Mineski and Team Liquid have prevailed in the first Minor of the new season and advanced to the Grand Finals of StarLadder i-League Invitational Season 3.
Team Liquid rolled into the ProCircuit season as the TI7 championship team. Firing on all cylinders the team was still a force to be reckoned with as they tore down Team Secret to chase a championship title to start off the new season. Undefeated so far, the team is looking supremely confident.
Mineski have morphed into one of the best teams of the season, leaving stark imprints in the path to their first championship title after taking down compLexity Gaming.
compLexity Gaming and Team Secret will end their run with an impressive 3/4th place finish, $30,000 and 30 qualifying points for TI8.
Mineski 2:1 compLexity Gaming
compLexity's surprising and impressive performance in the group stage rewarded them with the top seed in the playoff brackets for their group. The North American representatives upset Newbee in a clean 2:0 sweep before knocking down the hometown heroes - Na'Vi 2:1.
Mineski has been the SEA region team to beat so far this season. Starting off the new Dota 2 year with a new roster, have shown an initial surge of success taking four SEA spots in the ProCircuit Minor/Major events - StarLadder i-League Invitational (SEA qualifier), PGL Open Bucharest (SEA qualifier), Dota Pit (SEA qualifier), Perfect World Masters (invite). In Group A the team slid into second place, suffering their only loss at the hands of Team Liquid in a 2:0 sweep.
Both teams were vying for the triumphant return storyline - after a difficult last season and failure to see the stage of TI7. A top 2 placement at the first Minor would cement their place in the circuit and as a real contender for the remainder of the season.
The first match was pretty one sided in favor of Mineski with Kam 'NaNa/Moon' Boon Seng looking spectacular on Viper and overall throughout the course of the series drawing in many new fans and attention. The second match was like watching the game in the upside-down of Stranger Things. A complete reversal and opposite of the first match, with coL in control for the entire match and Linus 'Limmp' Blomdin being in the center of attention. The NA victory forced a final third and deciding match. Fans watched the pendulum swing from Mineski to coL and eventually back to Mineski. Zakari 'Zfreek' Freedman's Chen was noteworthy but not enough as Chai 'Mushi' Yee Fung's Sven became too much to handle, allowing the SEA team to close out the victory once he came online.
Team Liquid 2:0 Team Secret
Team Liquid didn't miss a beat in their return to competitive gaming since taking home the Aegis of Champions at TI7. The championship team and StarLadder Invitational favorites were looking to dominate the season once again. The European team took the first place seed in their group without dropping a single match. A flawless start proved their invite and continued hype was deserved.
Team Secret entered the event with a target on their backs. The team has been the powerhouse of the region since taking on Marcus 'Ace' Hoelgaard and Adrian 'Fata' Trinks. Dominating all of the qualifier events they have participated in, the team has secured spots in four of the ProCircuit Minor/Major events so far - StarLadder i-League Invitational (EU qualifier), PGL Open Bucharest (EU qualifier), ESL One Hamburg (EU qualifier), Perfect World Masters (invite). Team Secret suffered a small bump in the group stage, falling 2:1 to Na'Vi to get things rolling. The team turned things around quickly tho, upset Newbee to eliminate the TI7 runner up team and then exacted their revenge on the Ukrainian team shortly after - both with clean and concise 2:0 sweeps.
The first game of the series started off with impressive plays by Team Secret, but Team Liquid had perfect control and as usual were able to turn things around with clutch plays to their advantage and then ride in on the momentum and space they created. With their backs potentially against the wall, Team Secret came out in Game 2 swinging. A few costly mistakes though would see their hopes quickly start to slip between their fingers and Team Liquid started to become overwhelmingly dangerous and formidable. The last 9 minutes just spiraled out of control for Team Secret and the 'GG' was called for a 2:0 victory in Team Liquid's favor.
The highly anticipated best-of-five Grand Finals between Mineski and Team Liquid will start shortly. Winner will walk home with 150 qualifying points for TI8, $135,000 and the first ProCircuit title for the new season.
