Followers have been handled to what felt like a Dota 2 stage present on the final day earlier than The Worldwide 2022’s week-long break heading into the finals. Not a single staff might get a successful streak going aside from Crew Liquid as beastcoast and PSG.LGD bid farewell to the event regardless of their greatest efforts.
Liquid’s streak wasn’t straightforward to realize both, because the Western European consultant was up towards South America’s remaining hope, Thunder Awaken, after sweeping OG.
TA, being probably the most explosive groups at TII, proved themselves to be worthy opponents for the extra methodical WEU squad, as the 2 groups weren’t solely evenly matched however ended up buying and selling blows in a number of fights each recreation that might simply have swung a lesser collection.
Although the collection turned out to be TA’s remaining experience at TI11, they nonetheless made historical past as they achieved the very best end at a TI for any staff out of South America. Along with breaking a report, each TA and Liquid showcased magical performances that may have inspired the followers to queue up for a recreation of Dota 2—after getting their heartrate down from the epic conclusion.
TA got here into the collection with their typical guns-blazing strategy, resulting in the only receiver of SA’s hopes and prayers wiping the ground with Liquid within the early recreation. They have been doing something and every thing to stress their opponents, however Liquid nonetheless discovered a strategy to bide time and keep within the recreation.
Given the hectic nature of the sport and each groups’ drafts, there was a struggle mainly each three minutes, and they might every happen in a unique a part of the map. Most of them are solely utilized by one aspect to bait out key gadgets or talents to arrange for the following interplay.
The victory was so shut at hand, and but TA simply couldn’t maintain Liquid contained lengthy sufficient to finish the sport. That ultimately led to a number of lead modifications and the EU staff setting the stage for a Mega Creeps comeback pushing into TA’s excessive floor.
Nevertheless, Liquid’s flawless execution would deliver their very own demise as TA turned an epic teamfight round proper after Boxi caught three heroes on TA’s aspect with an Avalanche and a Lifestealer infest bomb able to go together with him. Regardless of that play, Liquid lacked the harm to deliver down any of them, which set the stage for a two-person Black Gap on Lifestealer and Tiny, two necessary targets TA wanted to cope with to swing the sport.
After killing off three members of Liquid with out buybacks, TA marched down the mid lane to interrupt the remaining defenses. With solely Boxi’s Tiny alive, TA have been poised to finish all of it—although Liquid’s offlaner wasn’t simply going to let it occur free of charge.
To set off the backdoor protection of Liquid’s base, Boxi jumped on the approaching creepwave to chop it off and stop TA from ending the sport then and there. However there was only a single drawback. He missed a single Creep.
That lone Creep averted demise and raced into Liquid’s base to an uproar of the Singapore crowd cheering it on. The final remaining Radiant Creep was escorted into Liquid’s base to assist TA land the ultimate blows on the Historical, securing recreation one.
The second match of the collection was significantly much less thrilling as Liquid took the lead early within the recreation and suffocated TA off the match by claiming all of the sources on the map with the assistance of zai’s Broodmother. Nevertheless, that calm didn’t final lengthy, because the water bottle-throwing motion was again for recreation three.
Although TA couldn’t take the gold lead till the 37-minute-mark, the SA aspect was in a position to shut down everybody, however zai on Liquid’s aspect, and all of the teamfights have been going TA’s approach. At the very least till Liquid’s Pangolier picked up a Cranium Basher that might change the sport’s destiny.
Liquid masterfully performed round TA’s Enigma, avoiding getting Black Gap’d with a number of heroes in a couple of fights in a row, however that didn’t cease TA as they made a key push into Liquid’s base, and DarkMago was in a position to pull off the seventh ever Rampage kill streak within the historical past of TI’s essential stage.
Sadly for TA, that Rampage was the final look they might have at Liquid’s Historical, as Matu secured a buyback simply in time to leap again in with the remainder of Liquid and filter out the opposition. With no buybacks on any hero for no less than a minute, Liquid made their approach down the midlane to take the sport whereas SA’s final hope ready for its final stand.
Regardless of a quantity’s drawback, TA caught miCKE’s Pangolier with a Black Gap and began bursting him down. However with precision and persistence, MATUMBAMAN’s Lifestealer saved the Pango proper as his HP dropped to at least one.
Matu stored his cool as the ultimate struggle carried on in TA’s base, refraining from a jump-in for harm and standing close to miCKE to return his Pangolier to life with an Infest well being bonus that turned the tide of the interplay. And, whereas Liquid would go on to win the collection and a top-four placement at TI11, one of these present simply shows how unimaginable TA’s run really was.
From a staff that’s missed out on TI10 with NoPing e-sports to a formidable roster able to taking video games off of the perfect groups on this planet, TA stepped up on Dota’s greatest stage this yr.
By ending in a tie for fifth place, this TA roster exits TI11 after reaching the furthest of any staff from the area earlier than them, surpassing the earlier seventh-place report set by the present beastcoast roster at TI9 after they performed for Notorious.
Not solely that, however TI11 marks one other historic flip for SA, because it was the primary time three groups from the area made it to the occasion’s essential stage. Hokori, beastcoast, and TA may not be lifting the Aegis of Champions this yr, however all of them fought with every thing that they had and confirmed simply how highly effective SA has develop into since being formally named a area in 2017.
SA’s time within the highlight received’t be fading any time quickly, and this final hoorah from TA may simply encourage the following wave of expertise from the area to hop into pubs.
