TSM Dota 2 Secure a Top 3 spot at the Stockholm Major

Team SoloMid (TSM) Dota 2 has cemented itself as the top roster in North America, after securing a 3rd place finish at ESL’s Stockholm Major.

Despite having to play half of groups with a stand-in, TSM still managed to make the upper bracket. From there, they won 2-0 sweeps against Europe’s 1st seed, OG, and 2nd seed, Gaimin Gladiators, to make the upper bracket final.

Image courtesy of Liquipedia

With their placement in the upper bracket final, TSM has jumped to second in the world in the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) ranking. With its performance at the major, TSM has almost secured a direct invite to represent North America at The International.

Carried by the Captain

The 2-0 win over OG was a highlight reel for TSM’s captain, Moonmeander. Often, a position 4 is supposed to support their allies, and connect stuns or disables for their allies. But, Moon stepped up when he needed to on his Mirana and Keeper Of The Light (KOTL) for a clean sweep.

In game 1, OG countered TSM’s offlane Underlord with a Monkey King pick. As SabeRLight- on the Underlord struggled to find farm, Moon started to farm side lanes for himself and pick off enemy heroes in team fights. At the end of the game, Moon finished 13/4/22, and had the third highest gold in the game.

Compared to the enemy position 4, Moon dealt 32,000 damage versus 12,000, and had 32,000 total gold versus 9,000. SabeRLight was eventually able to turn his game around, and tank 23,000 more damage than any other hero in game 1. Even N0tail, the co-founder of OG, had to compliment Moonmeander on his performance.

In game 2, SabeRLight had a stronger game on Night Stalker, finishing 14/2/17. Even with his offlaner having a stronger start, Moon used his KOTL to push out lanes from far away. Just like the previous game, Moon had a huge networth lead on the enemy position 4. At minute 25, TSM had about an 6,000 gold lead on OG, with around 4,000 of that from KOTL. This extra gold was used to buy a Wraith Pact, to give his allies extra lifesteal and reduce the damage of enemy heroes.

In most of TSM’s games throughout the tournament, they have built a gold lead on their 4 position. This lead allows Moon to fill spots for his team, building aura items and saves in some games, and damage items in others.

Stick To Your Strats

Against the Gladiators, TSM came in with a Phoenix + Mars combo for Moon and SabeRLight, with Timado on a Nature’s prophet carry.

They put their mid-laner, Bryle, on Pangolier and Kunkaa, two heroes that cause chaos in teamfights. They also had backup with their support player Dubu on Pugna and Abbadon, two heroes used to heal and save TSM’s aggressive cores.

With these heroes, TSM had enough damage, control, and saves to take strong team fights throughout both games. As Timado was on Natures Prophet, he was able to teleport anywhere on the map, so he could join fights when he wanted to. Otherwise, the Natures prophet split the map, pushing lanes and farming a huge gold lead.

An Arena Of Blood from SabeRLight traps three heroes from Gaimin Gladiators. Image courtesy of NoobFromUA on YouTube.

Even though GG had a 15k gold lead twice, they let Phoenix, Mars, and Natures Prophet slip through both times. This, along with individual play, allowed TSM to take strong team fights to comeback in both games.

TSM’s next match will be against a third western EU team, Tundra Esports. Tundra’s roster has been the favorite to win it all after their 11-1 performance in groups, and meta defining strategies. However, TSM’s 4-0 run so far makes them a scary opponent, especially after beating Europe’s 1st and 2nd seed.

Whether they beat Tundra or not, TSM’s run in the upper bracket has cemented them as NA’s best team.

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