Secret and Liquid are the winners of the Last Chance Qualifier

Just as we suspected, the two Western European competitors, Team Secret and Team Liquid, proved to be very strong in the Last Chance Qualifier and claimed both tickets to The International 11.

This region should receive more spots for future Majors. Or, if that’s not possible, the rules of Dota Pro Circuit should be adjusted so that regional events matter far less than international ones.

The Last Chance Qualifier featured 12 teams from all around the globe. The matches were fun to watch and the competitors demonstrated just how skilled they are. We’ve seen novel strategies, heroes being played in unusual positions and lots of epic moments, including rampages, comebacks and much more.

Team Secret’s run

Secret started the tournament in group A, which was much easier than group B. But despite the lower level of difficulty, they only managed to win one match. On the bright side, they didn’t lose a single match. Their record was 1 W – 4 D – 0 L and their position in the group was third.

In the playoffs, Clement “Puppey” Ivanov and his squad had a very tough path. They encountered Xtreme Gaming, T1, and Virtus.pro. But they still managed to win all three matches. In fact, apart from the first game they played against XG, they didn’t lose at all. This suggests that Secret are likely to get a good result at TI11 as well.

Team Liquid’s run

Team Liquid started the tournament better than Secret, winning three times and drawing twice in group B, which was full of formidable competitors. One of the teams they defeated was Virtus.pro. Ironically, the two competitors would meet two more times in the playoffs.

After winning the upper bracket quarterfinals against Polaris Esports (2-1), Liquid encountered Virtus.pro and lost (1-2).

For some reason, Aydin “iNSaNiA” Sarkohi didn’t know what to draft for his team and experimented with heroes that simply didn’t synergize very well. Meanwhile, VP went for a mixture of initiation and mobility that proved to be very effective against the Europeans.

Despite this setback, Liquid did well in the lower bracket and reached the Final, defeating the two Chinese competitors along the way. Both Xtreme Gaming and Vici Gaming lost quite badly against Liquid. No less than three games lasted for just 20-25 minutes, which is a sign of a stomp in Dota 2.

In the lower bracket Final, Liquid seemed to be much better prepared for VP and decided to steal their best heroes. They took their Disruptor in both games, as well as their Tusk, Luna, and Clockwerk. The match was over very quickly and if Liquid can play the same way at TI11, they will probably finish in the top eight.

Header: Valve Corporation