What would you do if skiter is running at you on a fully-farmed hero in Dota 2? That is a question OG was asked and couldn’t find a strong answer to on day two of The International 2022’s main stage.
When Tundra Esports claimed the top seed in Group B, they were able to choose who they wanted to face in the playoffs. And, feeling confident they knew the matchup, they selected and subsequently demolished OG in a 2-0 sweep.
During the regular season, after bringing in Saksa, Tundra and OG had been somewhat evenly matched. But, Sneyking has praised his team for having their best bootcamp ever heading into TI11 and it has shown with how they are playing.
From a top seed in groups to this win, Tundra has looked on point.
Their execution in early phases of games can be deadly, as shown by the first game against OG wrapping up in just 24 minutes—the second shortest game of playoffs thus far.
Game two was much closer, with OG rallying around ATF’s Timbersaw and bzm’s Primal Beast, but skiter alone proved too much to handle in both games. Despite a draft that looked like something out of a dream for OG, Tundra played to their timings and waited for the best opportunity to strike the killing blow.
Betting on themselves paid off; Tundra is now guaranteed a top-six finish at TI11 and is just one series away from making it to finals weekend in Singapore.
This was also a huge personal win for Sneyking, as in the last two TI events he has attended, TI8 with VGJ.Storm and TI9 with Newbee, OG was the team to knock him out of the upper bracket before going on to win the whole thing. This might not be the same OG roster that ended his runs, but revenge still feels pretty sweet.
“The last two times I played [at] TI, I got knocked down by OG in the upper bracket first stage,” Sneyking said. “Right now I got to take my sweet revenge and I’m very happy. Even though Ceb says this one doesn’t count, it counts in my book.”
Meanwhile, OG wasn’t just left out in the cold. They still have a clear path to getting back into contention through lower bracket.
Their next Dota 2 series at The Interational 11 will be another WEU clash, with Gaimin Gladiators waiting in the wings to try and drop another BOOMing victory.
Published: Oct 21, 2022 01:00 am