Breaking the first giant

He only replayed the first two minutes of the matchup in his head like a short but dangerous formula. Scout positions. First creep. Militia Creep. Second Creep Camp. Can the expansion go down. Do you need towers first. He had been writing that formula for too long. The map was Northern Isles, a standard tempo map. For Nathan, that kind of map was not about whether he could be greedy. It was about whether he understood exactly when greed was safe and when it was death. He opened with the usual Archmage creep, brought militia on time, and soaked the experience perfectly. The first Water Elemental was not there to get a kill. It was there to split the pressure and buy Hero Level control. Icarus Thorn came fast, just as expected.