The TI4 champions left the tournament after Liquid proved their supremacy with turnabouts and an aggressive play style.
Game One
The first match of the series opened with Newbee drafting the Batrider and Lifestealer, later on adding Naga Siren, allowing them to reset the fights or escape from Liquid. The Radiant team responded with Keeper of the Light and Ember spirit, but the Chinese last picked Nyx Assassin, hoping to destroy the European line up.
Liquid were off to a hot start as Kuro 'Kuroky-' Takhasomi got a double kill in the first minutes of the game. Adrian 'FATA-' Trinks was very effective early game, helping out his team with ganks, concluding Liquids advantage in the early game with a score of 9-0 around the 14 minute mark.
Realizing the position they were in, Newbee tried to play it safe, retreating to their own jungle, but Liquid gave them no kills or room to breathe, thus delaying Hao's farm and Naga Siren's Radiance. Unlike the Chinese that had only Naga Siren, Liquid had the benefit of five heroes that could clear out creep waves, thus allowing the team to keep the lanes pushed.
As the game advanced, NewBee were feeling the pressure, so they sent Nyx Assassin and Lifestealer roaming around the map, looking for kills. Their plan succeeded, managing to pick off both Ember Spirit and Mirana with huge streaks to their name, bouncing NewBee back into the game. During this time, Naga Siren was farming, quickly geting six slotted and pushing out the lanes. Liquid got thrown out of their momentum attempting to push bottom lane, but Newbee successfully defended and claimed Roshan.
Going into the late game, Liquid found themselves losing team fights to Naga Siren and Lifestealer, heroes that became impossible to kill. Around the 45 minute mark, the Chinese claimed one lane of barracks while Liquid's draft was starting to fall apart. After losing two heroes to a Roshan fight, Lasse 'Matumbaman' Urpalainen made the decision to purchase a Divine Rapier, hoping to bounce his team back into the game. Liquids defense succeeded, but the momentum didn't last long as NewBee forced an aggressive team fight ending with Ember losing his Divine Rapier and thus the first game of the series.
Game Two
Second game started out similar to game one, Shadow Demon and Mirana being present in the draft, but Liquid grabbed Morphling and Undying while NewBee took Timbersaw, Disruptor and Chen.
First blood gets spilled top lane by Morphling on Batrider, giving him an excellent start to the second game. Compared to game one, NewBee approached game two with a different play style but Hock 'ChuaN' Wong's Chen didn't have the chance to go full force in the early game with ganks. Around the 10 minute mark, Liquid managed a good teamfight, Matumbaman's Morphling adding a triple kill to his name. Shortly after that, NewBee found themselves getting picked off all over the map due to Liquid's huge burst damage.
The Chinese squad could not handle the pressure, so they threw in the towel at the 17 minute mark, forcing out a decisive game three.
Game three
For the third time this series, Mirana and Shadow Demon were drafted by the two teams. Newbee claimed Morphling for themselves alongside Shadow Shaman, but Liquid surprised the Chinese team with an Anti-Mage and Axe pick.
Early game, both teams played aggressive, exchanging kills on both sides, but Liquid came out on top most of the time the two sides collided, outplaying Newbee. Above all, Matumbaman's Anti Mage had a fantastic early game, gaining a 10.5k net worth around the 15 minute mark. Having the map advantage, Liquid looked toward Roshan regardless of a Newbee attempt to contest, and Kuroky-'s team ended up on top, FATA-'s Mirana adding a triple kill to his name.
Heading towards the late game, Liquid felt confident after gaining huge map control and securing Roshan, while Newbee were struggling to keep the lanes pushed. Liquid forced the Chinese squad into a devastating team fight. Newbee threw all their skills onto Anti-Mage, but only managed to consume his Aegis. Left without options, Newbee admitted their defeat, while Liquid kept their dream alive, now having to face Fnatic next in the Lower Bracket.
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