Tundra and OG fight for a Top 6 slot at TI11 on Day 2 of the playoffs.
The Tundra vs OG matchup was always going to a hyper-aggressive, busy game all around. And it did not disappoint. Even though fans might’ve expected OG to have a slightly upper hand, Tundra came to play today.
Fight Fight Fight!!
With a Tusk and Tiny lineup, Tundra looked dominant from the get go. Tiny has been one of the most impactful supports in this TI, even being a part of the longest TI Mainstage game. It was a painstaking 127 minutes game between RNG and Entity that saw 8 Roshans, multiple Divine Rapiers and supports buying Moonshards.
With constant aggression in the early game, Tundra was able to apply the pressure on OG and limit their farming. Without adequate levels and items, OG were always under a lot of pessure, unable to keep up with the free-farming Tundra cores. Tundra also had Slark as a core, a core hero that loves to fight in the mid-game. And as Tundra kept on winning teamfight after teamfight, Slark accumulated more agility and became even more unkillable.
There were a few fights where OG survived, but that's what it was: survival. OG never really won a teamfight decisively, a pre-requisite for them to make a comeback into the game. Ultimately, Tudnra suffocated OG off the resources on the map and took a fight in their base.
It was a forgettable game for OG as they clearly had a draft disadvantage in Game 1. It was time for OG to focus on Game 2 and try to take the series to the decider. The winner of this series would advance in the TI11 playoffs while the loser would have to fight it out in the lower bracket of The International 2022.
Tanky picks for OG - But not enough
The second game started with tanky picks for OG players. With Primal Beast, Timbersaw, Oracle and Phantom Lancer, the OG players looked very difficult to kill. They had a early lead and at one point looked firmly in control.
However, as the game progressed Skiter's lifestealer looked unstoppable. Skiter was able to go through the enemy heroes without taking much damage on his own. Despite having such tanky heroes, OG simply could not find the damage required to go through the Tundra lineup.
Tundra Sneyking on the team overcoming mental barriers
I think we're always been a very storng team. I think our biggest challenge was our own mentality. Losing games and being able to recover from that was something that our team was not very good at - myself included who's a veteran at this game. It can be very tough, especially when the mood is down and no one is able to pick it up. That is something that I've been looking at in helping the team and that's also why we have a psychologist helping us with that. I think that has really helped us turn our ship around.
When asked which team he would like to face next (Tundra will go up against either Team Liquid or Aster), Sneyking mentioned he would like China to have at least one team in the top six. PSG.LGD, the strongest team from China, has already fallen to the lower bracket after losing 0-2 to Team Secret.
Ofcourse I want to say Europe but I want to cheer for Aster. I want at least one Chinese team to make Top 6 guaranteed.
"I would enjoy playing versus China. It's a better headline," said Sneyking in the post-match interview.
Dota 2 fans can catch up with the latest TI11 live score here. The TI11 playoffs started with 16 teams and we are slowly heading towards the final few remaining. Only four teams will compete at the Singapore Indoor stadium for the Finals Weekend on October 29-30.
Stay tuned to esports.gg for the latest Dota 2 news and updates.