The International 2022 (TI 11) tournament came to an end on Sunday, October 30th. As was the case at the previous year’s TI, an unexpected victor emerged and dashed the audience’s dreams for their favorite. This year, Tundra Esports prevailed against Team Secret in the TI 11 grand final.
No one had anticipated the London-based team to defeat Team Secret in a convincing manner in the best of five match. Even though Team Secret was more experienced, Tundra’s solid grasp of mechanic and pragmatic approach to the game put them one step ahead of the legendary European team.
All European final
The game began with Team Secret looking to outdraft Tundra with an aggressive pick. Nisha grabbed Leshrac with his midlane play while Resolut1on picked up Enigma for the push and team fight capabilities.
The early game was even with both sides trading blows and kills. But Tundra’s draft was all about pushing and lane pressure. Skiter’s Naga Siren controlled large swathes of territory, never easing pressure.
33’s Tidehunter became difficult to stop – he picked up Pipe of Insight and the Wraith Pact, items which negated Nisha’s Lesharc’s AOE damage.
Things were becoming more difficult for Team Secret. The amount of kills for the Tundra squad was growing. With Naga Siren becoming stronger, Secret were powerless to stop the heroes of the Tundra from snowballing and eventually losing in the 40th minute.
The second game began with thriller once again as 33, who this time played Visage, got his double kill at the start of the game. Nisha and company, on the other hand, answered by continuously preying on Skiter’s Chaos Knight and Nine’s Arc Warden. Again, Tundra didn’t flinch at the intensity and pressure from Team Secret.
Nine’s Arc Warden gradually gained control of the game with the help of Marci, who was skillfully performed by Saksa. Even though Bristleback from Team Secret fought and gave Tundra problems with his game, this was proved to be insufficient to steal points away from Tundra. Tundra’s Arc Warden and Chaos Knight reigned. They sealed the win in the 40th minute, again.
Team Secret had their back against the wall. With match point in Tundra’s hand, they decided to raise the intensity. Crystallis, seeing an opportunity, quickly snatched Naga Siren, the hero who became their nightmare in the first game, while Zayac picked Marci, who became Tundra’s defensive backbone in the second game.
Tundra responded the draft pick with more versatile alternatives. In their third game, they opted to deploy the trio of Tiny, Medusa, and Pangolier to counter Team Secret’s strategies.
Team Secret appeared to be struggling to keep up with their opponents this time. Despite putting pressure on Tundra, Team Secret was unable to exploit the opening. Tundra played pragmatically and avoided a number of teamfights.
Work smarter, not harder
Tundra’s victory was lauded by professional players and analysts who believed Tundra’s perseverance and their status as the underdog at TI this year played big parts in their success in the grand final. Some experts, however, underlined that their pragmatic approach, to which some called as abuse on mechanics, was a critical factor in their win.
Purge tweeted that Tundra has a robust hero pool and depended on basic yet successful item builds to provide their heroes with durability throughout the whole game. He highlighted Tundra’s offlaner, who frequently utilized Wraith Pact and Pipe of Insight.
For the second year in a row, an unfancied team has risen to raise the Aegis, proving that underdogs are not to be underestimated. That’s the magic of TI, that’s that magic of Dota 2.
