If you haven’t read our first part of the round up of TI 11, check it out here now.
Here’s Part Two, and we hope you enjoy it!
- Yatoro Buff vs Eva Elvie Buff
A popular trend sighted in TI 11:some of the players and staff of the teams competing at TI completely shaved their heads. They did it as they believed the act to bring good luck.
Yatoro introduced this trend in TI 10 last year. He shaved his head as a “sacrifice to the god of Dota” prior to his match versus Virtus.pro in the grueling lower bracket elimination round. And the rest is history.
Boom Esports CEO and player, Gary Ongko and skem, decided to follow suit, as they ‘magically’ overcame EG and Team Spirit before bowing out to PSG.LGD. Additionally, one of the tournament’s most unfortunate players, Arteezy, tried to break his curse by doing it as well. This Yatoro-style amulet, however, was no match to his legendary’s curse.
The arrival of Eva Elfie in the TI 11 tournament, on the other hand, has been a “hot” topic among Dota fans. Many ‘cultured’ fans were shocked when they spotted her in the tournament and filmed her own content as a 1xBet brand ambassador, which sponsored TI 11 in the group stage.
The Russian adult actress has said that she was always rooting for Tundra and predicting that the London-based team should emerge victorious in this tournament. One heck of a buff that was!
- Creep push during Thunder Awaken vs Team Liquid game
Even the smallest detail matters in TI competition. And the match between Thunder Awaken and Team Liquid should be a good example of that.
It was a tough task for TA as they faced one of the fans favorites, Team Liquid, in the quarter-final of the lower bracket. Nevertheless, TA took their chance and pressed Liquid from the start.
Enigma and Rubick from Thunder Awaken were dominating in the early game, playing aggressively against Liquid’s heroes. Nobody had expected Matumbaman and his pals to face such resistance. Sacred and Darkmago became a nuisance to Liquid throughout the game.
The match was gradually getting more difficult for Liquid. TA wiped out nearly all Liquid players and were advancing towards their base as the game came near its end. Boxi, who was waiting for them in the base, attempted to defend Liquid’s structure and prepared for the counterattack by clearing out TA’s creep wave.
Although it appeared to be effective, Boxi’s efforts were eventually futile as one of TA’s creeps were left alive with low HP. The structural protection failed, and TA won the game one thanks to that single creep push.
- Team Secret numerous attempts against Tundra
Tundra finally raised the Aegis following their 3-0 victory over Team Secret in the grand final of TI 11. But their journey to the grand final was even more interesting than the grand final itself, given how they were doing prior to their final game.
Tundra and Team Secret were fairly convincing from the outset in Group B. Nobody was able to best these two. Tundra and Team Secret secured their position at the top of the table with only one point difference. Team Secret finished second, as they failed to grab a win against Tundra, while Tundra emerged as the winner of group B.
Team Secret refused to give up. They overcame their European rival, Team Liquid, 2-1 in the lower bracket final and returned to face Tundra in the grand final.
Nonetheless, Tundra was still the superior side. They were able to withstand Secret’s intensity and win the grand final 3-0 with cunning strategies. It appears that Team Secret have finally formed a new rivalry with another European team.
- End of Era
“I’m just happy to make it to be honest. My last year of pro-Dota. My last tournament. So absolutely f***g amazing,” said Matumbaman a few days before the TI 11 competition began.
The veteran, who has become a role model for the younger generation of Dota players, stated that he will put an end to his professional career as a player following this competition, whether he won it or not. The Dota community reacted sadly to this move, believing that his departure signaled the end of an era.
The said “end of an era” appears to be occurring in China as well. Aside from Matumbaman, numerous senior players, like Faith.bian, Somnus, and, most recently, Ame, have declared that the TI 11 competition will be their final professional competition.
Several Chinese Dota players and coaches expressed concern over their withdrawal from the competition, citing the diminishing interest in Dota among China’s younger population in recent years. Mad, the Aster team’s coach, has said that the successes of these China veterans should instill an inspiration for China’s younger generation. He hopes that new Chinese finest talents will step up soon and become stalwarts in the future.
- Tundra finally lost the Aegis
We’re not sure if this is some kind of elaborate prank or not, but Tundra’s celebration was cut short as they recently stated that they are looking for the missing Aegis trophy.
“Last night got a little out of hand, you won’t believe this but we lost the Aegis…” said Tundra in their social media.
There has been no additional word from Singapore regarding the trophy’s incident. This information, however, has already spread and becoming a joke among the audience and Dota content creators. Seems like it’s the only L that Tundra took in the tournament, isn’t it?
