picture courtesy of Epicenter
The second day of the EPICENTER Moscow 2017 playoffs came to a dramatic close as Liquid crushed LGD.Forever Young's dreams with a 2:0 sweep for the final spot in the coveted Grand Finals.
Team Liquid were firing on all cylinders, surging forward on a collision course for a fight for the championship title and a hopeful TI7 invite.
LFY had truly been the dark horse of the event. Coming in under the radar as barely a blip on the screen they turned into being a massive force of nature that wreaked havoc on the EPICENTER 2017 landscape. The team had a relatively quiet season with minimal results and appearances, making themselves somewhat of an enigma for their opponents. They moved through the group stage with ease, dominating their adversaries, refusing to yield a single series. With a record of 4:0 consisting of eight wins and only one loss, the Chinese team took the top seed and advanced directly into the semi finals of the playoff stage.
Fighting for a position in the group stage, Team Liquid were able to squeak by assuming the third place position that wasn't secured until the witching hour final series. The European squad had then turned the tables on the local crowd favorites Virtus Pro with a 2:1 upset, knocking the CIS team out of contention with a bang.
With confidence and determination Team Liquid show no signs of slowing down and being satisfied with anything less than a win.
Game One
The first game started out very aggressively by both sides, drawing out several deaths in less than two minutes. Rune control, fantastic rotations and playing around the Lone Druid perfectly, Team Liquid started to take the slight advantage and throw their weight around with a strong langing phase and fantastic farming efficiency.
Clutch fight after clutch fight, LFY's team fight execution was once again on show. As seen throughout the group stage, the Chinese team's roaming and midgame team fighting with Tue "Ah fu" Soon Chuan has really been an integral part of LFY's success as well as big playmaking by the both of the supports. Team Liquid's lead had slipped away and they were now on the defense.
Keeping cool and collected, Team Liquid worked on finding pick offs and playing around to avoid the Bristleback as they chipped away at the lead LFY had gained. Once Liquid got their items and Amer "Miracle-" Al-Barkawi's Sven came online, it was all theirs for the taking. Fantastic individual play and team decisions and combinations turned everything around and gave way to the Europeans taking the first victory in the series.
Game Two
With their backs up against the wall, LFY had a lot of work to do to stave off a defeat. Although the Chinese team started out on the losing end of the laning phase, they were coordinated and their on point rotations to pick off heroes around the map bridged the gap going into the early/mid game.
Beautiful plays by Du "Monet" Peng on Faceless Void with four man and impeccable chrono's were not enough to give LFY any full advantage, often failing to back it up or capitalize on it. Team Liquid continued to press and punish as they aggressively charged forward not letting LFY take their five man fights and strengths.
With solid map control, core pick offs and veterans of high pressure experience, the Europeans extended their lead by leaps and bounds. Outfarming, outmaneuvering and outplaying LFY, Team Liquid secured a second victory and their place in the Grand Finals.
The highly anticipated Grand Finals will take place between Evil Geniuses and Team Liquid tomorrow, June 11th at 15:00 CEST in a five game series showdown for the championship title.
