Dota 2 TI 11 finals: Nightstalker surprise pick allows Liquid to eliminate Aster

Dota 2 The International (TI) 11 finals is finally underway with the first match being in the lower bracket between Team Liquid and Team Aster. The series went the distance with both teams managing to take one game off the other. It was Team Liquid that finally came out on top in Game 3 with a surprise Nightstalker pick.

A lot was riding on the match, with Team Liquid's MATUMBAMAN having announced earlier that TI 11 would be his last professional tournament before retiring. Team Aster was the only Chinese team left in this year's TI after they eliminated PSG.LGD.

---

How did the Dota 2 series go between Team Liquid vs Team Aster

Game 1 - Liquid Wins

• Team Liquid - Marci, Broodmother, Lich, Lina, Bloodseeker
• Team Aster - Crystal Maiden, Leshrac, Spirit Breaker, Sniper, Underlord.

Game 1 was the longest of the entire series with MATUMBAMAN on Bloodseeker and Aster settling for an aggressive tactic with Sniper and Leshrac. While Broodmother was pressured in lane, Aster was repeatedly picked off early on by Marci.

Barring a back forth during the middle part of the game, Liquid built upon the early advantage with Lina having an immense impact. The overwhelming pressure soon became too much as Liquid came barrelling down mid and Aster tried to mount a defense 3v5, in vain.

---

Game 2 - Aster Wins

• Team Liquid - Leshrac, Tusk, Crystal Maiden, Storm Spirit, Morphling.
• Team Aster - Sniper, Marci, Jakiro, Pudge, Omniknight

This time around, Aster picked Marci after seeing her heroics in the first game. The Storm Spirit pick from Liquid was potentially to jump onto Sniper. The Omniknight last pick surprised the panel, but Aster seemed confident in saving the series with the Dota 2 hero and it did pay dividends.

The Chinese team drew first blood, with Marci jumping on Crystal Maiden. Pudge also managed to have a dominant start against Storm Spirit. Aster quickly started building their gold lead early on, faring much better than the previous game. Liquid got some parity when they were able to kill both Sniper and Pudge in the top lane without losing any of their heroes.

Pudge, with Aghanim's Scepter and multiple stacks on Flesh Heap, became an almost insurmountable obstacle with Monet's Sniper later in the Dota 2 game getting a Rampage. The Chinese team looked in much better sync compared to the first game of the series. As the high ground was breached, Liquid called gg soon after.

---

Game 3

• Team Liquid - Nightstalker, Undying, Pangolier, Lina, Tusk
• Team Aster - Beastmaster, Drow Ranger, Naga Siren, Crystal Maiden, Primal Beast

The surprise twist to the draft was MATUMBAMAN's Nightstalker pick, which he incidentally picked for himself given this would have been his last professional Dota 2 match if Team Liquid was eliminated. The surprise pick did carry the risk of falling flat.

Much like Game 2, Aster again picked up first blood, this time in the top lane. Crystal Maiden's presence in the lane neutered Tusk's effectiveness in the lane and the Chinese Dota 2 team kept harassing the Radiant heroes. The control over the game see-sawed for quite a while, with the scoreline being 5-4 in favor of Liquid at the 10-minute mark.

The first Roshan attempt happened with MATUMBAMAN using Dark Ascension. Naga Siren tried to use her ultimate to walk in the pit but gets controlled by a rolling Pangolier. Although Aster managed to kill Lina and waste the Aegis in the same fight, Nightstalker survived.

The second Roshan attempt saw Naga Siren sing her way into the pit and steal an Aghanim's Shard but the fight that followed went poorly for Aster with Lina and Nightstalker hitting hard. Pangolier kept disrupting any team fights Aster could muster while Liquid kept picking off kills.

Liquid's dominance and control over the match did not wane and Aster had no other option but to resign to their fate and call the match. MATUMBAMAN's swan song continues as Team Liquid will play on the final day of this year's Dota 2 The International.