Nisha Wins $100,000 Dacha Dubai 1v1 tournament
Team Liquid’s Mid Laner Nisha was crowned the $100,000 1v1 tournament champion in BetBoom DACHA Dubai 2024 after defeating Xm 3-1. With this victory, Nisha was rewarded $50,000.
In the 1v1 tournament, the Quarter and Semi Finals were held in Best of 3, the Grand Final in Best of 5, and every other match in Best of 1 format. The hero pool consisted of 10 heroes; 4 compulsory heroes (Pudge, Shadow Fiend, Puck, Mirana) and 6 ban and pick heroes of the players’ choice (3 each).
It is important to note that the games had a time limit of 15 minutes. If no tower is destroyed or no players have killed the enemy twice, the winner will be determined by creep score.
Nisha's first opponent was ATF, which he quickly dispatched in 7 minutes using Shadow Fiend. At the same stage, notable Mid Laners like Larl and Quinn lost to Xxs and Kiritych, respectively. Interestingly, Kiritych was eliminated by Team Liquid coach Blitz in the next stage.
Next on Nisha's hitlist were Malr1ne and squad1x. The Team Liquid player easily won against his opponents, though he struggled slightly against VP’s Mid Laner. These wins helped Nisha secure a spot in the Semi Final.
Only two non-Mid players made it to the top eight: Boxi and Save. The two Support players were matched against each other. In the first map of the series, Boxi used a legal but unsportsmanlike move by placing down a Sentry Ward in the Mid Lane.
All players used Observer Wards and placed them in the lane to help draw creep aggro. Though destroying an enemy player’s Observer Ward is illegal, Boxi placed the Sentry and let his creeps destroy it. So, he isn’t breaking the rule directly but has found a loophole to take advantage.
Destroying an enemy's Observer Ward does not only reward 100+ Gold, but also a hefty amount of EXP, which is obviously crucial in a 1v1. Boxi ended up winning the series against Save 2-1.
Nisha's most formidable opponent seemed to be gpk, who won the previous 1v1 Dacha tournament in 2023. After an intense series that could have gone either way, Nisha clinched the victory by the skin of his teeth, qualifying for the Grand Final.
Boxi was tasked to face Xtreme Gaming’s Xm. This time, both players agreed not to use any Sentry Wards. The Swede managed to win Xm’s pick of Mirana but, as expected, lost the series 1-2, setting up a Grand Final matchup between Nisha and Xm.
Though the Grand Final was the only Best of 5 series in the tournament, the match turned out to be one of the fastest. None of the maps went over 8 minutes, with Nisha coming out on top 3-1, claiming the title of the 1v1 champion.
The top 16 bracket of the 1v1 tournament:
The $100,000 prize pool was divided like the following:
The main event of the BetBoom DACHA Dubai event resumes on January 11.