Team Liquid ends the Quest Esports miracle run at the Bali Major

Team Liquid has defeated Quest Esports to head to the Lower Bracket Finals of the Bali Major. In the Lower Bracket Semifinal, on June 8, Liquid was pushed to the edge in this nail-biter of a finish, with Quest Esports really testing the limits of the veteran team. But ultimately, the more-experienced TL would take down the young upstarts, Quest, to secure yet another top-three finish.

In some of the closest games of the tournament so far, Team Liquid was up against the wall against a dominant-seeming Quest Esports. In game one, Ammar "ATF" Al-Assaf bullied Michael "miCKe" Vu’s Broodmother with an oppressive performance on Mars. Much of Team Liquid’s early pressure was countered, in a draft that seemed tempered to control all stages of the game. But with that versatility, they were able to outlast the tempo of Quest, taking the game after nearly an hour.

Game two, and Quest brought some versatility of their own. Sticking with the Mars, but bringing in a classic Medusa counter in Anti-Mage, Quest had a draft that was just as effective in both the early game skirmishes, and late game team fights. And out-laning Team Liquid, their youthful mechanical skill seemingly trumping the experience of TL, Quest were able to turn a 30-minute stalemate in their favor with one dramatic team-fight.

In the final game, Quest seemingly went away from their comfort picks, opting to take heroes away from Liquid. With the Rubrick and Brood stolen away, they proceeded to wrack up a huge lead.

Unfortunately, net-worth isn’t everything, as some of the wild comebacks of this tournament have already shown. And the result was that excellently played fight by Team Liquid won the day.

With the victory Team Liquid head to the Lower Bracket Finals to take on Tundra Esports. If they win, they’ll face Gaimin Gladiators in the Grand Finals for the third consecutive Major in a row.

Quest, having dropped out of the Major, can be proud to have come so far. They take home $50,000, but miss out from direct TI qualification by the smallest of margins. However, their chances of heading to TI12 are still relatively high, given that WEU now has two regional qualifier spots. With Tundra Esports, Team Liquid, and Gaimin Gladiators already locked, they’ll just have to best the rest of WEU — a feat they’ve already done once.

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