Talon Esports Keeps SEA Hopes Alive at the Lima Major 2023

With a 2-0 victory over HellRaisers in the lower bracket, Talon Esports moved one step ahead as the sole Southeast Asian (SEA) team left in the race for the title at the Lima Major 2023. Despite getting swept by Team Liquid in the upper bracket series, the SEA team bounced back strongly, proving to be more consistent and stable than its opponents. HellRaisers tripped itself up with a greedy draft in the first game, which Talon capitalized on, while Talon simply had better execution of gameplay in the second game. This loss eliminates HellRaisers from the Lima Major 2023 in 9th-12th place.

Talon Esports vs HellRaisers: Match recap and highlights

Recap

In game 1, HellRaisers opted for a highly greedy draft, with a mid Outworld Destroyer, carry Slark, offlane Magnus, and support Techies. Things did not go well for the squad because Talon exerted pressure immediately and found kills. This trend continued, and the networth of the three cores increased dramatically. Despite a few kills here and there, HellRaisers could never obtain the necessary space on its heroes and lost the game in 43 minutes after giving away as many as 56 kills. Solo died 18 times, with his final inventory consisting of just Boots of Speed, Magic Wand, and Force Staff.

In game 2, HellRaisers had a better draft with the all-around balance. Nevertheless, Mikoto provided Talon an early advantage by outplaying its opponent in the midlane, and with the other two side lanes also performing well, the team had an early networth advantage. HellRaisers did not let this game slip away quickly and earned a few strong teamfight wins, followed by Aegis on Yuragi.

Talon, on the other hand, was never stopped from farming, and astonishingly, all five of its players were attaining critical item timings. This made teamfights extremely difficult for HellRaisers, who eventually succumbed to the massive damage and lost the second game in 43 minutes.

Even Q had purchased Echo Sabre and Aghanim's Scepter for Talon on Tiny, while Oli had purchased Aghanim's Scepter and Mask of Madness on Elder Titan.

Highlights

Here are some highlights of the series.

Talon was the most experienced SEA team coming into Lima Major 2023 and has seemingly utilized that advantage to remain competitive against the top teams around the globe. Unfortunately, it was up against Team Liquid, widely considered to be a top favorite for the Major, in the upper bracket, but now will have its sights set on making a deep run through the lower bracket.

There has generally been a lot of greedy and slow play from the team, something that is typical of the SEA region this season, but it has worked out in most of their games this Major. Next up for Talon is Team Spirit in the lower bracket on 3rd March.