Last night, Team Freedom (previously known as “is GG”) defeated compLexity Gaming 3-1 to win the Dota 2 BEAT Invitational, securing their place as the best of the pretty good teams in North America—for now.
Freedom’s victory at the BEAT Invitational, formerly known as Canada Cup, comes just days after the roster of “is GG” signed with the organization, a mainstay of the notoriously unstable second tier North American Dota 2 scene.
Since The International 6 last August, the five members of Freedom have, together, played for eight different organizations. Freedom itself, depending on how you count them, has run four or five different lineups since its founding in December 2015, making it one of the most volatile organizations in Dota 2, at least in terms of its roster. But the organization’s victory in the BEAT Invitational rewards its persistence in a scene given to tempestuous personalities and sudden implosions, and is Freedom’s most significant result to date.
The BEAT Invitational, which took place over the last week, gathered 12 North American tier two and tier three teams. Freedom, then playing as is GG, received a direct invite to the playoffs, where they defeated semi-professional team Uncle Blink in the quarterfinals. The team’s first challenge was the Peruvian squad Elite Wolves, which Freedom dispatched in a quick 2-0 series.
Freedom faced compLexity Gaming in the winner’s finals, which ended in another 2-0 sweep, but the two teams often looked evenly matched in their grand finals rematch, despite the 3-1 scoreline. The first two games of the series each stretched out for over an hour, and it wasn’t until the series’ final game that it seemed like Freedom had the upper hand over compLexity, which has struggled to post consistent results this year. Both teams also looked somewhat more comfortable with the 7.06 metagame, leaning on Kunkka, Jakiro, and Batrider, which are quickly becoming some of 7.06’s most popular heroes.
For their victory, Freedom will receive $10,000 and several weeks worth of shit talking compLexity’s players in pubs. Winning the BEAT Invitational isn’t enough to secure the team a highly coveted invite to the International 7, but it probably indicates that Freedom won’t have to trudge through the open qualifiers for TI7, which are expected to take place next month.
