Liquid and Tundra win their initial matches at TI11

The battle for third and second place at The International 11 was won by Team Liquid and Tundra Esports respectively. The two teams proved to be very strong and may end up playing against each other in the Grand Final.

In both cases, the matches needed three games to conclude, which proves that the defeated competitors, Team Aster and Team Secret, were not exactly underdogs at this stage of the tournament.

In the case of Aster, the race is over because their match took place in the lower bracket. But Secret are still in it and are currently playing against Liquid for a chance to advance to the Grand Final.

Liquid vs. Aster

Liquid looked completely outdrafted in the first game of this match against the last Chinese team left in the tournament. And for most of the 45 minutes it lasted, they struggled to not fall too far behind.

One reason why Liquid were able to win this match was that they knew how to deal with both Sniper and Leshrac. But an even bigger reason why Liquid won has to do with Aster’s monumental late-game mistake.

The team pushed while not having buybacks on several key heroes. Liquid won a big fight and then just pushed down middle and ended the game.

The second game was once again a struggle for Liquid. But this time, nothing could save them from Aster’s Pudge.

In game three, Liquid banned all the right heroes and this forced Aster to step out of their comfort zone. In the battle that followed, thanks to picking a very aggressive mid-game lineup (Nightstalker carry, Pangolier, Undying, Tusk, and Lina), Liquid proved to be unstoppable.

Secret vs. Tundra

This match started with a 67-minute game that could have gone either way. A victory here would have sent Secret to the Grand Final because they won game two. But Tundra were just a bit better.

In the third game, Secret tried a very unusual draft and it didn’t work out. Tundra read their intentions perfectly and stole their signature hero, Mirana. A big mistake committed by Clement “Puppey” Ivanov in this last game of the match was forgetting to ban Enigma. Or perhaps he just underestimated the hero.

Tundra picked him for themselves as fast as they could and also took Tiny. Meanwhile, Secret went with heroes like Zeus, Gyrocopter, and Earth Spirit. The game ended after just 35 minutes with Tundra’s victory.

Header: Valve Corporation