Bizarre Dota 2 base race leads to nailbiter ESL One ending

The final match of a Dota 2 series between beastcoast and Wind and Rain at the ESL One Hamburg tournament was an hour-long slobberknocker with a wild ending.

The best games in titles like League of Legends and Dota 2 are the games that snowball slowly over time before turning into an avalanche of chaos.

On the stage of the Barclaycard Arena in Hamburg, Germany, two teams went to war in the first round of the lower bracket of ESL One. Their final map was an absolute classic, and came down to a bizarre base race between the two teams. Even the official Dota 2 account for ESL couldn’t believe it.

Beastcoast had just won a massive teamfight late in the match, and were knocking on the door of the Wind and Rain base. 

As the players where whittling down the Radiant fountain, Wind and Rain’s AI-controlled minions – better known as creeps – were trying to win the game for their team while most of their players were still waiting to resurrect.

But humans beat computers this time, as the Beastcoast players melted down the Wind and Rain Fountain’s health to zero just seconds before their own base would have been depleted by creeps.

• Read more: $300,000 Dota 2 minor played in surprising location

This phenomenon is commonly referred to as a base race, and occurs at the end of matches when both teams abandon the typical battles within lanes and jungles and opt to race each other to see who can destroy the base and end the match first.

The chaotic end to the third game was the perfect way to finish the series, described by desk host Paul ‘RedEye’ Chaloner as “one of the most exciting series since The International.” RedEye also said video of the epic series is worth grabbing if you’re a big fan of Dota.