Through a 2-0 victory against Team Liquid, NAR is the first team to secure a ticket to Seattle, via their guaranteed spot in the Grand Final of the qualifiers. NAR is currently waiting to find out their opponent, the team that emerges from the Lower Bracket.
The American qualifiers of The International 4 are slowly coming to their end, and today's first match determined one of the two finalists of the qualifier. Liquid and NAR entered the arena for the Upper Bracket best-of-three final, which ended in a 2-0 comfortable victory for the Rejects. Thus, they have earned a trip to Seattle regardless of their next result, through their guaranteed top two finish. However, winning in the best-of-five Grand Final is very important, as the reward the coveted invitation to the TI4 main event.
Liquid will now have to go through Sneaky Nyx Assassins or Union Gaming, with the two teams battling at 21:30 CEST. The winner of the Lower Bracket final will advance to the Grand Final and take on North American Rejects. The last match will take place tomorrow, May 15th, and it will bring the end of the American qualifiers.
For more information about The International 4, check out our coverage hub here.
Team Liquid vs North American Rejects
Game One
Liquid opted for high aggression and early teamfight potential in their strategy, aiming to shut down Sneyking's Morphling before he gets scary. However, NAR's Puck and Centaur selections, combined with the healing power of Io and Enchantress provided a solid veil of protection for the Morphling, that managed to find an impressive amount of farm on every corner of the map. Liquid kept up the attempts to force teamfights and catch NAR off-guard, but they could only find uneven and unfavorable trades. Their final assault against Korok under the Smoke of Deceit was unsuccessful, and they lost gave three easy kills to NAR. From that point, Sneyking's Morphling was just too strong to control, and the 'GG' was callled by minute 33.
Game Two
For the second game of the series, NAR decided to take the risk and proceed without drafting a traditional late-game carry. Instead, they went for natural tankiness and, once again, high mobility. On the other hand, Liquid drafted the Io - Tiny combination, with Viper and Puck as their secondary cores. The teams were quite even during the earlier stages of the game, with NAR grabbing a temporary advantage by demolishing towers. Tiny's item progression and several mistakes by the Rejects allowed Liquid to get back in the contest, but they were unable to capitalize on the situation. NAR's heroes were quite resistant against Tiny's physical damage output, and TC's Viper proved to be less of a danger during the later stages of the game. A teamwipe for NAR outside the Radiant base allowed them to breach Liquid's defenses and demolish the barracks, forcing a desperate counterattack by BuLba and his buddies. Destroying their opponents yet again, NAR earned their second victory and the ticket to Seattle.
Playoff matches VODs
North American Rejects vs Team Liquid
