North America’s great hope is headed to the UK.
The NA qualifier for ESL One Birmingham Dota 2 is done, and Shopify Rebellion stands alone as the sole qualifier for North America. The squad was directly invited to the closed qualifier and took down TiltedBoys and BammySoy on its way to the grand final. The last match was a close bout, ending 3-2 for Shopify with multiple games going the distance. The squad’s victory over former Shopify captain Tal "Fly" Aizik makes the win even sweeter.
By winning the closed qualifier, Shopify Rebellion now has a guaranteed spot at ESL One Birmingham. The event starts on Apr. 22 and features a $1,000,000 prize pool. It now joins Klim Sani4, Team Spirit, and Talon Esports as the qualified teams for the event.
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ESL One Birmingham NA qualifier ends in close grand final
The series started with a back-and-forth slog that lasted over 50 minutes. Erin "Yopaj" Ferrer’s Puck took the starring role, ending 14-3-10 with over 60,000 hero damage. nouns had a few chances to seize the initiative, but Artour "Arteezy" Babaev simply refused to die to any ganks. Evasive play eventually sealed the deal on game one for Shopify.
Game two started with bloody lanes, with 17 kills at the 12-minute mark. nouns took control of the map away with a series of ganks, countering Shopify’s scaling lineup with brutal camp blocks. nouns began a grinding siege at 33 minutes, eventually taking megas. A pivotal Roshan fight and Rapier on Artour "Arteezy" Babaev hinted at a comeback, but a blundered high ground evened out the series 1-1.
The third draft ended with a surprise Anti-Mage for Arteezy to match Yuma "Yuma" Langlet’s Naga Siren. Shopify took advantage of the chaotic laning phase, going up 20-12 at the 20 minute mark. nouns’ core Abbadon failed to gain purchase, usually ending up as a punching bag infights rather than a pickoff enabler. After a series of decisive teamfights, nouns stared down the barrel of mega creeps and a very farmed Anti-Mage. Now at 2-1, Shopify was one game away from qualification.
Game four was the most even yet, with nouns eeking out a 5,000 net worth lead at 35 minutes with even kills. Despite the evenness, the game ended swiftly after Yuma’s Luna claimed Aegis. Shopify threw body after body to delay the inevitable. nouns’ carry just calmly hit the exposed Ancient, letting Moon Glaives do the heavy lifting.
Shopify wasted no time stretching a slight lead out of the lanes into a major advantage in game five. Arteezy’s Troll Warlord began chipping at nouns’ base at 26 minutes, but a throw at Roshan gave the advantage back to nouns. Despite pressing toward Shopify’s base with plenty of firepower, nouns was ultimately repelled and died to the counter push with a catch on Daniel "Stormstormer" Schoetzau. By winning the ESL One Birmingham qualifier, Shopify Rebellion has reaffirmed its status as the top team in NA.
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