Cover-Credits:
Galaxy Racer is beginning to cement its mark on the scene with its reformed roster as it has won the BTS Pro Series S7: Southeast Asia (SEA). They played Fnatic in the grand final, the team they had previously beaten in the upper bracket final. It appeared that Fnatic's aggressive approach, draft, and gameplay were going to bring them victory in the tournament, as they were leading 2-0. However, Galaxy Racer rebounded strongly to counteract this aggression in the next two games. The fifth game was the best of them all, as Galaxy Racer made an incredible comeback to win the grand finals 3-2.
Fnatic vs Galaxy Racer: Match Recap and Highlights
Recap
In game one, Fnatic outdrafted Galaxy Racer with a highly aggressive draft and then dominated the lanes. After just 20 minutes, Fnatic was all set to pierce the enemy high ground, but Galaxy Racer prolonged the game for a little while with some sneaky creep cutting. But they only delayed the inevitable, as they lost the game in 27 minutes.
In game two, Galaxy Racer picked AlaCrity's signature Meepo as the last pick. Around the 15 minute mark, the team won two crucial teamfights, giving them a 5k lead. However, Fnatic played the map extremely well following that to keep getting kills as well as finding space to farm. Ultimately, Fnatic established a lead of more than 10k to win in 34 minutes.
In Game 3, Galaxy Racer made a comeback with its first phase, Templar Assassin. They managed to hold on this time despite another extremely push heavy and aggressive draft and play from Fnatic. Fnatic couldn't compete with Galaxy Racer in the latter part of the game as they were defeated in 33 minutes.
Game 4 was relatively slow as both teams wanted their safe lane carries to farm, Medusa for Galaxy Racer and Terrorblade for Fnatic. A few skirmishes occurred during the course of the game but only led to minor advantages. Fnatic overextended during one of its high ground pushes, and Medusa was able to clean them up with a Divine Rapier. Galaxy Racer then proceeded to go after tier four towers and ended in 42 minutes.
For Game 5, Fnatic stuck to Terrorblade for Raven whilst banning Medusa. ChYuan was doing a lot of work on his mid Kunkka as Fnatic ran over Galaxy Racer in the early and middle stages. With one Barracks and a networth down, Galaxy Racer somehow managed to mount an incredible comeback. During the teamfight that involved numerous buybacks, they demonstrated top notch spellcasting to win the teamfight and the game in 46 minutes.
Highlights
Here are some highlights of the series.
Galaxy Racer will be delighted to win its first tournament in a very long time. The fact that it came against the best SEA teams will make the victory even sweeter. This team was reformed before The International 10 (TI10)'s SEA qualifier and is visibly on an upward trajectory. They placed 5th-6th at the qualifier, 4th at the PNXBET Invitationals Southeast Asia Season 2, and now 1st at the BTS Pro Series Season 7: Southeast Asia.
Fnatic has performed quite well since its roster was updated before the qualifiers, much like Galaxy Racer. This team displayed its class and looked the best when it played to its potential. Despite this, Galaxy Racer was a cut above them in the event, as they defeated them not once but twice in the playoffs.
Neither team is currently scheduled to play in any upcoming Dota 2 events. Fnatic has qualified for and will compete at TI10 which will take place in October 2021.
