Reigning Champions Team Spirit Bow Out Of Ti13 In 12th Place
The second phase of Ti13, the “Road To The International,” has concluded, meaning the 16 participants have been weeded down to 8. The remaining teams will play in front of a live crowd at the Royal Arena.
It was an eventful day today, with four teams being eliminated from the tournament. Heroic outlasted beastcoast in the South American derby, while Team Spirit sent G2.iG packing in a quick 2-0 match.
However, the second round of matches featured very unexpected results. First, Aurora could pull off a comeback against a cocky Heroic, meaning Southeast Asia would make it to the top eight. But, the biggest result was Xtreme Gaming taking down Team Spirit.
Team Spirit 1-2 Xtreme Gaming
In the first map of the series, Xtreme Gaming picked Muerta on the Carry role, simply because Ame demanded it and the entire team trusted him. Xtreme Gaming surprisingly did well, winning a crucial fight next to the Roshan Pit to take control of the game. However, Xtreme Gaming was too trigger-happy, rushed into Team Spirit’s high ground, lost the fight without buybacks, and the latter marched down the mid lane and ended the game in a minute.
After an action-packed first game, it looked like Team Spirit was running out of steam. The lanes went terribly wrong for the defending champions, and Xtreme Gaming, being the good team that they are, could snowball the game and end it in only 26 minutes.
Unfortunately, we didn’t get an exciting decider for such an anticipated series, as the third game was another stomp in favor of the Chinese squad. Xm went on a tear playing Sniper mid, going 9/1/15. To make things worse, Ame’s Medusa also remained untouched, with a flawless KDA of 7/0/9. These difficulties combined for Team Spirit, leading to a 29-minute GG call.
Despite having a solid year, a third Aegis seemed like it was too much for the Dragons. Now, Topson is the only three-time hopeful who is currently in the Upper Bracket with Tundra Esports.
The Playoffs bracket has developed to the following:
There will be a two-day intermission before The International resumes, and all remaining matches will be played in the Royal Arena in front of a crowd. The first match we’ll see is between the BetBoom Team and Team Falcons on Friday the 13th.