I like blogging, so sue me.
Lots of unrelated thoughts, so I’ll use a listicle format to give a semblance of structure.
1. Not respecting Toth Marci is a mistake.
He openly climbed ladder with Marci. You can’t block pick it, because your team isn’t good at it. I think banning Marci first phase is easy +expected value.
2. Banning Razor and Marci first phase is a reasonable try against Itachi’s team.
If you have first pick, opening with Razor is also reasonable, but I think Simple should’ve banned Marci.
If you planned on first picking Razor, was the Tiny ban necessary? I think it’s an inaccuracy.
3. I think targeting George is the wrong approach
It seemed reasonable to ban Tiny, from the past matches in the season. But I think George is clearly the 3rd core on this team. (A very good one, this is not a criticism!) AR and itachi keep tempo for the team. Game one was a good example.
Rather than let Toth have his hero and try to counter it, I think that tactic would be better tried against George.
If it were me, I would rack my brains trying to neutralize AR’s start.
4. AR is not a boomer-retiree-class player lol.
I heard one of the casters (won’t name names) say something that I think was really ignorant. He compared AR playing off-lane this season, with carry players switching to support when they get old.
AR will play any position, and he’ll play it better than you. He also has a wider hero pool than almost all of you. If he’s choosing to play with a few fashionable go-tos, this is a sign of a large hero pool, not a small one. In the early season, after the draft, when he was probably still enjoying dota and/or his team, he ran through many different heroes, such as Dark Seer, Doom, etc.
Also, in my opinion, off-lane is the most skilled position.
5. itachi took this match surprisingly seriously.
Depending on who you asked, some people thought this match was 50/50, but I thought itachi was the clear favorite. He didn’t underestimate the opponent though, and pulled out all the preparation and guns.
6. I liked the Magnus pick, and also how it was played.
With a Razor and a Drow, a more utility hero with cc is called for, if you’re trying to play more solid Captains Mode style and not pub-style, in my opinion. I never really thought Magnus had to have some melee teammate to buff. I liked the way Itachi chose to play it, fighting a lot, and going a blink first. I think this way of playing hasn’t been popular for awhile. It brought me back to ferrari_430 days. Starting to itachi fanboy.
Also “smh” at casters suggesting Reverse Polarity should be saved in an early game gank.
7. Please don’t let Tothtachi win XD
8. Barrel Rider, your bane looked pretty good :thumbsup:
9. Recap: First phase ban Marci, Razor. 2nd phase ban Invoker, Void Spirit. GG win game.
Arguably, valuing Razor so highly isn’t called for by the history, but I think it’s a good read.
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