Tundra sweeps through Team Falcons 2:0 to secure a top 3 finish at The International 2024.
The final series of the day at The International 2024 was another bittersweet showdown, with elimination hanging in the balance. The dominance of the Western European playstyle in this meta is undeniable, as all top four teams hail from the region. Notably, this marks the first time in TI history that no Chinese team made it to the Top 4.
In a day filled with decisive sweeps - Team Falcons 2:0 Cloud9 and Tundra 2:0 Xtreme Gaming in the lower brackets, followed by Team Liquid’s 2-0 victory over Gaimin Gladiators in the upper brackets—it was no surprise that the final series would follow the same pattern.
With TI resembling a WEU regional showdown, the battle between Team Falcons and Tundra Esports felt inevitable. These two teams are no strangers to each other. They clashed earlier in TI13, where Tundra swept Falcons 2-0 in the Upper Bracket Quarterfinals. And this series also marked their third encounter in the lower bracket—previously, Falcons had bested Tundra 2-0 at both ESL One Birmingham 2024 and the Riyadh Masters.
Both teams had already secured dominant victories earlier in the day, entering this showdown fueled by momentum and a determination to win again, though before the series David "MoonMeander" Tan, Tundra coach boldly stated they were
…."Looking to give Falcons a taste of their own medicine"
Team Falcons![]()
vs![]()
Tundra Esports
vsTundra opened the first game with Lone Druid – one of the hottest current heroes in the game and then Falcons countered with Bristleback. Meanwhile, last pick was for Topias "Topson" Taavitsainen, and ended up as a Viper – a hero he is known to not really play since he considers it ‘boring’ – once again proving you can never guess what Topson will play.
This was an exciting game that was back and forth until the (Lone Druid) Bear completely started to dominate and tear through everything. MoonMeander did say in the post-draft interview that “Pure is an LD specialist, so… free win” and he wasn't wrong, but it was Matthew "Whitemon" Filemon's Enchantress that stole the show and helped secure the victory.
In the second match, Tundra went with another one of the hottest heroes to open the draft – Sniper, and also grabbed Enchantress once again. Despite the loss in the last series for Anton "dyrachyo" Shkredov vs Team Liquid , Falcons went with a last pick Clinkz for Oliver "skiter" Lepko. But once again, the hero didn't pull through as hoped as time and time again Tundra found the Clinkz and punished Falcons for the pick. This game felt like it was on the knife edge, with Tundra and Falcons really giving fans the nail-biter series that seemed to be missing all day. But ultimately, another 2:0 sweep ends the day in Tundra's favor.
Team Falcons goes home with a commendable (yet disappointing after their successful season) 4th place and $152,744 in their pockets.
Tundra secures at least a top 3 placement. Topson will be going for a three-time trophy, Martin "Saksa" Sazdov going for two – and history of taking the trophy as a stand-in.
The action resumes tomorrow, Sunday, September 15th with the lower bracket finals.
Gaimin Gladiators
vs
Tundra Esports at 10:00 CEST
The International 2024 Playoffs
The International 2024 is finally here and GosuGamers has you covered with a comprehensive, one-stop guide to all things TI13 to keep you in the know.
Ten days of glorious Dota 2 action will kick off on Wednesday, September 4th with the Group Stage in Copenhagen, Denmark, and continue through Sunday, September 15th. Sixteen will begin the journey, and only one will seize the Aegis of Champions and the lion's share of the $2+ MILLION prize pool.
For more match results and updates on the go don't forget to check out our Telegram channel.
