Dotaland note: Small feature/opinion piece reflecting on DK…

Original: http://dota2.17173.com/news/12042012/175256792.shtml

As champions of nine events in 2011, the kings DK have performed less than ideally in 2012; after winning G-1 2012 Season 1, they’ve spent a long period of time away from the top.

G-League, ACE Dota Pro League, the Dota2 International 2, the three big events of this summer all saw DK fall short of their goal. Worse, apart from the G-League, they failed to even make the finals. “A team cannot perpetually be in good form, it’s quite normal to see a drop, and participating in both Dota1 and Dota2 is a big factor as well,” DK’s manager Farseer said at the time.

At the same time as WCG China region finals were going on, DK announced that they were officially transitioning to Dota2, and this paved the path for DK to focus on preparation for the upcoming WCG World Finals.

On the 29th of November, WCG 2012 World Finals officially kicked off. In the Dota2 competition, DK was placed in a group with Orange and the Ukrainian team led by Dendi, this group was commonly seen as this competition’s group of death. In the first group stage match, DK comfortably defeated Orange, and following that they also achieved a win over Team Ukraine, thus defeating in succession both of the major threats to their advancement from the group and securing a certain spot in the next stage as leaders of their group. “Our preparations for this WCG have been excellent, we’re have a lot of confidence that we will win it all,” were the words BurNing declared after the group stage.

In the semi-finals, DK’s opponents would be team DevilMice from Belarus. This match was, like the matches before, without suspense as DK achieved a complete 2-0 victory to advance to the finals. And, with their match complete, DK enthusiastically went to spectate the other on-going semi-final match between iG and Orange.

In the finals matchup, DK once again met their rivals iG. In both G-League and The International 2, it was defeats to iG that stopped DK’s progress, and so here DK swore to overcome their adversaries… “This WCG is the first to include Dota2 competition, and at the same time is held in China, so it has special meaning. We absolutely must take the championship,” were the desires that DK.Farseer put into words beforehand.

On the day of the match, because of time constraints, the first game of DK vs iG was played in the off-stage competition area. In this game, iG used a Magnus and Brewmaster combo to successfully delay their opponents, leaving ample room for their Anti-mage to grow; and as Anti-mage got built up, iG gradually took the game to a win for themselves.

On the 2nd of December around 11AM, the second game between these two teams began to play out on othe main stage. Under the gaze of thousands of live audience viewers, iG once again drafted the Magnus Brewmaster combo, but this time it was clear that DK had made adjustments — they held an early advantage. Yet, as the game went on, iG’s overall roster superiority gradually began to show, and even though DK resolutely stood firm in defense for a time, they ultimately fell once again in front of iG……

The glories of 2011, the pities of 2012… the ‘Galacticos’ of Dota have fallen from such heights a year ago to such depths recently. Even though DK has placed decently in most competitions this year, it is certain that what they want the most is that long-lost championship title.