본문 : DOT ESPORTS - Anish Nair

China's hopes at TI have been crushed.

Photo via dota2ti Flickr (https://www.flickr.com/people/dota2ti/)

As Dota 2‘s TI main stage heats up and the top four teams push toward the Aegis, some fan favorites inevitably had to fall short. Xtreme Gaming, the last hope of China’s Dota scene, was eliminated from the lower bracket by Tundra Esports.

Xtreme Gaming and Tundra Esports met in the lower bracket after Gaimin Gladiators knocked Tundra down from the upper bracket. Xtreme was riding high after defeating last year’s champions, Team Spirit, but they were met with disappointment in a crushing 0-2 loss to Tundra Esports.

Xtreme Gaming was pushed to its limits. Photo via Valve and PGL

Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko’s Lone Druid pick caught Xtreme Gaming off guard in game one, tearing through the Chinese team’s lineup and leading to their eventual defeat. Treating the Lone Druid pick as a one-hit wonder, Xtreme Gaming did not ban the hero. This led to a second Lone Druid pick, which then proceeded to dismantle Xtreme Gaming, spelling an end to their TI13 run.

After a rough few final moments, Pyrion Flax caught up with Zhao “XinQ” Zixing, the position four support of Xtreme Gaming, for a post-match exit interview. When asked about what went wrong and how the game fell apart for the team, Xinq mentioned how the team, especially himself, played extremely aggressively when they shouldn’t have, leading to crucial deaths.

Those deaths led to a snowball, and eventually to their defeat, according to Xinq. The team believed that if they had played safer, they would have eventually matched Tundra’s tempo and given them a harder fight.

A breakdown of what transpired in the series. Screengrab by Dot Esports

Despite this series loss, Xtreme Gaming still managed to pull off a top-six finish. Pyrion Flax then questioned Xinq about how the team felt regarding their sixth-place win at TI13. Xinq then said that while not happy about the results, the rest of the team was fine with their place at The International and will return stronger with better results for next year’s tournament.

After a grueling final series, the top three remaining teams are the European juggernauts of Tundra Esports, Gaimin Gladiators, and Team Liquid. The former two will battle it out in the lower bracket finals tomorrow, the winner of which will meet Team Liquid in the grand finals.

Who will lift the Aegis of Champions this year? Tune in to find out. As always, we will keep you updated with all of the happenings at TI13.