Cover-Credits:
Valve
The trend of 2-0 stomps in the Upper Brackets continued at The International 2022 (TI11), with OG and Team Liquid both losing to Tundra Esports and Team Aster in the opening matches of Day 2. Neither OG nor Liquid managed to put up much resistance against their opponents and will now be forced to continue their journey at TI11 through the lower brackets. Tundra Esports and Team Aster have secured a Top 6 finish and at least $600K USD in prize money.
Tundra Esports pick apart OG in Day 2 opener
Tundra Esports destroyed OG 2-0 in the opening series of Day 2 with the first game lasting only 24 minutes. Ammar "ATF" Al-Assaf was completely neutered on his Sand King right from the start. After dying multiple times, his impact in the later portions was also diminished with an early Pipe of Insight and a Wraith Pact. Without its primary playmaker, OG simply couldn't stand up to Tundra Esports and GGd out in just 24 minutes.
OG put up stiffer resistance in the second game but ultimately crumbled to Tundra Esports' superior teamfight execution and map movements.
Team Liquid crumble against Team Aster
Team Liquid made Michael "miCKe" Vu's Shadow Fiend and Samuel "Boxi" Svahn as the focal points of their drafts in both games. But Team Aster had answers at every turn. While Aster's mid lane Leshrac handled by Zeng "Ori" Jiaoyang lost the laning phase, Du "Monet" Pen had stellar games (first on the Sniper, then on Terrorblade) to give the Chinese team the edge in both games.
It seemed like Team Liquid simply did not have a plan B for their strategies. They appeared to mentally crumble at the first sign of things going wrong for them. This has been a problem for the team throughout the Dota 2 Pro Circuit this season and needs to change if the team hopes to make a deep run through the lower bracket.
TI11 continues with the Lower Bracket as Evil Geniuses take on the resurging beastcoast. There is an interesting dynamic to the series as it was beastcoast's victory over Fnatic at The Arlington Major that secured the North American team a place at TI11.
