Having lost to UCSC the previous weekend, UCSD Dota came into this match with a point to prove. In Game 1, UCSD decided to implement a new strategy by picking some unconventional heroes. Mark Zheng (Mangodormu) demonstrated his rock solid consistency in the offlane again playing as the main tank and enabling his teammates with saves. After winning the lane top, Mark and Sam Baik (qorbear) quickly took over the game by forcing hero rotations top and rotating mid to connect with Tahmid Khan (TMK). In a crushing 33 minute game, UCSD proved triumphant in Game 1. In Game 2, UCSD drafted a famous and meta hero combination of Morphling and Earthshaker. With the power of early tempo heroes played by Tahmid and Mark, Wei (Draray) was able to quickly purchase an Aghanim’s Scepter and fully utilize the Earthshaker and Morphling combo to end the game with Sam. Today’s match was an excellent reminder of UCSD’s strengths and their potential for what is to come in the season.