Image: Dota 2 TI Flickr
Heroic dominated this matchup all year long, but beastcoast put up a valiant last stand before bowing out of TI.
The final day of the Road to The International 2024 (TI 2024) kicked off with an all-South American showdown in the first round of the Playoff lower bracket between 
Heroic and 
beastcoast. After a hard-fought full best-of-three elimination match, Heroic emerged victorious to knock out beastcoast.
Heroic and beastcoast have repeatedly butted heads over the season for the top spot in South America, a rivalry further fueled by the fact that most of Heroic's roster previously played for beastcoast while the latter were forced to a rebuild following their departure. However, Heroic have been far and away the better team, winning all six games they played against beastcoast prior to TI 2024.
With that said, both South American representatives had uninspiring starts at this year's TI. Heroic finished the Group Stage as the fourth seed of Group A while only managing a 2-4 record while beastcoast went winless through the entire stage as the bottom seed of Group D.
In the Seeding Decider, Heroic were soundly swept by Tundra Esports and had to settle for a lower bracket start in the Playoffs. Meanwhile, Beastcoast put up a better fight against Team Falcons by forcing their series to three games, though they also sent to the lower bracket all the same.
While beastcoast finally managed to score their first win in this matchup, it was all for naught as Heroic still had their number and ended their run in TI 2024.
vs
HeroicGame one saw Heroic look to run over their opponents with a fast-paced tri-core of Bristleback by Héctor “K1” Rodríguez, Invoker for João “4nalog” Giannini, and Broodmother for Cedric “Davai Lama” Deckmyn. Heroic aimed to survive that early onslaught and take things late behind Yheremi “payk” Arroyo's Muerta.
Heroic dominated the laning stage and got off to a flying start, building a 5,000 gold lead just 15 minutes in as K1 showcased his farming prowess. With K1 reaching 18,000 gold in net worth by the 25-minute mark, he led Heroic in an early siege of beastcoast's base. While the Bristleback did take down the opposing mid-tier 3 tower by himself, the rest of Heroic were unable to properly back their carry up as beastcoast held their barracks and repeatedly repelled their opponents.
With Heroic's siege only dealing minimal damage and their gold lead dwindling, payk's Muerta finally came online as the game went late. All further attempts by Heroic to close out what should have been an easy win were then repulsed, eventually giving beastcoast the 54-minute comeback win instead.
Payk put up a stellar 16 kills and 11 assists on three deaths to pace beastcoast's 35-23 game one-kill lead. Luis “Lumpy” Yausin on Void Spirit also pitched in with seven kills and 18 assists against two deaths.
Heroic clearly thought their game one strategy was sound as they ran it again in game two, with K1 on Bristleback again while 4nalog and Davai Lama switched over to Earth Spirit and Pangolier, respectively. This time around, Heroic's plan went off without a hitch as they once again dominated the laning stage and cruised to a 33-minute win to force a deciding game three.
K1 led the way for Heroic with seven kills and assists apiece on one death out of the team's 24-5 kill lead. 4nalog added six kills and nine assists on one death while Davai Lama had a clean four kills and nine assists.
The series decider saw beastcoast draft an aggressive lineup with payk on Luna, Lumpy on Tiny, and Pablo “Vitaly” Angulo on Kunkka. Meanwhile, Heroic went with K1 on Windranger, 4nalog on Earth Spirit again, while Davai Lama had an offlane Viper.
While beastcoast dominated the early game this time around, some well-executed teamfights from Heroic forced the game into a bloody deadlock that persisted past the half-hour mark even if their opponents held a significant gold lead. However, Heroic broke the game wide open when they won the pivotal clash of the game around the Radiant Roshan Pit around the 40-minute mark.
Despite beastcoast's best efforts to regain their momentum, Heroic proved too much to overcome as they closed out the 2-1 series victory after 54 minutes of action.
With this result, beastcoast make a disappointing 13th-16th place exit from TI 2024 and will take home over $37,000 in consolation.
Meanwhile, Heroic have guaranteed themselves at least a Top 12 placement as well as just under $50,000 in winnings. However, they are not out of the woods yet as they will next face Southeast Asia's Aurora in the second round of the lower bracket in the third match of the day.
TI 2024 is this year's iteration of Dota 2's annual world championship tournament and features 16 of the best teams in the world fighting for their cut of the growing $2.36 million prize pool and the Aegis of Champions.
The event is being hosted from September 4 to 15 in Copenhagen, Denmark and is split into two distinct phases: the Group stage (September 4 to 5) and the Seeding Deciders (September 6 to 7). The first two rounds of the Playoffs (September 8 to 10) are branded as part of The Road to The International, while the remaining portion of the Playoffs for the remaining eight teams (September 13 to 15) are branded as The International itself.
For everything you need to know about TI 2024, check here.
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