MATUMBAMAN and Staff Liquid appear to abide by the immortal phrases of the honorable Donté Panlin: “Life is however a sport. And I’ve definitely come to play.” Or a minimum of it regarded prefer it with how arduous they needed to struggle to take down Thunder Awaken and safe a top-four spot at The Worldwide 2022.
From a comeback towards Mega Creeps that ought to have been inconceivable to miCKe surviving on one HP and leaping again right into a game-winning struggle, your complete sequence was filled with moments that had the gang screaming. Caster Austin “Cap” Walsh summed it up finest, calling your complete factor “unbe-fucking-lievable.”
Recreation one noticed Thunder Awaken management issues early, however each side would wrestle management away from the opposite a number of occasions, together with Liquid very practically ending the sport with an virtually excellent highground push. Nonetheless, they overextended with out their buybacks in a really atypical transfer for the normally disciplined group, leading to a single Creep main the game-ending push for the throne at slightly below an hour.
Liquid in a short time established dominance in sport two, displaying that they’d not make the identical errors that value them within the opener. With zai’s Broodmother as the focus, Liquid closed off the map, performed inside their means, and compelled TA to play from awkward positioning. MiCKe even set a new experience per-minute record for the TI playoffs on his Puck at 987 XPM.
However for every little thing that sport two was, sport three wasn’t because it was nearer to a reverse displaying from sport one with Liquid because the early chief whereas TA needed to battle again.
The ultimate SA group would ultimately reclaim the lead and put themselves in a powerful place to take the sport, however at this degree of Dota fights can final for minutes, and even when one facet appears to be like like issues are beneath management, they will shortly snowball the opposite means.
Associated: MATUMBAMAN locks in happiness regardless of Liquid’s TI11 result
TA held the entire playing cards in a late-game push to Liquid’s excessive floor. Nonetheless, miCKe bashed Sacred’s Enigma as he used his Blink Dagger, stopping him from doing something and making him dieback. That single interplay was a turning level for Liquid, as regardless that DarkMago pulled off simply the seventh Rampage ever on a TI primary stage, Liquid took the struggle and left all of TA useless with no buybacks for over a minute.
That opening allowed Liquid to regroup and partake in each Dota participant’s favourite exercise—working down mid to finish the sport. But it surely wasn’t that straightforward, as TA purchased sufficient time to place up one final struggle.
South America’s closing stand was virtually sufficient to carry and probably prolong the sport once more, however Matu learn the state of affairs completely. The Lifestealer held his place as a substitute of leaping in after which managed to Infest miCKe’s Pangolier when he had precisely one HP, permitting him to outlive a centered Black Gap and get off a Rolling Thunder.
That single transfer probably swung that final struggle, giving Liquid sufficient of a gap to activate a surprised Matthew and Sacred earlier than pushing for the throne.
With this win, Liquid locked in a top-four placement at TI11 after getting into as one of many closing groups out of the Final Probability Qualifier. They’ll play Staff Aster for a shot at a top-three end as they be part of the Chinese language group and two different Western European squads, Team Secret and Tundra Esports, for finals weekend.
As for Thunder Awaken have formally cemented themselves in Dota 2 history, changing into the highest-placing group from the SA area to ever take part at a TI with their fifth-place exit.
