Sweden and Russia, considered by many the two favorites to win MYM's Prime Nations Tournament, essentially the Olympics of DotA, encountered each other for the second time in the Lowerbracket Finals with high stakes. The winner of this match would advance to the overall finals to play Denmark for first place in the tournament - and a prize of 1000 euros.

The first time these two teams met, Russia pulled out a thrilling 2-1 victory over the Swedish. This time, the two nations met with significant roster changes. Sweden was missing SK|Loda (on vacation touring Europe), widely considered Sweden's best player and one of the top players in the world, and played JesseQ instead.

Though the loss of a player of Loda's caliber hurts any team, Sweden still fielded an extremely strong team with Kwom, Akke, JesseQ, Drayich, and tompa. Before the match, they looked ready to upset the slightly favored Russians.

Russia and Sweden both came into this match having shown a variety of innovative hero lineups throughout the playoffs and didn't disappoint. Witch Doctor played by Vigoss, Stealth Assassin played by ARS-ART, and Jungle Centaur played by JesseQ all made an appearance in game 1; Vigoss's Shadow Priest in Game 2 played a key role in the eventual outcome. Even Lord of Abbadon - a hero rarely picked in league play before this tournament - was banned in both matches by Sweden.

Russia emerged victorious from Game 1 thanks to excellent play by ARS-ART as Stealth Assassin - who eventually went Beyond Godlike - as well as strong teamwork. Sweden wasn't helped by a communications mishap: JesseQ wasn't able to enter Ventrilo with the other members of the Sweden and Team Sweden's coordination suffered as a result.

In Game 2, the Russian team put vigoss's Shadow Priest in a solo middle lane position, an unusual laning strategy that paid off as Russia gained an insurmountable advantage through midgame, fostered by strong teamwork and four Blink Daggers to dictate battles. After a disconnect, Sweden elected to forfeit the match rather than reload the game.

Again, congratulations to Russia for their victory in the Lower Bracket Finals! The date and time for the Overall Finals between Denmark and Russia (which will be GGTV-broadcasted) should be announced soon!

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