One of the things that makes esports interesting is its unpredictability. A good example is what’s happening right now in Dota 2 The International 2022. The first two games of the playoffs were pretty much upsets with Evil Geniuses being beaten by Thunder Awaken 2–0, and PSG.LGD experiencing the same against Team Secret.
With the loss, both EG and PSG.LGD have dropped to the Lower Bracket, and they’re just one defeat away from being eliminated. Meanwhile, Thunder Awaken and Secret are now guaranteed a 5th–6th place finish and almost $600,000 in prize money.
What exactly happened?
The Momentum Ends
A lot of people in the Dota 2 community didn’t really consider EG as a strong contender in this year’s TI. However, in the group stage, they showed what they were made of and were the first team to secure a spot for the playoffs. With them going against Thunder Awaken in the first round of the playoffs, there was the expectation that they were going to breeze through it.
In the first game of the match, both teams were pretty much even during the laning stage. But during the mid-game, EG started to feel pain from Thunder Awaken's Rafael “Sacred” Yonatan on Pangolier and Farith “Matthew” Puente on Tiny. However, it would be Crhistian “Pakazs” Casanova on Bloodseeker who's plays would eventually seal the deal and give Thunder Awaken the victory.
The second game started like the first with the two teams even in the laning stage. However, when mid-game arrived, Thunder Awaken went on the offensive and it didn't take long before EG had to call GG. Unlike the first game, which lasted for more than 47 minutes, the second game ended in just under 30 minutes.
Having a Hard Time
When the tournament started, a lot of fans were also looking into PSG.LGD taking this year's Aegis. After all, the team had two chances to do it. The first was in 2018 when they lost against OG. They were also the favorite in 2020 but lost to Team Spirit.
The expectations were high, but PSG.LGD initially had problems at the start of the group stage. They eventually managed to find their stride yet only managed to make it to third place in Group A. It's still a comfortable position and their opponent in the first round of the playoffs was Team Secret. Sadly for PSG.LGD, Secret was on a mission.
In the first game, Secret showed that they were the ones more hungry for the championship as they dominated PSG.LGD. Just how bad was it? PSG.LGD only had a total of three team kills before calling it quits just after 23 minutes.
For the second game, PSG.LGD put up a fight and things were initially even with the two teams trading kills. The problem was it seemed PSG.LGD did not learn their lesson from the first game and allowed the combo of Michał “Nisha” Jankowski on Leshrac and Remco “Crystallis” Arets on Dawnbreaker. This would turn out to be too much for PSG.LGD who later had to call GG.
Upper Bracket Matches
With the wins, Thunder Awaken is now against Team Secret in the next round of the Upper Bracket. Meanwhile, Day 2 of the playoffs will see more Upper Bracket action with Tundra Esports against OG and Team Liquid versus Team Aster.
What did you think about Day 1 of the playoffs so far? You can read about what happened in the Lower Bracket and how BOOM Esports eliminated Team Spirit here.
