The teams have made their way to the playoffs of ESL One Birmingham. The first round of matches is currently taking place in the Birmingham Area. In the first game of the day the fans experienced a remarkable upset.
Thousands of fans were cheering “Let’s go Liquid”, as we prepared ourselves for the first series of the day. The former TI winners, took on the CIS side, Gambit eSports in an elimination game. Despite the odds, Liquid had its fair share of troubles from the first minute. The side was completely outclassed by Liquid in the Game one. After a very exciting laning phase Liquid led slightly in terms of gold and experience.
Owing to the changes in the patch 7.22, it was hard for the EU side to push the high ground so the team had to farm high DPS items to claim the aegis at the 20-minute mark. Yet all their efforts went in vain, when Gambit’s Vasily “AfterLife” Shishkin made a remarkable play with Sand King in the Roshan Pit. He stole the Aegis from Liquid with a brilliant Blink – Epicenter combo. After the teamfight win, Liquid was unable to to get the lead. Meanwhile, Gambit played the game to perfection and close the game with a decent fight at the end.
WHAT AN AEGIS STEAL BY @AfterLifeDota2! 💥 #ESLOne
🇬🇧 https://t.co/RUTJQiyOsP pic.twitter.com/5yAJUJs4Vt
— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) May 31, 2019
Gambit reigning supreme
Game two was one of the worst games for the CIS side in the competition. In the drafting phase, the side got out drafted by Liquid and Amer “Miracle-” Al-Barkawi’ comprehensively dominated the team, since Gambit got only two kills at the 30 minute mark, this led to Liquid drawing the game 1-1. In Game Three, Gambit completely changed its strategy and let Liquid picked the Morphling again. The side also let Aukusti “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen get his signature hero, Broodmother. Gambit countered Brood pick with a Templar Assassin and it worked to perfection.
TA out farmed Broood and also got the tier one tower Liquid owing to the aggressive playing style of the team. Matu had to go to jungle to farm out the new Aghanim’s Scepter on the hero. The new Scepter allowed the hero to get 20 Web spins, and also enabled 100% Movement Speed to the hero. Despite the boost, the mid laner of Liquid was unable to get back into the game since Gambit constantly ganked him. Liquid was eventually pushed to the high ground and had to see the throne getting destroyed by the opposition.
They may have been eliminated, but @TeamLiquid are still a top team! We asked @LiquidGh_ and @LiquidMATUMBA what their most memorable moments are! #ESLOne pic.twitter.com/fonPEGjogU
— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) May 31, 2019
With this victory, Gambit has eliminated Liquid from the competition, the side will be competing against Vici Gaming later today in another elimination match. We are hoping for another upset since Gambit beat one of the strongest teams of the competition in a game where the EU side secured their signature picks. Unfortunately, Liquid are the first team to get eliminated in the playoffs, we really hope that the side achieves better results in the upcoming EPICENTER Major.
