Team Liquid and Thunder Awaken gave it their all in one of the best games seen in The Internationals (TI) history. But the Western European team held strong and clutched out a win in the lower bracket series at the end to secure a Top 4 finish. This series began with Thunder making a spectacular megacreep comeback to take an early 1-0 lead, but Liquid took the loss in stride and came back strongly to win the second game with a lot of top-tier play.

Then came the final game. With their TI11's lives on the line, the two teams put on a back-and-forth nail-biting show which concluded with Team Liquid winning and sending the entire TI11 arena to its feet, applauding the greatness of the Dota 2 action that they had just witnessed.

Team Liquid vs Thunder Awaken: Match recap and highlights

Recap

Game 1 was one of the most enthralling contests of TI11. Both teams were engaged from the start, as Thunder cruised to an 8k lead after 22 minutes thanks to a few minor teamfight wins. But it was precisely at this point that Liquid leveraged its draft power spike to offset Thunder's lead and bring the game back to level. It ultimately came down to the stronger teamfight performance 43 minutes into the game, but with Liquid possessing megacreeps, it appeared to have created a good edge. However, a symphony of top spellcasting from Thunder's cores destroyed Liquid's heroes without buyback, allowing the team to win in 57 minutes.

In game 2, Boxi flexed his abilities on Marci, making relentless runs throughout the map to find kills on opposing cores. While Thunder killed MATUMBAMAN's Ursa four times in the first 15 minutes, the team was unable to maintain its momentum after that. MiCKe was a beast on Puck, ensuring that he made the most of the last pick as Liquid built a lead and eventually triumphed in 35 minutes.

Game 3 was just a treat to watch, eliciting excitement in every Dota 2 enthusiast. Both teams were able to find kills and networth on their cores. Zai was the Liquid leader, as he played like a man possessed on the offlane Leshrac. While there were crucial plays made in the heat of the game, both sides also overextended sometimes, keeping things close.

Just when it appeared that Thunder was going to win the game after a stunning teamfight post the 30 minute mark, Liquid disrupted Thunder's teamfight positioning to bring itself back the game. With no more buybacks for Thunder, Liquid headed right to the opponent Ancient, and went all in, winning in 51 minutes.

Highlights

Here are some highlights of the series.

TI11 has had its share of thrilling games, exhibiting the intense competitiveness and dogged spirit of the teams on display.

For Lasse "MATUMBAMAN" Urpalainen, he marches on in his final TI as Liquid notches up its third series win in a row in the lower bracket. The team appears to have overcome the nerves that have impaired its performance in LAN events previously this year and is a formidable opponent for the remaining three TI11 teams.

Thunder Awaken deserves praise for being the torchbearer for South America and leading the region to its best finish in TI. The team became a fierce competitor fighting to the bitter end, securing a top six place.

After almost a week's pause, TI11 will resume on 29th Oct, with four remaining teams: Team Secret, Tundra Esports, Team Liquid, and Team Aster.