The International 2024 Recap: Lower Bracket Rounds 1 & 2 - September 9
Recommended watch: BB vs Talon game 2
Meta data from datdota. Match data from OpenDota.
Meta
Lower Bracket Round 1
Talon Esports vs BetBoom Team
Saying the lanes went roughly for Talon is an understatement. The start went as poorly as it could have for the SEA squad. The supports on BB frequented the mid lane and made sure the Puck had a miserable early game. The Beastmaster was completely bullying the SF on top. The Luna was undeterred and even found a kill on the SK. Talon fell into an early hole and BB kept the pressure mounting. Talon were able to win exchanges of their own. BB was most vulnerable when they had the Aegis as they were more careless. It also helped that Akashi had a "DD" rune for that second Aegis fight but BB had too much of a significant lead to be bothered. Save's Lion put up another inspiring performance for his team which gave Talon no chance. BB 1-0 Talon.
The lanes didn't go as disastrously as the first game for Talon but they still lost all of their lanes because GPK's NP got ahead and was able to influence the sidelanes. BetBoom once again had a commanding start and they kept the pressure mounting. BetBoom were wise to evade the massive AoE ults on Talon's side and punish Talon when they were on cooldown. Save's Bat was once again finding his targets. MK and Morph did get to farm but they were still way below their counterparts. In the 44th minute, BB found 2 huge kills on the MK and Mars before even sieging high ground. BB finished the mid set of racks and were on their way to getting Megas. It looked bleak for Talon. It was a 35k gold lead at one point. But then, the defense for the bottom set of racks completely changed the game. With a bit of luck, MK's boundless strike stunned the Bat just as Save blinked in. The stars aligned for Talon as they cast their ultimates perfectly and were able to get 3 kills and defend their base. Talon were still 20k behind but the belief was stronger than ever. Both NP and Weaver's peaks have already passed and the Morph was only getting scarier. The support Mirana was also able to get a Daedalus on the back of that defense. In the next fight, Save's Bat was the first to be spotted and killed by the Radiant. Save was a crucial factor for BB's teamfight and without him, they quickly crumbled. Wukong's + Arena + Egg meant BB had to scramble. The Support Mirana chased and killed the carry Weaver by herself. The Kunkka was hunted down and destroyed. 3 were killed and 2 of them had no buyback. Talon went straight to the Rosh pit and got Aegis for Morph. The momentum completely swung and Talon wasn't done yet. Both Weaver and Kunkka were still down so they forced the issue and went for the jugular. BetBoom tried to stop the onslaught but even the backdoor protection wasn't enough. Talon completed the ridiculous comeback. Talon 1-1 BB.
The third game featured BetBoom getting Morph for themselves and Talon running it back with Mars and MK. Talon went with the traditional approach to countering the water boi with the rarely seen Ancient Apparition. The AA as an answer didn't work too well. Nightfall was always wary. He even bought a Blink Dagger to help with his mobility. BB's teamfight was also so much simpler. Talon didn't have any defensive/saving heroes so the Doom ran the fights. Miero targeted the Mars and Luna in the clashes and had great success in bringing them down. Talon also didn't have the greatest lockdown so GPK's Storm ran amok in the fights. With BKBs on BB's cores, there wasn't much of a fight. All 3 cores of the Dire also built Refresher Orbs for themselves which slammed shut any hopes of Talon coming back. Talon becomes the first team to be eliminated from TI. BB 2-1 Talon.
Team Zero vs 1win
Zero won their sidelanes handily. Both Luna and Beastmaster were able to get what they wanted from this game. Chira Junior's Invoker was the sacrificial lamb but that worked out for the best in this scenario. The 5-man ball from 1win with their elite auras was too much to deal with for Zero. The Radiant also didn't have the greatest synergy for Mirana's Solar Flare so the fights became lopsided. 1win were able to keep their lead steadily growing and Zero never found any answers to Luna and BM. 1win were able to close the game out confidently. 1W 1-0 TZ.
Zero were feeling creative with their response to WR with the Muerta but 1win had an even better counter to her with the last pick Brewmaster. YSR got bullied in the lane and her slow start was indicative of the events that would follow. Zero had 4 members who were trying to farm. The poor Clockwerk of zzq had to catch the brunt of 1win's aggression. 1win kept the pace and did what they wanted on the map. The teamfights were heavily one-sided. Zero couldn't even get a single core kill in this game while WR and co. had no problems finding their kills. There simply was no killing the Brew backed by an Omni. Zero are eliminated from contention. They had such a nice start to the tournament and were 1 win away from making it to the upper bracket but will now bow out at the first exit stage. 1win will now Falcons later today. Talk about going from zero to one hundred. 1W 2-0 TZ.
Lower Bracket Round 2
Nouns vs BetBoom Team
Both sides were neck-and-neck up until the 21st minute when BetBoom struck after Nouns just finished destroying the Radiant's Tormentor. Both the MK and Chen would be killed, Razor had to use his BKB to run, and the Stampede was wasted for nothing. BB would get a tier 2 tower and all the momentum they needed. Nouns would crumble. BetBoom would continuously find pickoffs across the map and Nouns would not be given time to regain composure. Nouns looked lost and didn't know what to do. This became a landslide victory for BB. BB 1-0 Nouns.
The second game was even worse for Nouns because it didn't take 20 minutes for the gap to appear. Nouns lost their lanes and the bleeding could not be stopped. Gunnar's SK had 3 successive deaths before minute 6 which killed his game and accelerated Weaver's. BetBoom lived on the Dire's side of the map and completely shut down Nouns' chance to play a decent game of DotA. The Invoker had to be in Ghost Walk to survive his excursions. The Tusk and Hoodwink were walking food for Weaver. Yuma's WR would have no impact in the clashes as he was Doom's main target. Weaver ended up with a 20/0/13 KDA. The scoreline tells us all we need to know about this game. It was almost a 50k gold lead at 37 minutes. This was a brutal exit game for Nouns. BB 2-0 Nouns.
Team Falcons vs 1win Team
For the second game in a row, we see a Weaver pop off. Skiter did a brilliant job applying pressure all over the place and not just being a passive carry sticking to his jungle. Skiter was actively joining his team and finding kills. Chira Junior had a terrible game. The lane didn't go so bad for him but the delayed BKB meant any form of initiation (Lasso, X Mark, Snowball) on WR resulted in a death. The mid WR finished with the most deaths in the game. The MK's Battlefury was weird but he did what he could in his situation. 1win did a good job making the game close by finding kills of their own. It wasn't until the 25th minute that the game started to slip away from 1win. It was a fight where Malrine's Batrider was the first to fall, 1win wanted more but the Weaver cleaned house. WR, MK, and Pugna would die while the BM had to BKB + TP home. Falcons would take over the map and the game from that point on. FLC 1-0 1W.
Chira Junior had a nightmare of a series. Like the previous game, 1win revealed their cores early on and the last pick Sniper for Falcons was there to punish the MK pick. Malrine destroyed his counterpart. At 8 minutes, Sniper was level 8 and MK was level 5. Good teams know how to press an advantage. Malrine's dominance would influence the other lanes. The Beastmaster would get picked off. The Luna could no longer stay in lane. The map was owned by Falcons. 1win did offer some sort of resistance in fights where FLC didn't have their full 5-man but the lead never dissipated. Falcons found their finishing blow in the 23rd minute after a convincing teamwipe sealed 1win's fate. Falcons secured top 8 and an appearance on the main stage. FLC 2-0 1W.