Nature’s Prophet was the first pick in every single game!
The TI 13 Grand Finals featured Team Liquid and Gaimin Gladiators going up against each other in yet another Grand Finals. The two teams have been facing each other multiple times in the Grand Finals over the past few months. While Gaimin Gladiators have usually been victorious compared to Team Liquid, maybe TI13 is the stage where Liquid would come out ahead.
Team 1 | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liquid | Gaimin | Liquid | Liquid | 2-0 |
Team Liquid came out strong in Game 1
The first game saw intense action right from the very beginning. Gaimin Gladiators banned the Rubick and allowed Team Liquid to pick Tusk. Rubick as a hero would completely counter Underlord, especially with Pit of Malice or Firestorm both of which are excellent abilities to steal. However, giving Team Liquid the Tusk allowed Team Liquid to both initiate as well as prolong teamfights just enough to get a superior hand.
Dyracho’s CK was also constantly rotated to the mid-lane to try to get Nisha’s Puck. With Smoke Screen and the CK stun, it required multiple heroes to try to contain Nisha. However, despite numerous attempts, Team Liquid Nisha died only once in these ganks, which rendered these ganks very ineffective. Rotating the carry to try to kill the mid-lane meant that Gaimin were quite inefficient in their approach to the game.
Micke’s Nature’s Prophet built a Gleipnir into a Hurricane Pike allowing Micke to deal damage from afar without getting into risky situations. Meanwhile, 33’s visage and Nisha were toying with the Gaimin players either via mobility or by simply tanking a lot of damage. Coupled with Boxi’s Snowball save and iNSaNiA’s save, it was very difficult for Gaimin to get kills and move ahead in the fights.
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Game 2
The second game saw Nature's Prophet as the first pick yet again. With 33 on Bristleback, and surviving the early phase of the game, there was simply no stopping the Bristle as time went on. Meanwhile, mICKe played for the super late game that simply did not arrive.
Gaimin Gladiators were unable to counter the Bristle, Shadow Demon and Tusk combination that Team Liquid repeatedly rolled out. While the heroes were super tanky on their own, they also had enough saves to ensure none of them were caught out.
The Naga Siren pick was crucial for saving teammates. With the additional armor, Naga Siren was surely a hero that many would appreciate in such situations. As the casters said, tofu is an egamer that reads patch notes. On multiple occasions, the Naga was able to tank much more than one would expect - and that would turn the tide of the teamfights.
Game 3 - Puck Dream Coils the enem
The third game was extremely scintillating as both teams were trying to upsell their existing drafts. Once again, Team Liquid went ahead with a Nature's Prophet pick yet again, and this time they had a slightly different plan in tow.
The Trump card this time around was Nisha's Puck and Boxi's Willow. Both heroes were instrumental in separating the teamfights to the extreme. The Bramble Maze was crucial in separating the supports from the core. Meanwhile, Puck had quite a few Dream Coils that turned the tide of the fight.
Team Liquid win their second ever International. For 33, he becomes the first player to win TI with two different rosters and enters the two-time TI club.
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