Photo courtesy of SLTV
Team Liquid secure another title as they dominate LGD Gaming 3:1 to become champions of StarLadder iLeague Season 4 Invitational Minor.
Another extraordinary and dominating performance by Team Liquid have given the TI7 championship team another title and more Pro Circuit points in the 2017-2019 season. The European team continues to steamroll over their opponents to consistently claim a podium finish at the top events of the year.
Team Liquid's victory became their fourth consecutive StarLadder iLeague championship title.
StarLadder iLeague Season 4 Invitational Semi Finals:
The day started out strong for LGD Gaming who upset Newbee 2:0 in the first series of the semi finals. The first game was a shocking stomp in only 23 minutes. Their second match was a fantastic comeback. The entire game looked to be in Newbee's pocket from the start but crucial spell steals turned the game into an intense race to the end when at 50 minutes LGD turned the game on it's head and claimed the victory in the remaining three minutes of play.
Liquid waltzed into the semi finals as the favorite in their match up and took a fairly easy first game off of the SEA Kings - Mineski. The second game was just short of an hour long affair - going back and forth througout with game almost ending in Mineski's favor until Liquid snatched it back from them in the witching hour.
StarLadder iLeague Season 4 Invitational Grand Finals:
The Grand Finals showcased Team Liquid's domination, experience and stunning combinations. In the first match the European almost lost their footing about 22 minutes in but quickly recovered. LGD Gaming was able to turn things around about 31 minutes in after a crucial kill on the Storm Spirit and then team wipe - giving them two sets of barracks and an 11k gold swing in their favor. The game became incredibly close for some time but in the end Team Liquid reclaimed their composure and the game closing it out in about 50 minutes.
The second match was a surprising deathball stomp over Team Liquid by LGD Gaming. The Chinese team had set an incredible pace right out of the gates. By 12 minutes in LGD had taken down five towers, by 16 minutes had claimed the bottom set of barracks and at 18 minutes after they had taken the middle barracks Team Liquid tapped out. LGD's flawless execution gave fans much hope for a long and contested series.
The following two games however turned out to be pretty one sided in favor of Team Liquid again. The third match featured a flawless performance by Amer "Miracle-" Al-Barkawi on Sven and the team claimed the victory in only 26 minutes. It would be a monumental moment in Kuro "KuroKy" Salehi Takhasomi 's career however as with the win, he became the first professional player to reach 1000 competitive wins.
StarLadder iLeague Season 4 Invitational Prize Pool:
1st place: $135,000 + 150 DPC – Team Liquid
2nd place: $60,000 + 90 DPC – LGD Gaming
3rd-4th place: $30,000 +30 DPC – Newbee/Mineski
5th-6th place: $15,000 – compLexity Gaming/Team Empire
7th-8th place: $7,500 – Infamous/Team Kinguin
