Another tiebreaker? In the Western Europe DPC, viewers were treated to a rare spectacle as three teams duke it out for the last two remaining slots for major contention. Tundra, Entity, and OG are now in a three-way tiebreaker to decide who stays at home, and who goes to the Winter Major. This is caused by the last scheduled game of Entity vs Nigma Galaxy, where Entity defeated NGX. This caused Entity to have the same standings as Tundra and OG of 4 wins and 3 losses.
OG vs Tundra
So far, the tiebreaker kicked off a day after the last scheduled regular game. The first game was between OG and Tundra. With the first pick, Tundra drafted infamous meta heroes Lina and Pangolier, alongside the comfort pick, Doom. Their support picks were a powerful disable combo of Earth Shaker and Lion. To give the carry Lina freedom to attack from range, Tundra stomped OG in a 36-minute game with a score of 35-6.
Tundra vs Entity
The next match was Tundra up against Entity. Tundra needs to win this game to guarantee their spot for the major. No one could predict the outcome of the game, as it went on for 67 grueling minutes. The game was heavy on farming and securing space for their members to farm.
Every hero had to scratch for gold, as every advantage could snowball into victory. The highlight of this match was a fight in the dire jungle where everyone bought back, and it achieved little but an Aegis for Tundra. Entity outlasted Tundra in a final clash where Tundra’s heroes had no buyback.
Entity vs OG
This third round of the game will guarantee Entity’s major spot if they win. The draft phase was even, with comfort picks from both teams getting played. The game from the beginning was favored to OG, with standout performances from midlaner BZM and support Taiga, as well as clutch plays from offlaner DM.
The overseen detail in this game was BZM’s decision to build Battlefury to magnify the effectiveness of Magnus’s Empower. This made him deal more physical damage and countered Watson’s NP and his summons, and caused Entity to space out more. Ultimately, OG took the game as they took out the Pangolier with no buyback and Taiga saved Yuragi’s Bloodseeker and pulled off a stolen Overgrowth to turn the fight around.
Round 2: OG vs Tundra
With those results, the tiebreaker was reset and with a few minutes of break, Tundra and OG started the sequence. Once again, Tundra Esports had OG’s number with another Lina pick, Saksa’s Tiny, and Nine’s Storm Spirit. Similarly, Tundra rolled over OG in a 30+ score deficit and 50K networth lead game, this time lasting 10 more minutes. OG must now hope for the same results as the first round to keep their chances afloat.
Tundra vs Entity
Tundra then faced Entity, where a mismatch in the draft caused Entity to take the upper hand from the get-go. Banning Lina themselves, Tundra picked up Weaver as a carry. Both teams banned heroes like Natures Prophet, Broodmother, Enigma, Riki, and Lycan to ensure that no one gets a comfort pick.
This proved to be detrimental to Tundra as Entity’s Kataomi was able to play his signature Treant Protector. Coupled with Watson’s Drow Ranger and Fishman’s Disruptor, Stormstomer’s Batrider had to create chaos and space with Treant.
Tundra’s farm-heavy lineup wasn’t able to take the constant pressure of Entity’s lineup, and they were stomped the same way they stomped OG.
Entity vs OG
OG’s draft focused on a farming Drow Ranger and an offlane Pango and midlane Leshrac for this tiebreaker. Entity’s players had a lineup with many soft disables, and OG’s answer is the support Omniknight. Their Rubick pick had the same goal as their mid and off pick, to cause chaos and space.
This game went on the same as the Tundra and Entity game from round 1 and went beyond 60 minutes. Their goal came true as Drow reached critical mass, and with a lucky Apex neutral item, they clinched a win from Entity. This kept their contention dreams alive and reset the tiebreakers once again.
Round 3: OG vs Tundra
With the third tiebreakers postponed to the next day, teams were able to reset and rethink their strategies. With a fresh mind, Tundra replicated the results from previous rounds and routed OG. This time, OG was able to stand toe-to-toe with a Timbersaw and Storm Spirit pick. However, Tundra had an x-factor in their position 1 Dragon Knight and their classic position 4 Tiny. They outlasted OG as Tundra would find key pickoffs in OG’s cores 60 minutes into the game.
Round 3: Tundra vs Entity
The second game followed, with Entity going against Tundra. Viewers expected the same thing to occur, but Tundra proved them wrong. Tundra realized the “sit and farm” strategy that Entity was going for and admitted to making mistakes because of it.
Even more, Neta “33” Shapira of Tundra told the panel that “… if they want to AFK farm, we will do it as well, but we are [going to] do it better.” They did exactly that as they reverted to their signature TI11 playstyle which is slow but steady.
Round 3: OG vs Entity
OG vie to win this game as Tundra took the first slot with their win versus Entity. Then it is unfortunate that Entity figured out what they needed to do as well. With an Invoker pick, Entity’s Stormstormer led a steamroll against OG.
The OG draft was too slow and could not catch up with the early fighting style of Entity’s draft. With Entity’s victory, they take the final Major slow, and OG fails to qualify for the majors at 5th place in Div 1.
If you liked this article, you can read more on our website. You can also follow us on social media to stay updated with the latest esports and gaming news.
