In the latest lower bracket series at the Arlington Major, Beastcoast defeated Outsiders to knock them out of contention for the title, in a series that many consider to be an upset.
Outsiders are out of the Arlington Major after being eliminated by beastcoast in the second round of the Lower Bracket. Though this match today had no grander stakes, it was still an elimination game at the major. Outsiders, had a lot to prove after falling short in many a major, while beastcoast were riding the high of the previous day's success. This was the battle to stay alive and make the lower bracket run in Arlington.
Outsider put up a strong Game One
In Game One, Beastcoast went for a strange draft with four melee heroes, including the Héctor "K1" Rodríguez Juggernaut. Opting for a offlane Rubick for Adrián "Wisper" Dobles, the panel was puzzled with the strange quality of this draft. Meanwhile, Outsiders went for the ultra late game draft. They picked up the last pick Terrorblade for Roman "RAMZES666" Kushnarev. They were also able to get the Danil "gpk" Skutin Puck.
The early game lanes went better for Outsiders. An all-melee lane against the Dmitry "DM" Dorokhin Timbersaw made the early game difficult. However, Jean "C.smile" Salazar had a great start on the mid Kunkka. Beastcoast actually pulled slightly ahead on the early to mid game as they got a few pick offs. However after a big team fight, Outsiders clawed their way back into the game. Beastcoast then felt that they had to force some fights, leading to them giving up Roshan. After that, the team just fell apart. Outsiders were able to power up and continue to pick off and slaughter the Beastcoast heroes. In the end, they walked up high ground at 32 minutes, ending the game.
Beastcoast strike back in Game Two
In Game Two, Beastcoast went for a much greedier draft with a K1 Wraith King and C.smile Templar Assassin. They also went for a last pick Lycan which was good against the majority of the lineup of Outsiders. Outsiders mixed things up with a Viper for gpk. They flexed a Puck for Daniyal "yamich" Lazebnyy and went for a surprise last pick Lone Druid for RAMZES666. Lone Druid has been getting banned a lot as a strong hero of the tournament.
Beastcoast started with a tri-lane top against the Lone Druid, leaving Wisper alone. In the mid lane, gpk absolutely rolled over C.smile on Templar Assassin, taking the mid tower at six minutes into the game. Despite the good early start for Outsiders, Beastcoast's cores were able to farm much easier. As a result, Viper and Lone Druid started to fall behind, allowing an early Roshan for Beastcoast. Outsiders however were able to take a good fight and get smaller pickoffs to keep themselves in the game. However, the Beastcoast draft was able to take Roshan incredibly easily and choke out the map. At then end of the game, the BC damage was too much and was able to overwhelm Outsiders.
Beastcoast finish strong and get the win
In the final game, Beastcoast decided "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" by picking Wraith King and Snapfire up again. Outsiders also stuck to their guns again with a Doom pick as well as Skywrath Mage. Beastcoast spiced things up with a mega-flex draft with a Venomancer and a mid Pangolier. But Outsiders surprised everyone with a last pick gpk Invoker classic. This left the panel saying the draft was a 50/50 split for both teams.
Beastcoast had a great start to the top and bottom lanes. Wisper was able to get two kills on teh Juggernaut and get him far behind. Meanwhile K1 farmed pretty freely in the bot lane. Luckily for Outsiders, gpk had a great time in the mid lane and was able to kill C.smile. His rotations were key to keeping them in the game. As the game went on, Beastcoast were able to take all tier one towers and pressure the map to take the first Roshan, extending their lead. However, Outsiders were able to take a nice fight on their high ground to force back the tide. But the wave of Beastcoast was relentless, and they were able to take key fights to take almost all of Outsiders' buildings. After the second Roshan, they ran at Outsiders' high ground, killed the Juggernaut and ended the game.
Getting into the thick of it
Though this match does not determine TI points, it was still a big match. Beastcoast now will finish top six and knock out one of the favorites to win the whole tournament. Beastcoast will play up against another tournament favorite, OG tommorow in the lower bracket. Who will prevail? Find out with us here at esports.gg!