T1 survived another elimination match as they defeated Neon Esports 2-1 in the Lower Bracket Quarterfinal of the ONE Esports Dota 2 SEA League tournament.
After winning their last two Lower Bracket elimination matches, it looks like the South Korean Dota 2 club has finally found their groove. They’ve discovered a hero pool that works for them in the current Dota 2 meta, anchored by the midlane Broodmother pick for Galvin “Meracle” Kang Jian Wen.
Game One
The first game of the series was a lopsided affair, as T1 punished Neon Esports’s weak hero draft. Neon aimed to counter Meracle’s Broodmother with a Pangolier pick for Erin Jasper “Yopaj” Ferrer, which was successful at the start of the game. But Neon’s lack of stuns and their decision to forgo a true hard carry hero cost them the first game.
Game Two
Neon Esports answered back by winning their own one-sided game. The Filipino squad quickly secured a 9,000-gold lead just 14 minutes into the game.
Neon ballooned their gold lead advantage to 31,000 at the 27-minute mark. By continuously eliminating Meracle’s Morphling, they tied the series, 1-1.
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Game Three
With both teams’ tournament lives on the line, they drafted heroes they were comfortable with. T1 went for a true hard carry hero in the Alchemist. Muhammad “inYourdreaM” Rizky made it work, pulling off an amazing start by acquiring his Radiance 11 minutes into the game.
Meanwhile, Neon Esports utilized another unorthodox lineup with a Nature’s Prophet on Andrei “skem” Ong, and an offlane Jakiro for Rafael “Rappy” Sicat Palo. But this rat-type lineup led Neon Esports to their downfall as they lacked the damage and team fight abilities they needed to defeat T1.
Neon attempted to push the sidelines while T1 was grouped up, but the latter had so much more tools at their disposal with their gigantic 42,000-gold lead.
T1 did not give Neon Esports a chance to get back into the game, continuing to destroy their opponents in the last few team fights and securing objectives all around the map. With their gigantic 42,000-gold lead advantage, T1 ran into the Radiant base and finished the game.
T1 has now won their last two Lower Bracket matches, and eliminated both Neon Esports and NEW Esports from contention. They’re setting their sights on eliminating another team from the tournament as they go up against Geek Fam in the Lower Bracket Semifinal later today.
On the other hand, Neon Esports’ tournament run has ended with a fifth/sixth place finish, which earned the team US$4,000 in prize money.
READ MORE: T1 pull off an incredible 2-1 comeback to eliminate NEW Esports
