Team Spirit, the defending champions of Dota 2’s biggest tournament, The International 2013, have been eliminated from TI13.
Team Spirit’s Lower Bracket Journey
Team Spirit began TI13 Playoffs in the Lower Bracket after a shocking defeat to nouns in the Seeding Decider match. From this stage, every match was a virtual knockout, which put a lot of pressure on the defending champions.
Even though they advanced through the Group Stage without a single loss, their elimination by nouns came as a surprise to both supporters and critics, who did not expect the determination of the latter. But this was not new to Team Spirit as they had earlier demonstrated their prowess in coming from the Lower Bracket.
It seemed that Spirit had a good chance in the beginning as they defeated G2 x iG in the first Lower Bracket match. But the next team they were to face, Xtreme Gaming, would be much more difficult and this would create a rivalry that fans loved.
A Clash of Titans: Spirit vs Xtreme
To Illya “Yatoro” Mulyarchuk, Wang “Ame” Chunyu of Xtreme Gaming was one of his competitors he looked up to and at the same time, had to beware of. This was not just any ordinary match, it was the match that both teams had been looking forward to more than the matches against tournament giants such as Team Liquid, Gaimin Gladiators or Team Falcons.
The first game of the series was a very close game with both teams taking turns to dominate the match. Both teams were able to go back and forth and there were moments where Yatoro and Ame were always in the center of the fight. Each fight was a coin toss, but a decisive team fight went in Spirit’s favor and they were able to take Game One.
AME DOMINATES IN GAME TWO
When the Game Two started, Ame had Luna, an OP hero in the current meta, while Team Spirit had Magomed “Collapse” Khalilov on Mars, his main hero. This time it appeared that Spirit had the means to start and regulate the game, but Xtreme Gaming had different ideas.
Xtreme skillfully shielded Ame so that he could farm and participate in important battles. Xtreme had a well-placed roster of initiations and Collapse, who was famous for his game changing initiations, could not seem to find the right openings. The absence of proper initiation meant that Spirit was falling in crucial battles, and Luna’s tower damage was devastating Xtreme. Game Two was also short and Xtreme completed the match in 25 minutes.
GAME THREE: A Battle for Glory
In the final deciding game, both teams decided to leave out meta strategies and went for the comfort choices. Yatoro chose Terrorblade, and Ame, as always, picked Medusa. On paper, Team Spirit had a better teamfight composition with a great setup to unleash Terrorblade’s damage.
However, in the draft of Xtreme Gaming, Tusk and Undying were included that enabled them to survive in the protracted fights. While Team Spirit was very well executed and had good fight coordination, Xtreme’s Undying was able to provide the necessary heals at the right time to keep their team alive during fights. Ame’s Medusa, who is usually in a disadvantageous position in such cases, escaped every fight with the help of his allies.
In the final battle, Xtreme Gaming did not surrender a single hero and that is a clear indication of the team spirit. Xtreme was able to clinch the game for their team, thus sending the defending champions Spirit home in TI13.
The End of an Era for Team Spirit
Thus, Team Spirit’s TI13 journey was over, and their hopes of defending the Aegis of Champions were shattered. Still, it is hard to imagine that Yatoro or his teammates were leaving the stage with broken spirits. They had been up against Xtreme Gaming at their strongest, and in the end, it was a fight that deserved to be on the International stage.
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