Fnatic.EU has just defeated Liquid to secure themselves a spot in the loser bracket final of The Defense 3. Fnatic.EU guaranteed themselves a third spot finish while Liquid settled for fourth place.
Fnatic.EU is through to The Defense Lower Bracket Finals after defeating Team Liquid 2-0. They will move on to face Team Dignitas with the winner of that match proceeding to the Grand Final.
With the win against the Americans last night, Fnatic.EU is guaranteed at least $3,500, for a third place finish and have the possibility to advance to take on Virtus Pro in the Grand Final. Team Liquid are eliminated from The Defense putting an end to their impressive run through the tournament.
Fnatic.EU appeared comfortable, if not dominant in both matches. The 2-0 scoreline is a fair representation of high calibre of play presented, while Team Liquid put up a tough fight, Fnatic.EU never looked like they were losing and were worthy winners.
Fnatic.EU drafted the tried, tested and resented combination of Phantom Lancer and Keeper of the Light. With the addition of Chen, Lone Druid, and Earthshaker formed an unstoppable mid-game pushing team. Liquid\'s intentions were less clear, with their line-up, fronted by Tiny, seeming overly focussed on shutting down Phantom Lancer and Lone Druid without setting out a clear plan for themselves. While Liquid had some success in the early game, taking advantage of Fnatic's under leveled roamer, it was impossible for TC to amass enough farm on the Tiny to stop Fnatic.EU from knocking down all of their outer towers in the mid-game.
The map control granted by this allowed Era and Trixi to build up unreasonable amounts of farm on the Druid and PL. As big as Tiny grew, Team Liquid were eventually beaten by the time old method of having much more farm than your opponent in every position.
In this game, both teams drafted simple and well-rounded line-ups focused on mid game aggression. Fnatic.EU sent their Alchemist (Era) to the mid-lane to face off against Puck, while H4nn1 took Magnus to the safe-lane to face Tinker. The early game did not go as well as Liquid had hoped with Lifestealer having to face off against a Batrider and its roaming supports. Unable to dominate the early laning phase, Liquid went into mid-game completely incompetent at taking on fights. All of Fnatic.EU\\\'s heroes found ample levels and gold and eventually took control of the game. Alchemist gorged himself, growing fatter and fatter and eventually crushed Team Liquid.
The loser bracket final between Team Dignitas and Fnatic.EU will determine who places third and who will be proceeding to the grand final. The match has not been scheduled.
| Dignitas vs Fnatic | ||
 Fogged Aui_2000 TidesofTime Universe Waytosexy | vs |  Fly h4nn1 Era n0tail Trixi |
| The Defense 3 prizes | |
| Placings | Prizes |
| 1st place | $10,000 |
| 2nd place | $5,000 |
| 3rd place | $3,500 |
| Team Liquid | $1,500 |
