The International American Qualifiers came to a conclusion today with North American Rejects defeating Team Liquid in a best-of-five series that went the distance with a score of 3-2. Team Liquid will have a second chance to qualify for The International 2014 in the play-in series where they will compete against three other second place finishers from the other regional qualifiers.
The American Qualifiers for TI4 have concluded with North American Rejects defeating Team Liquid to claim first place with a score of 3-2. The best-of-five series went the distance, with both teams giving everything they had for a chance to enter the most prestigious eSports tournament in the world. With their win, the North American Rejects have secured their spot on The International 4 roster. Team Liquid will have one more chance to qualify if they can win the play-in series in Seattle.
[Game 1 Winner - NAR]
For the first match of the final, NAR used a solid early-game strategy with scary teamfight capabilities. On the other hand, Liquid focused on picking heroes off and taking towers down fast when they got the space. However, Liquid's composition had a solid weakness - the need for Blink Daggers on their heroes. NAR managed to abuse this weakness and earn a big early game gold and experience advantage through continuous pushing and pressure, overwhelming their opponents and finishing the game before they could build their defenses.
[Game 2 Winner - Team Liquid]
The two competitors both selected double-core lineups, mostly aiming for early pick-offs and mid-game domination. Looking through the draft, NAR seemed to have the upper hand in terms of lane presence and fast rotations. However, everything went horribly for the Dire, with Liquid's heroes finding all the necessary farm to turn into a threat. A gank-gone-wrong by minute 12 completely crushed NAR's hopes of winning the game, as Liquid won a 5-0 teamfight and demolished the bottom tier-two tower as well. From that point, it was just a matter of time until NAR forfeited the game, since they knew their mistakes were just too great to continue fighting.
[Game 3 Winner - NAR]
Third game, third Disruptor pick by the American teams. This time, the stormy rider went to Liquid, but he could not do much to help BuLba's boys. NAR used their huge early damage output to completely shut down Liquid's cores, especially the Ursa who died four times before the 20 minute mark. With 26 minutes on the clock, NAR managed to breach Liquid's defenses and demolish two lanes of barracks using Lycan's Howl. Liquid were able to kill all five NAR's retreating heroes, but that only delayed their inevitable defeat.
[Game 4 Winner - Team Liquid]
Team Liquid used a very different strategy compared to their previous games in the best-of-five series, adding some 'Evil Genius taste' in their drafting. The physical damage output by the Shadow Fiend and Weaver proved to be very strong, especially when they were combined with Wraith King's control. The slow pace of the game during its earlier stages allowed both Qojqva and TC to get beefy, and the Radiant managed to win most of the teamfights they forced. With a 6-slotted Shadow Fiend by minute 45, Sneyking's Luna was just not enough to carry his team to victory.
[Game 5 Winner - NAR]
The final game was delayed for an entire day due to server issues. However, the action resumed today and despite a controversial lineup consisting of Drow Ranger and Templar Assassin, North American Rejects proved their mettle with nearly flawless execution of their gameplay. Team Liquid picked an intimidating late game lineup with Shadow Fiend, Slardar, and Wraith King. Despite their powerful front line presence, NAR immediately took control of the game with their early game oriented heroes. A clutch courier snipe at one minute in took out Qojqva's Bottle, ending any hope Team Liquid had of winning the middle lane. Although Liquid attempted to farm up their Slardar to shut down Drow Ranger, Shadow Fiend and the rest of the team was unable to control the farm on Templar Assassin and Drow Ranger. Despite a large gold lead in favor of NAR, the first kill of the game didn't occur until the game was 10 minutes in during a fight near the Roshan pit that ended poorly for Team Liquid, giving NAR Aegis of the Immortal and several hero kills. At 14 minutes in, NAR was already knocking on the tier 3 tower in bottom lane, forcing Team Liquid to cluster up and defend. Deprived of their farm, Team Liquid went for an all-in gank on NAR that ended in disaster. At 19 minutes in Team Liquid called GG, bringing the American Qualifiers for The International 2014 to an end.
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