Here we’ve got Sgamer’s evaluations of the top CHINESE performers from the #2 position on teams at TI2. Positions 3, 4, 5 to come in the coming days, and the 1 position is currently available here.

(note: I neglected to add that this is focused on Chinese players, hence an overall lack of any foreign players making the list)

Original: http://dota2.sgamer.com/news/201209/147056_3.html

Best 2 position

1. Yao (signature hero at TI2: Invoker)

In reality Yao isn’t what we’d call handsome. His appearance is what we call natural, understated elegance.

The strength of LGD’s system lies in the team. But against NaVi, Morphling and Invoker were both perpetually banned, fully showing respect for Yao’s Invoker. I think I can proudly say right now, the best Invoker in China is, apart from “pianist 430”, Yao.

Yao’s other hero worthy of praise has been his Queen of Pain. Before, LGD’s Queen of Pain was always xiao8, and this made everyone miss the fact that Yao is in fact excellent with the Queen. I want to specifically point out two examples: first was against NaVi, Faceless Void was pushing the high ground, and Yao noticed the moment Void’s Aegis de-spawned and decisively made the call to go on Faceless Void. Even though Faceless Void immediately bought back and went to Roshan again, giving NaVi an insurmountable lead, Yao’s decision making and awareness in that case still won LGD another short chance to turn the game around. The other example is LGD’s group match against Zenith, on the easy lane Yao was faced with heavy pressure and lost out on much experience and farm, yet by mid-game Yao had gradually caught himself back up. Of course, that match had many other influences such as Blink Dagger on Shadow Shaman, iceiceice’s actions, etc… but stil, Yao’s turnaround ability on Queen of Pain was impressive.

If we need to mention Yao’s weaknesses, I think even though he’s not as fierce as 430 when given good farm and development, it’s not necessarily a weakness of his, this is something that is dependent on the team. On the other hand, Yao should work on being more consistent, and avoiding key mistakes. Another is to learn some more heroes, such as Templar Assassin. It can be said that 430 relied on Templar Assassin to take the championship, and Mu’s TA was excellent as well. Yao should go and practice on TA a bit.

2. 430 (signature hero at TI2: Templar Assassin)

430’s hair has gotten a bit longer, so it’s a lot better than when he had shorter hair during the G-league. But it’s still not as good as originally…

430’s main characteristics should be common knowledge to fans by now. Given good farm and space to grow, he can make any opponent look like little kids, but his ability to make things happen in tough situations is almost non-existent. I’ve been saying the same thing these few days, if 430 improved his abilities in that area then iG might truly become invincible. After seeing EG’s strategy, perhaps more Chinese teams will begin to focus on countering 430 a bit more, and hopefully with that experience, 430 can develop into a player that can thrive in both favorable and unfavorable situations.

430 I think, still mainly has the problem of making the correct adjustments for laning. If he has the right form for laning, then he’s someone everyone fears. For example Rubick, people have been saying Dendi is the world’s best Rubick. 430’s Rubick however is definitely not worse than Dendi’s. In the G-league, 430’s Rubick against a Tidehunter, at the same moment Tidehunter’s arm raised for Ravage, 430 turns on his BKB, steals the Ravage, and counter-Ravages all in one second. You could say, any mechanical skill you see is pretty much something that 430 can also do, his only problem is whether he can get into a game in top form. Ignoring the Blink Dagger question, 430’s item choices on Rubick I still think are the most logical.

Lastly, the most worthy of mentioning is 430’s Templar Assassin. Exaggerating a bit, it can be said that 430 basically rode Templar Assassin to victory. Really, very good. 430 doesn’t know how to face adverse situations, but 430 with TA means that he pretty much won’t ever fall into a bad farming/laning situation. 430 pretty much is the best user of TA. His usage of TA’s laning is like every one of his attacks is a Windrunner Shackle. No matter what the opponent is doing, they have to always pay close attention to positioning. 430’s TA is worth learning from. I don’t play a lot now, or else I would just analyze first person views of 430’s TA closely to see how he plays.

3. Super (signature hero at TI2: Invoker)

Most disappointing for me this time was Super… not that it’s anything else, just that my expectations for him were really high. Super’s form might be worse than last year, but his Invoker during the G-league was still fearsome against iG. Why then, it seemed like at TI2 his signature Invoker lacked something? Exaggerating a bit, in DK’s wins, Super’s performances can merely be counted as normal. This TI2, his performances were really not on par with top tier solos such as 430, MU, Yao.

Super not knowing how to play melee heroes is something that we’ve talked about on Sgamer before, giving him Tidehunter or Brewmaster, DK pretty much has never won. In the bans and picks, DK giving him Storm Spirit wasn’t bad, so then why give him Brewmaster… Also, give Super Pugna and protect him a bit in early game, this is a very strong choice. So I don’t know why DK dropped the Pugna plus Earthshaker combo, in Dota2 these two heroes never get banned. Seems like they only picked them once, and won. Don’t know why they didn’t continue that…

Hopefully Super focuses on improving his form, in terms of skill he definitely matches up with top tier solos like 430, it all comes down to form. Hopefully he can get the right attitude, and play to greater confidence.

Coming later… Sgamer’s 3, 4, 5 position evaluations