Team SMG Continues To Impress in BTS Pro Series S12 Despite iceiceice’s Absence

Beyond The Summit (BTS) has done its job well to keep the Dota 2 community entertained before the upcoming The International 2022 (TI11) Last Chance Qualifiers, as the BTS Pro Series Season 12 goes into its tenth day of the group stages. Team SMG were looking to improve their standings in the tournament against Execration despite the absence of its veteran offlaner, Daryl "iceiceice" Koh.

The series ended in a 2-0 victory for Team SMG, as the team climbed into third in the group standings of the tournament.

Team SMG vs Execration: Match recap

Despite its average performance throughout the Dota Pro Circuit season, people were looking towards Execration as the favorites of the match. Furthermore, Team SMG’s veteran offlaner Daryl "iceiceice" Koh remains unavailable for the tournament, forcing Yeik "MidOne" Nai Zheng to play in the offlane position while Eternity’s “CDR” stood-in at carry.

Game One

In Game One, Execration went for a simple draft by picking up Phantom Lancer, Razor and Death Prophet in the midlane. SMG meanwhile, went for a more aggressive oriented draft by picking up Morphling, Pangolier and Magnus as the core lineup.

While the early game heavily favored Execration’s draft, the late game went in the direction of Team SMG as CDR’s Morphling was dominating the opposition alongside MidOne’s Magnus. While a few mistakes almost allowed Execration to come back into the game, Team SMG managed to close out the game after 40 minutes, as Team SMG secured the first match of the series.

Game Two

In Game Two, Team SMG wanted to retain the aggressiveness of its draft as it picked up Magnus again for MidOne, Clinkz for CDR and Mars for Kam "Moon" Boon Seng. On the other side, Execration drafted Templar Assassin for Jinn "Palos" Lamatao, Primal Beast for Justine "Tino" Grimaldo and Death Prophet for Mark "Bob" Urbina.

While the early game went in the favor of Execration yet again, SMG somehow managed to climb back after taking advantage of Execration’s mistakes in the late game as CDR’s Clinkz went on a killing spree during the match. Game Two ended after 36 minutes, as Team SMG secured the series 2-0 and picked up its third victory in the tournament.

Following the match, Team SMG are currently third in the group standings however the results might change in the upcoming days as the team will face Boom Esports and Fnatic in the next two days.