T1 fell short from its run for the Aegis of Champions as it bowed to Vici Gaming, 2-1, in their lower bracket series in the main event of The International in Bucharest Romania on Friday, October 15.
Vici Gaming, just like in its match against the Evil Geniuses, managed to recover from a Game 1 collapse to pull off another reverse sweep and secure a spot in the Top 6 of the Dota 2’s crowning tournament.
After surrendering the series opener to T1, the Chinese squad made the much-needed adjustments in Game 2 to tie the series and force the winner-take-all.
The resilient Chinese team stole Karl “Karl” Jayme’s Lina during the draft, denying the T1’s rising star the hero that keyed his team to the Game 1 victory. Zeng "Ori" Jiaoyang on his Lina returned the favor against T1, finishing with 6-5-7 KDA while becoming a continuous threat during team fights for the Chinese
It was Ren “Old Eleven” Yangwei’s Beastmaster and Xiong “Pyw” Jiahan’s Weaver who provided the clutch plays and rendered Kuku’s initiation on his Earthshaker useless in team fights. Old eleven finished with a 3-1-9 KDA while Pyw added 6-4-8 as the Chinese squad evened the series after a Game 2 19-18 win.
Vici’s drafting brilliance continued in Game 3 as it perfectly countered Carlo “Kuku” Palad’s signature Magnus pick with supports Vengeful Spirit and Disruptor. The Chinese also didn’t allow Karl to get his hands on any of the Spirit brothers he usually use by forcing T1 to pick the Bat Rider to counter Yang “Poyoyo” Shaohan’s Tiny.
The ploy, however, didn’t work for T1 as Poyoyo still had his way in Game 3 finishing with an efficient 9-1-7 KDA to power his team to a 23-15 series clinching win.
VG pushed the right buttons to stop T1’s momentum after a rousing 36-19 win in Game 1.
Kuku on his Magnus initiated the T1’s pick-off game with his perfect initiations to finish with 24 assists, against five deaths while Karl on his Lina went wild during the late game team fights dishing out damage from afar to unload an impressive 20-1-11 KDA.
T1, though, failed to find answers to VG’s adjustments, ending its T1 campaign at the 7th – 8th spot in its first run.The SEA representatives will still take home an estimate of P50 million pesos prize.