Team Spirit and Liquid eliminated from ESL One Stockholm 2022 Major Playoffs

A shocker! Team Spirit takes a double L into oblivion, by which I meant they are eliminated. It is a classic yet unexpected David and Goliath scenario to comprehend after the second day of ESL One Stockholm 2022.

The unlikely victor, beastcoast from South America, swept the floor against Team Spirit. Furthermore, other favorites, Team Liquid and BOOM Esports have also lost to BetBoom Team and OG respectively.

Recapping Day 2 of ESL One Stockholm 2022 Playoffs

It’s the insurgency of teams from neglected regions, particularly South America and Western Europe.

Beastcoast’s Batrider pick against Spirit made quick work of Chaos Knight, a top hero pick at Stockholm Major. Particularly, Batrider’s Sticky Napalm is a nuisance during laning, and could potentially kill CK if he’s not babysat by his supports. Heck, even with supports’ care, the full-stack Napalm proved to be a dangerous threat regardless.

It was a refreshing meta to catch Spirit off-guard, which beastcoast delivered.

Two more powerhouses kick the bucket

Alongside Spirit’s premature elimination is Team Liquid, which lost the meta war against BetBoom. Liquid seemingly played by the books, picking typical popular picks such as Storm Spirit and Io. In contrast, BetBoom’s heavier damage burst and offensive playstyle rendered Liquid obsolete. In hindsight, BetBoom’s wild card is their standing as just an amateur team in Stockholm Major. These young lads have only debuted in their first major, making them the least studied opponent by its opponents.

Lastly, BOOM Esports’ upset is another shocker considering they are up against a team with handicaps. OG currently plays with a stand-in, Sébastien “Ceb” Debs as hard support, so they shouldn’t be major-winning material. Yet, they shut down arguably, Southeast Asia’s strongest team of DPC (2021-22) in a clean sweep.

Besides pulling off a cheese pick of Timbersaw, the Morphling pick is conversation-worthy for winning against a match-up of Mars, CK, and Storm Spirit.

Upper Bracket Matches on Day 3

Day 3 features interesting upper bracket matches without the household staples, such as Evil Geniuses or Team Spirit. Regardless, winners will earn a spot in the upper bracket finals, which if they win again, will become the first Grand Finalist.

Tundra Esports vs Thunder Awaken

All eyes are on Tundra Esports, the coolest Western European team at Stockholm Major. They outwitted the formidable Team Spirit earlier, which should say enough of their capabilities. Say you aren’t convinced since Team Spirit did look underwhelming at Stockholm Major recently, let us explain.

Tundra Esports’ line-up of prodigies and veterans are heavily invested since picking up the Esports namesake last year. They are adequately good for a stack of all-stars during their debut, but perhaps it’s also thanks to Kurtis “Aui_2000” Ling the coach behind the scenes for delivering the various game-winning drafts.

Thunder Awaken, as far as talent goes, is phenomenal. However, they are up against a seasoned candidate from the DPC WEU Tour 2. Tundra’s drafts are seemingly more organized and they were able to execute them well too. For instance, they pulled off a fast-paced pushing line-up and could quickly shift to the late-game meta with CK and Doom.

TA will be fighting an uphill battle here and is likely  Group A’s strongest candidate. Nevertheless, with upsets being a trend at Stockholm Major, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the SA representative take the series.

TeamSoloMid vs Gaimin Gladiators

Watching two new Esports brands in the Dota 2 competitive scene is quite the treat over the usual powerhouses. TeamSoloMid particularly is special because they are from the NA region, a region which many deemed unsustainable and stale. Behold, TSM with a roster that finally surpassed the long-hailed NA powerhouse, Evil Geniuses.

Nevertheless, many remain skeptical of the new NA powerhouse since their results in Group B weren’t impressive. And they defeated OG to make it here.

On the other hand, Gaimin Gladiators is the top seed from Group B, but we wouldn’t call them a mastermind in drafts. Let alone call them a team with a vast hero pool. They play by the books, picking meta heroes, occasionally spicing up several new combos. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with stale drafts, so long if Gladiators win games.

Frankly, this battle could be anyone’s game, which is the beauty of the ESL One Stockholm 2022. The top performers are so evenly-matched and it all boils down to how the match goes about. Nevertheless, we would give plus points to whichever impresses us with plausibly a new combo, maybe not pull off a Techies for the sake of pleasing Slacks the commentator.

However, they should step up their drafting game when they eventually face off against Tundra Esports, which is arguably the smartest team on set right now.

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