[nindalf]

Loved the strategy used by Pain. They recognised that fighting OpenAI wasn’t working so they actively avoided fights. They recognised strategic shortcomings, like the AI’s reluctance to pressure lanes and exploited it. What disappointed me a bit is that the AI didn’t make a concerted effort to win the game when it was strongest.

[_ptgt]

This type of playstyle adjustment by Pain is just standard Dota strategy tbh. When your team is losing teamfights, you avoid teamfights unless you know you have an imminent advantage (terrain, towers, initiation, numbers, etc.). A big part of avoiding teamfights is splitting up and putting pressure on lanes so that the other team has to split up to defend their towers. If they are split up and defending their towers, they can't group up and force fights at objectives (Roshan, towers, w/e) that your team would have to group up to defend.

Not to take anything away from Pain--just making it to TI is enough to prove that they're excellent Dota players.