Only three teams remain as TI8 leads into its final day. In the end, it was Evil Geniuses who’ve made it to the top 3 in one of the most stacked TIs in recent history.
Game 1:
Some early lane shuffling favored Liquid in game 1, but it was only because they were trying to dodge a disadvantageous Bottom lane. They didn’t support Mind_Control’s Enchantress enough in the early to mid game, who was getting pressured by a duo Ursa+Dark Willow lane.
Miracle had a strong start on his Chaos Knight but was either never able to find a solid teamfight as EG just chose to disengage whenever Liquid initiated cutting their losses, or his team wasn’t able to capitalize on it. SumaiL was instantaneous with his counter-initiations, and eventually, Arteezy’s Ursa became too strong to be answered.
But Liquid fought back, as they strung together several kills allowing Miracle to get overfarmed and in the process secured themselves a lot of farm as well. 4 out of the 5 Liquid heroes finished the game with hearts as they tried to make EG get into a damage deficit.
However, EG’s smart itemizations, as well as well-executed combos like an Aghanim’s Electric Vortex into a Aghanim’s Chain Frost, ensured that Team Liquid could be overwhelmed in the later stages and secured EG a 1-0 lead.
We take our first lead of the game off a long, protracted team fight! Check out the @AorusOfficial Action Replay to see what happened. pic.twitter.com/vjZpRGP7Ji
— Evil Geniuses (@EvilGeniuses) August 25, 2018
Game 2:
Facing elimination, Liquid turned towards Miracle’s tried and tested Terrorblade for lategame security and to carry them towards victory. Unfortunately, even though Team Liquid’s cores got off to a hot start, Cr1t managed to put EG on his back and carried them forward toward the mid game where he absolutely dominated proceedings and set the tempo of the game.
EG’s draft just had more synergy. Dark Willow+1 was more often than not, able to kill off any hero on the map and paved the way for Arteezy’s Spectre to farm his way to victory in just 35 minutes.
Evil Geniuses have defeated Liquid 2-0, eliminating the defending champs and setting up a fight against PSG.LGD for a chance at the Grand Final. If they triumph, it will set up a rematch with OG. #TI8 pic.twitter.com/ZHpQbXe2N9
— DOTA 2 (@DOTA2) August 25, 2018
With this victory SumaiL and S4 have the chance to become TI's first two-time champions. They will go up against PSG.LGD in the lower bracket finals. The winner of that series will move on to play OG in the Grand Finals with over $10 Million on the line.