Team Spirit are the first to secure an upper bracket start at The International 2023 and the only team to boast a perfect 10-0 game record at the end of the group stage.
TI10 champions are looking hot in Seattle and make a clear case for another historical run. After claiming the top seed in Group A with a perfect 8-0 game score, Team Sprit chose Shopify Rebellion, the fourth placed team in Group B for the playoffs seeding series.
Team Spirit![]()
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Shopify Rebellion
Shopify RebellionGame one brought the perfect laning stage for Shopify Rebellion, and especially for their carry, Artour "Arteezy" Babaev on his signature Terrorblade.
At the 15 minute mark SR were leading 11 to 0 on the killboard and the game seemed to have been already secured. But despite the amazing laning stage, SR chose to play passively and prioritize the farm on their carry, who went for a Midas first item to increase his lead even more.
Bo BkB, no win
However, RTZ used all the gold advantage for a Silver Edge and completely skipped the Black King Bar. That decision alone came back to haunt him and Shopify Rebellion past the 25-minute mark, when Team Spirit started to force the team fights.
Artour had suddenly had no impact in fights as he was constantly controlled and the entire draft idea that relied on the TB who should have been standing tall in fights and right click the opponents to death, while being protected by Dawnbreaker, never came to realization.
Despite losing game one over itemization choices, SR suffered from the same lack of BkBs in the second game as well. They hoped to even the series with a beefy trio core Chaos Knight-Earth Spirit-Centaur Warrunner, all going for an early Heart of Tarrasque. However, on the opposite side, they had Team Spirit dominating the fights on Enchantress and Spirit Breaker, both being able to survive through prolonged team fights with BkBs, while also providing the escapes through timely Force Staffs and Wind Walkers.
“It went so well that now I’m thinking we should have picked a different opponent,” said Team Spirit’s captain Yaroslav "Miposhka" Naidenov at the end of what is a perfect group stage run for the TI10 champions.
Courtesy of their clinical performance, Team Spirit not only secured an upper bracket seed for the playoffs stage, but they also ensured that they are one series away from stepping onto the Climate Pledge Arena, formerly known as Key Arena on the main event at The International 2023.
For Shopify Rebellion, the only good news is that this year the first round in the lower bracket round is a best-of-three affair and that might give them the chance that they need to make a deep run through the elimination gauntlet.
