Jakiro in three hits. Moving back up the hill, Miracle- encounters MSS again, who pops his Blade Mail. The reflected damage from his own right clicks is the most damage Miracle- takes in this entire engagement.
Reacting quickly to the arrival of Yawar “YawaR” Hassan’s Troll Warlord, Miracle uses Astral Imprisonment and continues to chase the Earth Spirit. The imprisonment ends, and Miracle- finds himself attacked on both sides by YawaR and MSS. This is no problem for Liquid’s star man, however. Before the Troll Warlord can get into attack range, Miracle- casts his Scythe of Vyse.
If Miracle- had played the latter part of the engagement any differently, he would surely have died. Both heroes are now in melee range and Miracle has less than 10% health left. He splits his attacks between the Troll Warlord and the Earth Spirit, bringing them both low. The Earth Spirit prepares a Rolling Boulder that would have stunned Miracle- long enough for the hex on YawaR to end. However, seeing this coming Miracle- turns and finishes the Earth Spirit off before returning to the injured Troll Warlord.
He is able to kill YawaR before the hex ends, and the incredible Miracle 1v5 rampage is complete. Seconds later, Forward Gaming call GG.
Spoiler Alert – a couple of weeks ago, we ran an article on the top 10 best Dota 2 pro players. While Team Liquid didn’t win the ESL ONE Birmingham, Miracle- did come out at number 1 on our list.
It’s plays like this that prove he is one of the best in the game right now. The Miracle 1v5 rampage will go down as one of the best plays of the tournament and was a delight to watch. If you missed the action, check out the game highlights here.
You can like The Game Haus on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for more sports and esports content.
Follow Matt on Twitter @MattyMead2006.
From Our Haus to Yours.
