In what was one of the best series at TI12, BetBoom eliminated Talon Esports with a 2-1 series win.
Every year at The International, there are two or three series that are so good that they are bound to go down in TI lore. One of those series played out at TI12 between BetBoom Team and Talon Esports in the lower bracket of the playoffs. It went the distance, but BetBoom came out on top with a 2-1 series win. They secure the top 8 at TI12, while Talon will have to settle for a 9th-12th finish.
Talon came into this game after a rough 0-2 loss against Team Liquid in the upper bracket. BetBoom on the other hand eliminated Keyd Stars earlier in the day and had the momentum going for them. But by the manner in which the series unfolded, no one could have been prepared.
BetBoom TeamGame 1 was a relatively even affair for the first 40 minutes, after which Talon shot ahead and looked in command. With the kill score at 17-14 and an 11000 net worth lead in favour of Talon, BetBoom took a good fight just before the 50 minute mark and took out Talon’s Spectre, who was out for 90 seconds without buyback. Not wanting to delay the game against a farmed Spectre, BetBoom went all in for the Ancient, but fell short as the backdoor protection kicked in! Anucha "Jabz" Jirawong on the offlane Weaver realized the time they needed to buy for the Spectre to respawn, and prioritized killing the creeps. The game slipped slowly through the Eastern European team’s hands after that, and Talon drew first blood after a long drawn 70 minute victory.
If game 1 was crazy, game 2 ridonculous! The insanity began in the draft, with Pudge, Riki and Marci making their way in the game, along with a carry Dark Willow for Talon’s Nuengnara "23savage" Teeramahanon. The Dark Willow got to a point where the down time on Shadown Realm was 0.9 seconds – 7 second duration, 7.9 seconds cooldown. To add to that, 23savage made a Windwaker, Linken’s Sphere and BKB. How was this hero supposed to be caught, let alone killed?
Things looked impossible for BetBoom, with Talon up by over 20,000 gold. But as has been the case in multiple games at TI12, going high ground is always a daunting task, and BetBoom did an amazing job at defending their base. The Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko Pudge, which had a rough game for a long time, came in clutch with Meat Hooks and Dismembers. In all this, Egor “Nightfall” Grigorenko’s Muerta was got so farmed that she was vaporizing anyone she could aim her guns at. After a lot of patience, BetBoom were able to bring the Dark Willow down twice and end the game. This game will go down as one of the best games not just at TI12, but in the history of The International.
The BetBoom players celebrated like they had won the tournament!
After losing a game like that, it can be difficult for a team to go into game 3 knowing they could have won the series in the previous game. It’s hard to say what mindset Talon were in, but they gave it a good fight. But it wasn’t nearly enough, as BetBoom had the better carry to carry matchup and were ahead of their opponents pretty much throughout the game. With no answer for the Phantom Lancer, BetBoom won game 3 in 54 minutes, which seems like a stomp considering how long the other two games went!
Talon exit TI12 with their heads held high. They treated the crowd to some amazing Dota 2, and the team is only bound to come back stronger. As for BetBoom, they have secured top 8 at TI12 and will get to play on the finals weekend at the Climate Pledge Arena.
