Team Unknown failed to progress to the next stage of the Frankfurt major as LGD defeat them 2-0 with comprehensive performances.
Game One
The round three of the lower bracket started off as both Unknown.xiu and LGD stuck to pretty standard drafts. Team LGD were able to pick up a Templar Assassin for Lu ‘Maybe’ Yao and a Queen of Pain for Liu ‘Sylar’ Jiajun while Unknown got their hands on a Shadow Fiend for Juan ‘Atuun’ Ochoa and Ember Spirit for Alonso ‘Kotaro’ Lion.
The early game was pretty even for both the teams. As time progressed the Tusk and Queen of Pain became quite threatening with strong initiations and a heavy damage output. This helped the Templar Assassin find space and get some crucial pick offs putting LGD ahead in both the Gold and experience. Liang ‘DDC’ Faming on his Shadow Shaman was able to keep the lanes pushed and get towers at regular intervals. Although Alexis ‘Greedy’ Ventura had some pretty great plays on his Windranger it just wasn’t enough.
An all-round performance from LGD with co-ordinated ganks and regular completion of objectives helped them take the first game with a decisive advantage.
Game Two
The game two of the series was crucial for Unknown.xiu to stay alive in the tournament but in vain. As the drafts progressed , Unknown decided to go extremely aggressive with a Templar Assasin for Kotaro and Huskar for Atuun while LGD went on to draft a Shadow Fiend for Maybe and Phantom Lancer for Sylar as their cores.
LGD were off to a strong start as they were able to get some very early kills. This start wouldn’t stop unknown from showing their true potential as they were able to turn around some fights and get some important kills in mid game. The experience and gold chart was never stable on one side and it was constantly wavering. The Huskar and Templar Assasin looked deadly but couldn’t compete with the Phantom Lancer and Shadow Fiend as they were able to suppress Unknown with too much physical damage. Jesus ‘Ztokel’ Carhuaricra on his Rubick provided the viewers with some fancy plays but couldn’t create the game changing impact. With an another stupendous performance from LGD they were able to take the series 2-0 and progress on to face Ehome in the third round of the lower bracket.
This might be the end of the road for Unknown.xiu at the Majors , but they certainly showed us what they are capable of achieving and what they can offer in the long run.
Pic Courtesy : ESL
