We’re finally about to enter the last leg of The International 12. Fans can expect some truly fierce competition to come out over the weekend. There are only 8 teams left in the running and the next stage matches are set.

Here’s our match breakdown for the next round of the tournament.

Credit: Dota 2 TI

Team Spirit vs. Team Liquid

Spirit and Liquid are both favorites to take the Aegis of Champions now that defending champions Tundra have already been eliminated. This is going to be the match of choice for many fans.

Team Liquid have had a frustrating year but they’ve stayed on form throughout TI12. They topped their group and 2-0’d every opponent out of groups so far. Traditionally, Liquid falls at the final hurdle but Team Spirit are a formidable opponent.

Our prediction is that Team Spirit will come out on top simply because of the calibre of their drafts and playstyle. Liquid will likely make them work for it and we wouldn’t be surprised to see a 2-1 scoreline.

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LGD Gaming vs. Azure Ray

LGD vs. Azure Ray is a meeting of Chinese titans. Nothingtosay and y will need to face off against their former teammates to stay in the upper bracket.

If we’re going off existing TI12 performances, LGD gets a slight edge. They topped the group of death, even beating out Gaimin Gladiators, whereas Azure Ray took 3rd place.

Azure Ray shouldn’t be counted out. This is probably the most difficult match to predict and while our heads say LGD, our hearts say Azure Ray. We’d also expect another 2-1 result here.

Nouns vs. Gaimin Gladiators

If you’re going to watch one game, it should be nouns vs. GG. We’re sure you don’t need a reminder of GG’s unprecedented success this year.

Gaimin Gladiators are the Goliath to nouns’ David. To call nouns an underdog at TI12 would be something of an understatement but they’ve proved us wrong time and time again. It would be a very unceremonious end to the year for GG but for nouns, it could be everything.

While we’d probably have to give GG the edge, they even came top of our TI12 power rankings, a nouns win would likely give them the confidence to go the whole way to the finals.

BetBoom vs. Virtus.Pro

Both BetBoom and Virtus.Pro are on their final chance at TI12. This elimination match is likely  going to result in the best Dota they’ll play all year.

BetBoom do have former TI champion TorontoTokyo in position 5 as well as veterans GPK and Pure. They edged out VP in the group stage but VP also made it to the upper bracket before falling to GG.

Looking at the match history, Betboom Team are more likely to take the win here. They have 2-0’d VP in the last 3 meetings. There’s no real reason they can’t do it again.

Ti11 Playoffs Predictions

The International 11 Playoffs Bracket

Evil Geniuses vs Thunder Awaken

EG got the long tail of the stick when picking out their upper bracket opponent. While EG will inevitably face PSG.LGD in the upper bracket eventually, having a quick and easy dropkick on a weaker opponent is always nice.

Despite the bad rep EG garnered for their stale drafts all season long, EG’s drafts have drastically changed. We would even go as far to say Kanishka ‘Sam’ “BuLba” Sosale, their coach, has decided to watch from the sidelines. Letting Tal “Fly” Aizik takes over the drafting work might just be EG’s saving grace at TI11. Execution-wise, EG is no stranger at performing their respective roles, which makes EG such a consistent team in group A.

While TA is by no means a weak team, the odds are still against the South American team. It has always been the case, and even more overwhelming when their opponent is EG.

Team Secret vs PSG.LGD

Team Secret has proven themselves to be a top-tier team at TI11 after their underdog run from TI11 Last Chance Qualifier. Although Secret continued to prove their worth in group B, facing PSG.LGD this early into the Playoffs is still a challenge.

PSG.LGD should have no issue snatching the series off Team Secret, considering they are the proclaimed strongest team from China. With the occasional hiccups in group stage, LGD is still a go-to pick for most TI11 betting slips.

Hokori vs beastcoast

Down in the lower bracket, the showdown between two South American teams will take place. Beastcoast, being the more seasoned team from the region, will surely be a favorite. However, for Hokori to survive the TI11 group stage comfortably is still a massive accomplishment, especially since this is their first TI debut.

While most fans are already impressed of Hokori’s performance, beating their regional rival will surely be icing on top of the cake. Well, it’s quite even as far as odds go, so Hokori might actually pull it off.

Team Spirit vs BOOM Esports

The TI11 lower bracket is looking spicy as the defending champion, Team Spirit, competes for tournament life. It’s certainly not in favor of BOOM, which barely advanced to the playoffs after beating Soniqs and BetBoom in a tiebreaker.

While there’s no doubt that Spirit is much superior in this match-up, BOOM’s last match showed that they do have several tricks up their sleeves. When push comes to shove, and elimination is at stake, BOOM certainly knows how to play the strong drafts and absolute dominance over their opponent.

Fnatic vs Gaimin Gladiators

Fnatic turns out to be the better team among its Southeast Asian brethren at TI11, especially BOOM. While Fnatic is also in the lower bracket, Fnatic has showcased incredible synergy in their team fights and response to opponent movements.

