Cover-Credits:
T1 and Polaris Esports entered the Bo3 tiebreaker for the third and final slot in the Southeast Asia (SEA) region of the ESL One Stockholm Major 2022, where T1 emerged victorious by a score of 2-0. Although Polaris Esports gave everything during the two games, T1 was just a level above in the series today, executing every move with planning and precision to outplay its rivals. T1’s midlaner Karl "Karl" Matthew Baldovino dominated on Storm Spirit in both games, utilizing the Null Talisman strategy to full effect. With his relentless zip-zapping, he was a menace for Polaris Esports during teamfights.
BOOM Esports, Fnatic, and T1 will now represent the Southeast Asian region at the Stockholm Major.
T1 vs Polaris Esports: Match Recap and Highlights
Recap
In game 1, while T1 played at a slow pace, it was an optimal approach considering its draft required time to grow stronger. Polaris was aware of this and attempted to move across the map, but most of their attempts failed because T1 was doing a superb job of avoiding ganks, cutting losses, and farming to maximum efficiency. Thus, the team was in a strong position for the entirety of the game, and when it reached important item timings, it went on the offensive. Polaris was completely outplayed in teamfights, and T1 ended up winning in 51 minutes.
In game 2, Polaris Esports chose a carry Nature's Prophet, demonstrating its intention to play at a fast pace. In the first half of the game, the team succeeded in doing exactly that and had an advantage of 10k at 26 minutes. The aggressiveness of Polaris had to remain high, but it faltered on one occasion which enabled T1 to get back into the game. As the game progressed, Polaris' heroes had a lot of farm and Natsumi's Nature's Prophet also topped the networth chart by a substantial margin, but its draft just dropped off. Karl once again set up teamfights with great use of Electric Vortex, and eventually, T1 won in 59 minutes.
Highlights
Here are some highlights of the series between T1 and Polaris Esports.
T1 avenged a series loss against Polaris Esports earlier in the tournament, showing up when it matters most. T1 was contested a lot during the series, but its excellent execution during teamfights, arguably the team's biggest strength, which was lacking in some of the previous series, shone through today. Despite not winning the season, the team will be happy to have made it to the Major, where it will have a chance to redeem itself against BOOM Esports and Fnatic.
Polaris Esports might have missed a Major slot by a narrow margin, but they continue to impress. Having climbed from Division 2 in Tour 1 to now being competitive with the best teams in SEA, the team has shown amazing growth over the last few months. Polaris will now look forward to the next Major when it returns to Division 1 in Tour 3.
