With the completion of the TI 11 LCQ Group Stage, we finally have the proper seeding for the LCQ Playoff. Both South and North America have seen their two representatives in the bottom two, meaning their TI hopes hang on by a thread in the LCQ Playoff Lower Bracket. In the TI 11 LCQ Group A, nouns and Tempest finished in the bottom two, with Group B telling an identical story in the case of Infamous and Wildcard Gaming.
The International 11 LCQ Playoff will be played as a double-elimination bracket, with all matches being best-of-threes. The Playoffs will run October 10th – October 12th, 2022, with the prizes being the final two spots at this year’s International Main Event.
Out of the eight teams that advanced to the TI 11 LCQ Playoffs Upper Bracket, Team Liquid has put its name out there as the frontrunner for one of the two coveted spots that lead to the main event. Liquid’s dominant performances managed to get them all the way to the top of a very competitive Group B. In Group A, Natus Vincere managed to exceed expectations, finishing in first place on the back of some monstrous individual performances.
Best Of The Rest
The rest of the teams are looking to be on fairly equal ground, with no clearcut favorites based on their performances so far. For the most part, each team has critically underperformed in a certain aspect of Dota 2. T1’s unconventional drafts have left them with scaling issues on a couple of occasions. Virtus Pro’s lack of mental fortitude has come back to haunt them, with the CIS team dropping a couple of massive early-game leads. The most star-studded team of the LCQ, China’s Xtreme Gaming has shown problems with playstyles different from their home region’s.
But truthfully, it is Team Secret that has definitely been one of the biggest disappointments so far. With their greedy drafts, farming-oriented mid-game, and lack of confidence, it’s not looking good for Puppey&Co. While Crystallis’ less-farm intensive playstyle did seem like a good fit at first, it has come back to haunt them during the TI 11 LCQ. More often than not, Secret carry could be seen a mile away from the top place on the net worth, sometimes even falling into the lower half completely. The team’s drafts did little to compensate for the lack of firepower, with their opponents out scaling them to the point of no return.
Stick with us for our daily dose of Dota 2 betting as we reveal our TI 11 LCQ Playoff Predictions.