Couple that with Fnatic’s x-factor of nasty team fight combos, and Fnatic might just pull off a potential victory over Gaimin. On the contrary, Gaimin has been underwhelming as the latest staple from Western Europe region. They either tie or lost most series in Group A, except Soniqs and BetBoom, both eliminated in groups.

Gaimin’s drafts have been relatively generic, meta picks in the most recent update, such as Primal Beast, Pangolier, and Marci. However, these picks don’t make for a good draft synergy, which is hurting Gaimin’s performance.

Royal Never Give Up vs Entity

RNG has had a rough group stage going into TI11 since most of them got COVID19. This, of course, affected their performance, but they endured the tough situation regardless.

Entity, dubbed the unicorn from WEU region, has lost their momentum going into the groups. As such, RNG might just be the stronger opponent despite the handicap they are having. Expectations aside, both teams scored similarly badly in their respective group, so their odds aren’t too one-sided.

Yet again, another four teams will conclude their TI11 journey later today. However, until then, catch the International 11 Opening Ceremony, which is an iconic start to the International Championship.

Tundra Esports vs Team OG

The second day of upper bracket games at TI11 continues with an inter-region brawl between Tundra and OG. Both teams have showcased phenomenal performances in their respective groups, but frankly OG has a much bigger bandwagon of fans.

That aside, it’s good to note that both teams are very familiar with one another, not just because they played the regionals together. Additionally, Tundra has a massive hero pool to work with, as we saw the various combos, they dished out in group stage. If anything, Tundra doesn’t have any notable play that makes them stood out for any hero. Instead, they can write home about their smooth transition from early game laning phase to midgame objectives. They pride themselves in team fighting, which is also evident in their hero choices.

Similarly, OG has great team fight capabilities, but perhaps the attention Ammar “ATF” Al-Assaf garnered as offlane playmaker makes him an obvious target to shut down. ATF can be OG’s game-changer in most scenarios, but with correct bans on meta picks and his signatures, OG can be crippled.

Team Liquid vs Team Aster

Aster is the last Chinese team to remain in upper bracket, but it won’t be long if Liquid snatches the series. Liquid has a similar rug to riches story as Team Secret, which also came from TI11 Last Chance Qualifier.

We witnessed how Secret shut down PSG.LGD earlier, which is a testament of the Western European’s dominance at TI11. While Liquid is certainly a likeable team, especially with the documentary on Lasse “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen’s final year in competitive Dota. Aster is still a formidable opponent to overwhelm.

Statistically, Liquid is no stranger in picking meta strats, such as Shadow Fiend and Enigma. These heroes often require flawless execution and communication, which can be a double-edged sword. While Liquid depends on game-winning team fights, Aster prefers the snowball approach of picking fast-paced sustainable heroes. Considering Aster’s momentum going into midgame, Liquid might not even have a chance to pull off perfect team fights.

EG vs beastcoast

Down in the lower bracket round 2 of TI11, EG is the first team to be kicked from upper bracket by Thunder Awaken. The South American teams have been all the craze recently, so EG’s regional reputation is at stake too. After all, the North American region pride itself to be more superior than its counterpart, SA.

With EG being the last NA representative in the lower bracket, things will get interesting for beastcoast to put the nail on EG’s coffin. For starters, there’s a good reason why EG got swept by TA earlier, which is picking Shadow Fiend twice. EG was so persistent at the SF pick, such that TA had no trouble crippling  Artour “Arteezy” Babaev before EG could save him.

We do know how persistent EG can be at their staple heroes, SF and Primal Beast. You might think that EG would decide on a fresh pick now that elimination is on the line, but chances are, EG might just pull off another SF.

Regardless, EG still has the better odds of winning against beastcoast, just because they are top seeds in group.

PSG.LGD vs BOOM

BOOM was fortunate enough to be the one which sends Team Spirit packing. With the defending champions out of the league, BOOM is still a relatively inconsistent team. That said, given the optimal playstyle of letting Souliya “JaCkky” Khoomphetsavong have the best laning phase and growth, BOOM can become a threat even to the former TI champion.

PSG.LGD has a lot to be concerned about going up against BOOM, whose support duo, Timothy “Tims” Randrup and Rolen “skem” Ong can be a menace. We have seen how effective Tims is at zoning opponents out of his carry’s safelane, which is more aggressive than LGD.

LGD, of course, is going into this match as the favorites and will have the odds in their favor. However, that was exactly the case when they lost against Team Secret earlier. Frankly, LGD isn’t at their prime form that everyone expected from their DPC Major participation.

Additionally, LGD’s mid-laner, Cheng “NothingToSay” Jin Xiang’s heroes are getting stale and easy to counter, such as Pangolier. Hence, BOOM might already have figured LGD out, going into this challenging match-up.

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