Frankfurt Major Playoffs - Day 1 & 2 Recap
The Frankfurt Major has reached the playoff-stage. The first two days are over and six teams have already been eliminated from the running. 10 teams remain to claim the title and their share of the $3,000,000.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
So far, upsets have been held back to a minimum. Mineski was unable to keep their momentum alive, whereas Unknown was able to eliminate Newbee, only to fall short 0-2 against LGD-Gaming. Cloud 9, Newbee.Young, Newbee and Fnatic all lost their bo1 matches of the lower-bracket first round, removing them from the event on day 1. Both Unknown as well as Vega.Squadron followed the day after. Vega hit it particularly hard, as the team started out in the upper bracket, only to lose two matches (EG and EHOME) in a row. These playoffs belong to the favorites so far. EHOME may have had the odds stacked against them, but a convincing performance against Vega put them back on track.
Eliminated Teams
Games to watch
On paper, Newbee should have had an easy time vs. Unknown. The bo1 however gave the Peruvians a bit of an edge, as they were able to bring a strategy to the table that, while it may not have been anything new, was surely something Newbee was not entirely prepared to face. Atun acquired an 
Armlet of Mordiggian by 04:27 on his 
Alchemist, catching Newbee off-guard and surviving a crucial gank. His entire item-build was by no means anything you see a lot these days in the pro scene, avoiding the ever so popular 
Radiance into 
Octarine Core build and instead opting for an attack speed heavy build. (see image above). It worked out and together with his team, Atun was able to close out the game.
EG vs. Vega Squadron - 2:1 Game 1, Game 2, Game 3
The tournament kicked off with a tense rematch between Evil Geniuses and Vega Squadron. Both teams fought against one another at ESL ONE NY, where Vega was able to defeat the North-Americans. What was a rather one-sided endeavour in New York, turned into a heated battle in Frankfurt, where game 1 already took one hour to close out as EG prevailed. It was much in Vega's favor, but the team overextended during a pushing attempt and gave EG the opportunity to win. Yet another back and forth ensued in game 2, but Vega was able to equalize it despite SumaiL's 
Invoker doing quite a bit of work early on. Game 3 was much more one-sided, as the North-Americans did not give Vega an inch. The CIS squad was unable to prevent Arteezy from farming on his 
Anti-Mage. Games 1 and 2 should be watched to see some exciting and intense Dota 2, while game 3 is a high level display of skill by EG.
A total of 41 kills over the span of 36 minutes - how could you not want to watch that game? Fnatic may not have put up much of a fight at a certain point, but Miracle-'s 
Huskar was great to watch. The coordination from OG to keep him alive with either 
Dazzle or 
Io is something the learn from.
Secret vs. Mineski - 2:0; Game 1
Mineski was able to play on par with Team Secret for a long time. The difference in quality became apparent though when they were unable to punish Secret for any of their mistakes and instead got pressured into unfavorable situations. Regardless of the outcome, Mineski put up a valiant effort and quite the fight, giving Secret a bit of a run for their money in game 1.
Virtus.pro vs. Vici Gaming - 1:2; Game 2
VP resorted to their signature 
Drow Ranger centric line-up, including Lil's 
Visage and God's 
Lina. A dominant display from the CIS squad as they convincingly took down the Chinese.
Statistical Highlights
Out of the eight directly invited teams, seven are still in the running. All of these seven teams placed Top8 at The International 5. Six of these seven teams have already secured themselves yet another Top8 finish. Vega Squadron is the only invited team that has already been eliminated, while Virtus.pro is a Top8 TI5 team that has yet to reach the Top8 at this Major.
Queen of Pain is sitting at a 61,54% winrate in the playoffs so far, having the highest KDA (4.93) of any hero that's been played more than two times. She's also the most contested hero, as she has been picked or banned in all playoff games.Three more heroes have been picked or banned in all playoff games thus far:
Dark Seer, 
Tusk and 
Doom. Doom was the most banned hero, as he was banned in 16 playoff games, thus only played in a total of two games.
Banning
Winter Wyvern seems to be a key factor at the moment. In all the six games she's been banned, the team that banned her won. The same goes for hero=clockwerk.Despite having played three games, EHOME holds the highest kill average of 31 kills per game. Over a third of these kills are acquired by Cty, who's averaging 12.67 kills per game.
what to look out for
The next two days will see four more teams eliminated. Two will be decided tomorrow, the firs tof which will be played out between OG and Mineski. OG may be heavily favored, but Mineski have shown in both the groupstage, as well as in their match against Team Secret, that they are by no means a pushover. Both teams like to play Huskar and while it could mean that it'll be banned all games, we could also see both take a turn at the hero. It would certainly be interesting to see both teams deal with the hero.
Alliance vs. Virtus.pro will be a European clash between two teams that know each other well. As both teams face elimination, expect to see their signature heroes and strategies to be ready for action.
CDEC Gaming vs. Evil Geniuses will be a rematch of the TI upper bracket finals and grand finals. EG may have changed a player since then, but a lot of elements remain, especially CDEC's playstyle is nothing too unfamiliar for EG. The drafting advantage of a 
Naga Siren or 
Techies may be gone, but SumaiL's individual strength and dominance remains. Can CDEC come out ahead, or will ppd have something special prepared for them yet again?
The last match for Day 3 will see Secret taking on Vici Gaming. Both teams just recently faced off against one another during the Nanyang Championships grand finals, in which Secret emerged victorious. Both teams seem to be in form, which should result in an intense match-up.
"Virtus.pro vs. Vici Gaming - 2:1; Game 2
VP resorted to their signature Drow Ranger Drow Ranger centric line-up, including Lil's Visage Visage and God's Lina Lina. A dominant display from the CIS squad as they convincingly took down the Chinese."
So who won...?
In the end vici won...
huskar nothing without supports....and mski couldn't handle the pressure
early on they played like they had nothing to lose and they didn't...you could see their game 1 huskar plays against alliance....it was just crazy aggressive and suicidal somehow they won and alliance backed off
against secret the reality of the situation hit them....and the kids couldn't handle the pressure....you could see how they buckled in game 1 and were just swatted like flies really in game 2...it was like a pub stomp with weehaa building BoTs so early the game
anyway i think the situation is a little stable right now.....they're not being taken for granted...while the pressure is not as much as in the secret game but still more than the alliance ehome games so maybe we'll see the real mineski in the game vs OG
Lol. Guys, Vici have won VP.
#Shoutout to mineski
Currently the Enchanted Mango only has a 36.43% win rate. Together, we as a community, have the ability to fix this problem and end this horrific tragedy. Please help. It is our duty as gamers to give this item the respect it is due.
best of ones are fucking stupid
EG will win dis tournament u will see...!!
Sumail rock's..!!!!!!
w33!!!!!!@!!!!!