Soniqs took on Nouns once more in the Grand finals for the North American Qualifiers for Ti11! Join us as we break down the series.
The North American TI11 qualifiers have come to a conclusion and Soniqs will be guaranteed a spot at The International 2022. After a 3-0 clean sweep against Nouns, Soniqs have claimed the North American slot at TI. After getting 2-0'd by Nouns in the Upper Bracket Finals, Soniqs fell to the Lower Bracket. There, they had to face off against Wildcard Gaming for a chance to strike back at Nouns, and came in clutch.
The Quinn Show
Throughout all three games the newly signed Soniqs mid laner Quinn popped off. In games one and two, Quinn ran rampant with his infamous Batrider. Quinn is known for his Batrider mid lane in high rank pubs, and his reputation preceded him in these games. In game one he terrorized Gunnar's mid Tusk with a unique right-click build on Bat. With a combination of Hurricane Pike, BKB and Witch Blade and Batrider's shard that allows him to attack while he has a target lassoed, he ended the game 8-2-12.
Game two also was a Batrider stomp for Quinn, however, with a much more the traditional Blink and Boots of Travel build. With Quinn catching out Moo's Visage throughout the game to secure a lead, alongside Yawar's Phasntom Assassin that brutally massacred the rest of Nouns, the game ended with a score of 47-12. A veritable stomp.
In game three, Soniqs changed the pace with Quinn's arguably most iconic hero, Lina. There wasn't much that Nouns could do against the 14-1 Lina with a 16-minute BKB. So, game three ended just like the rest, a pretty hefty stomp.
Nouns, the Mad Scientists of NA
Whether its due to Gunnar's hero pool, Mangusu's coaching, or crazy theory crafting, Nouns has quite the unique hero pool. Throughout the NA qualifiers and since the time of 4 Zoomers, the five stack never really followed the meta. With each of the players having quite the diverse and unique hero pool, its great to see off-meta picks.
For example, specifically in the grand finals, we got to see Nouns pick up Visage, Timbersaw, Omniknight, Shadow Demon to name a few. The drafts typically are built around Moo and Gunnar. With Nouns' offlaner being a Timbersaw and micro aficionado. While Gunnar's has off-meta mid picks that snowball super heavy. Nouns should be dubbed the Mad Scientists of NA. They don't follow the meta and their crazy drafts—if they work—can take games off some of the best.
Hope isn't gone for Nouns
Although only one team can move on in the first round of qualifiers, there is still hope for Nouns. Coming up are the Last Chance Qualifiers where the team can still make it to the International. However, the LCQs are stacking up with tons of great teams not making it into their regions slot. So, it'll be an all out clash between regions for the last spots at TI11. And it'll be some great Dota to watch.
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