It’s playoffs time at ESL One Malaysia. Which team will win the final event before TI11?
Earlier today, the lower bracket matches of ESL One Malaysia took place. The European team Entity took on NA's last hope TSM and Thunder Awaken took on Nigma. Both games ran short and only went to 2 games each. On top of that, both games were not close. Both Entity and Thunder Awaken came to play eliminating both Nigma Galaxy and TSM from the tournament.
Entity overrun and stomp TSM
Although TSM didn't make it to the Arlington Major, 4 of the 5 members ended up standing in for other teams. And it seems like helping out teams like Fnatic and Entity reach high placements in the tournament couldn't carry over. Entity gave TSM a true shellacking in both games. In game 1 Entity snowballed the game with a Alchemist draft that the likes of TSM's PA and Puck couldn't keep in check. Ending the game with a final score of 5-24, TSM wasn't in the best spririts.
When game 2 rolled around, things looked better for TSM once they came out the draft. Entity drafted a Pudge carry and Sven support against a very standard TSM draft. But with an early 15 minute aghs from the Pudge while Lina had a 22 minute Daedalus, TSM's lineup was just too far behind. The game ended in 30 minutes with a final score of 35 - 10, which is better than game 1 at least. You can find the match on Dotabuff here.
Thunder Awaken's Timbersaw gives nightmares to Nigma Galaxy
Heading into the matchup, a lot of the community favored Nigma to take the series against the South Americans. However in a surprising turn of events, Thunder Awaken won back to back games against Nigma. What people thought would be in favor of Nigma, the games were the exact opposite, and weren't even close.
Thunder Awaken in both games picked up a Timbersaw that Nigma just couldn't be dealt with. The Timbersaw pick even when drafted in the first phase, so Nigma could pick some traditional counters. But with the support that Sacred received from the rest of the team and DarkMago playing out of his mind, there wasn't anything Nigma could do. You can find the match on Dotabuff here.
New Patch bringing out new heroes
Both series were unfortunately pretty short, but we did manage to see some new faces. Thanks to 7.32, we've seen the resurgence of some heroes. Although the resurfacing of PA is nothing new, we've also seen Lina make a return in the TSM and Entity match. Entity was the main team that was experimenting with the new patch. Entity picked up Lina and Sven in their match against TSM. Unfortunately, the new Lina aghanim scepter didn't get a showing. On the other hand, we did get to see the new Sven shard that gives additional armor as an area of effect.
Although this is the end of the road for Nigma and TSM, the qualifiers for TI are right around the corner. Thankfully for NA fans, TSM has already qualified for TI but the same can't be said for Nigma. With 3 weeks away from qualifiers lets hope that Nigma can get back to fighting shape. For more Dota 2 content and coverage of ESL One Malaysia, stick around on Esports.gg