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　　Fnatic and Natus Vincere have been going blow for blow for the last two weeks.

　　Na'vi beat Fnatic at the Major League Gaming Championship, Fnatic swept Na'vi in the DreamLeague playoff upper bracket, Na'vi returned the favor by sweeping Fnatic in the DreamLeague Grand Finals, and today Fnatic would eliminate Na'vi from from the D2L playoffs.

　　While the Alliance and Na'vi rivalry is the one most frequently mentioned Dota, I think it's time we start thinking about the growing rivalry between these two teams.

　　Season 3 Champions @natusvincere have been eliminated. @FNATIC advances to face @TeamLiquidPro for the final Las Vegas spot on Thursday.

　　— HyperX D2L (@D2LGG) December 3, 2013

　　Game One Fnatic Bans: Elder Titan, Windranger, Chaos Knight, Outworld Devourer, Puck

　　Game Two Fnatic Picks: Enchantress, Visage, Alchemist, Weaver, Venomancer

　　Game One Na'vi Bans: Nature's Prophet, Lifestealer, Bounty Hunter, Bat Rider, Timbersaw

　　Game One Na'vi Picks: Io, Chen, Clockwerk, Bristleback, Storm Spirt

　　So, you know, the first game of the series started with six deaths in the first minute.

　　Fnatic would quickly ban out the Chaos Knight once they saw the Io pick, but Na'vi would surprise us all by picking Bristleback for their carry Alexander 'XBOCT' Dashkevich. It didn't work all that well, but it wasn't so bad as a fringe pick either. No minds were blown, but it worked as a proof of concept. Fnatic would end up going on to win this very scrappy game.

　　Game Two Fnatic Bans: Chen, Enchantress, Weaver, Luna, Windranger

　　Game Two Fnatic Picks: Lifestealer, Visage, Nyx Assassin, Bounty Hunter, Pugna

　　Game Two Na'vi Bans: Elder Titan, Io, Venomancer, Bat Rider, Puck

　　Game Two Na'vi Picks: Nature's Prophet, Crystal Maiden, Alchemist, Clinkz, Templar Assassin

　　Fnatic's initial bans in game two follow the same philosophy that I noted in our DreamHack recap. Fnatic, here, is keen on not letting Clement 'Puppey' Ivanov getting his signature support heroes. Chen and Enchantress go out immediately. Fnatic's draft is nothing unusual with fairly standard 6.79 era picks while Na'vi grabs a support Alchemist and puts XBOCT on Clinkz. While these aren't mind-melting picks, they certainly feel like more fresh and contemporary than Fnatic's. Yes, I'm aware support Alch was popular before he became a carry and that Clinkz was played heavily as in the one position last year, but those styles fell out of vogue before their resurgence recently.

　　Na'vi would go on to win this game.

　　Game Three Fnatic Bans: Elder Titan, Crystal Maiden, Chen, Puck, Bounty Hunter

　　Game Three Fnatic Picks: Enchantress, Visage, Batrider, Timbersaw, Luna

　　Game Three Na'vi Bans: Nature's Prophet, Lifestealer, Venomancer, Alchemist, Weaver

　　Game Three Na'vi Picks: Io, Chaos Knight, Doom Bringer, Outworld Devourer, Ancient Apparition

　　When I saw the draft my gut told me that Alliance was going to win, but that wasn't the case. Fnatic would fight through Na'vi's global presence, even getting early kills of their own, and would go on to take the series. Fnatic's support players really shined in this game.

　　Look forward to Fnatic versus Team Liquid later in the week for the final spot at the Dota 2 League Grand Finals in Las Vegas.

　　Photo Credit: Valve