The International 2022 (TI11) has finally begun, with the Last Chance Qualifiers (LCQ) kicking off the event. 12 teams from across the world will compete in the Last Chance Qualifiers for the next five days to fight for the final two spots at TI11’s Group Stage, which will start next weekend. In the meantime, the first day of the LCQ saw Group B’s T1 facing off against Team Liquid.
While many favored T1 to win the series, the series ended up being a stomp as Team Liquid claimed the victory 2-0.
T1 vs Team Liquid: Match recap
While many viewers favored T1 for having both Anathan "ana" Pham and Topias "Topson" Taavitsainen in its lineup, Team Liquid were looking to prove the doubters wrong after an average Dota Pro Circuit season.
Game One
In Game One, T1 went for a comfortable draft as it picked up Gyrocopter for ana, Primal Beast for Topson and Legion Commander for Kuku “Kuku” Palad. Team Liquid on the other hand, went for Terrorblade, Pangolier and Dark Seer as its core lineup.
The first 30 minutes went heavily in the way of T1, as Topson’s Primal Beast was stomping the opposition with ease. However, a few mistakes in the late game saw Team Liquid taking advantage of the situation and regaining the lead of the game. The game ended after 40 minutes as Team Liquid claimed Game One after an interesting back and forth game.
Game Two
In Game Two, Team Liquid were looking to secure the 2-0 as it drafted an aggressive lineup, with Lifestealer, Storm Spirit and Centaur Warrunner as the core lineup. T1 opted to draft something different by picking up a mid lane Enchantress and an offlane Bounty Hunter.
While the early game again went in the way of T1, the mid game saw Team Liquid having full control as Lasse "MATUMBAMAN" Urpalainen’s Lifestealer and Michael "miCKe" Vu’s Storm Spirit dominated T1’s lineup. Game Two ended after 30 minutes with T1 tapping out from the series.
Lasse "MATUMBAMAN" Urpalainen had a great performance in the series, having a combined KDA of 26/2/21 as Terrorblade and Lifestealer.
Team Liquid will face Infamous later today in the group stages of the LCQ as it looks to close Day One with a 2-0 victory. T1 on the other hand, will be looking to get off the mark when it faces Infamous in its next series at TI11 LCQ.