Image: Xtreme Gaming
While Chinese teams struggled to start the tournament, Xtreme were able to defend their home turf against the reigning TI champions.
Chinese Dota 2 powerhouse Xtreme Gaming claimed the championship of the Clavision: Snow Ruyi Invitational in front of their home crowd in Zhangjiakou after they defeated reigning The International (TI) champions Team Spirit, 3-1, in the tournament's grand finals on Sunday (August 4).
This marks the third championship for Xtreme so far this year after their victories at Games of the Future 2024 in February and Elite League Season 1 in April. Alongside another trophy, the Chinese team will also be taking home the Snow Ruyi Invitational's grand prize of $152,500 out of the tournament's $500,000 prize pool.
Xtreme didn't have the best of starts in the Snow Ruyi Invitational, only finishing as the third seed of Group B. While their 3-1 Group Stage record was the same as the two teams seeded above them, Xtreme were pushed down to third by the head-to-head tiebreaker after falling to a short-handed Nigma Galaxy in a 2-1 upset. Even so, Xtreme still started the Playoffs in the upper bracket quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, Spirit topped the standings of Group A as the only team with a 3-1 record, which earned them a direct bye to the upper bracket semifinals.
Xtreme defeated Natus Vincere and G2.iG in three games apiece to reach the upper bracket finals, where Spirit awaited them after sweeping LGD Gaming in the upper bracket semifinals. While many favoured Spirit to win the upper bracket finals, it was Xtreme that emerged victorious in a 2-0 sweep to instead become the first team in the grand finals.
Spirit earned a rematch with Xtreme in the championship round after finally ending Nigma Galaxy's Cinderella run in a hard-fought 2-1 affair in the lower bracket finals.
Xtreme trounces Spirit in four games
Xtreme proved their previous victory over Spirit was no fluke as they cruised into a 2-0 series lead. In the 48-minute finals opener, Wang “Ame” Chunyu on Terrorblade put up seven kills and six assists on three deaths to pace his team's 21-20 kill lead in a back-and-forth affair.
Game two was much more one-sided, with Xtreme almost tripling Spirit's kill count at 34-12 behind stellar performances from Guo “Xm” Hongcheng and Ame. In just under 37 minutes of action, Xm on Storm Spirit recorded 12 kills and 10 assists on just one death while Ame on a carry Lina put up 10 kills and 13 assists against four deaths.
Spirit didn't go down without a fight, however, as they dominated Xtreme to the tune of a lopsided 34-5 kill score in 28 minutes. Denis “Larl” Sigitov on Storm Spirit paced his team with 11 kills and 12 assists on one death, Ilya “Yatoro” Mulyarchuk added seven kills and 14 assists on one death, while Magomed “Collapse” Khalilov on Centaur Warrunner pitched in with a clean 7 kills and 17 assists.
Despite Spirit's best attempts to mount a comeback in the series, Spirit thoroughly shut them down in a 32-minute rout in game four to claim the Snow Ruyi Invitational championship. Xm on Ember Spirit led the way with 10 kills and 19 assists on just one death out of the team's 35-8 kill lead. Ame on Morphling also put up a clean seven-kill, six-assist performance while Zhao “XinQ” Zixing on a support Mirana also had 9 kills and a game-high 19 assists on four deaths.
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