nouns vs Azure Ray Dota 2 The International 2023 Upper Bracket Quarterfinals highlights

Dota 2 The International 2023 (TI12) saw four teams getting eliminated on Day 2 and the rest progressing to the Upper and Lower Brackets. The first three Upper Bracket Quarterfinals series witnessed Team Spirit, Team Liquid, and LGD Gaming advance to the UB Semifinals. The winners sent Virtus.pro, Talon Esports, and 9Pandas to the Lower Bracket Round 2.

The final matchup of Dota 2 TI12 Upper Bracket Quarterfinals saw nouns lock horns with the Chinese All-Star team, Azure Ray. The latter defeated the American organization and will face LGD Gaming in the playoff semi-finals.

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Azure Ray clean sweep nouns 2-0 in Dota 2 The International 2023

Game 1 between nouns and Azure Ray

The first Dota 2 game of the Upper Bracket Quarterfinals saw both nouns and Azure Ray start with good lineups. However, the latter managed to get early kills and secured good farms for all their cores.

nouns (Dire):

• Phantom Lancer - K1
• Monkey King - Gunnar
• Tidehunter - Moo
• Skywrath Mage - Lelis
• Enchantress - Yamsun

Azure Ray (Radiant):

• Spectre - Lou
• Leshrac - Somnus
• Centaur Warrunner - Chalice
• Muerta - fy
• Treant Protector - Tiān mìng

Despite a good start, nouns suffered a failed gank from Monkey King at the seven-minute mark, giving Azure Ray massive momentum. Lou's Spectre joined early fights alongside Leshrac and Centaur and earned much gold. However, K1's Phantom Lancer, on the other side, was struggling to get gold and was getting picked off every now and then.

Having said that, Spectre with Radiance was hunting down nouns with his teammates. Azure Ray also secured Aegis on a tanky Centaur and just ran over nouns, as they secured the mid racks within 27 minutes. Monkey King's Wukong Command and Tidehunter's Ravage did nothing, as nouns lacked follow-up and damage in general.

After a few minutes, Azure Ray claimed mega creeps and eventually won the game in a formidable fashion. They boasted a kill score of 24, while nouns only had two the entire game. With this result, the Chinese team marched on to the second Dota 2 TI12 Upper Bracket Quarterfinals game with confidence.

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Game 2 between nouns and Azure Ray

The second Dota 2 game was no different, as Azure Ray overwhelmed nouns' weak draft. The North American team got outdrafted and outplayed in the second match and relegated to the Lower Bracket Round 2. Viewers were surprised by the result as nouns vanquished the reigning champions, Tundra Esports, and sent them to the Lower Bracket Round 1.

nouns (Radiant):

• Faceless Void - K1
• Keeper of the Light - Gunnar
• Spirit Breaker - Moo
• Dark Willow - Lelis
• Treant Protector - Yamsun

Azure Ray (Dire):

• Chaos Knight - Lou
• Puck - Somnus
• Dawnbreaker - Chalice
• Tusk - fy
• Grimstroke - Tiān mìng

Azure Ray accrued early kills and started pushing with their Chaos Knight, who was farming all over the map. Faceless Void struggled to keep up with the CK and had an underwhelming outing. Meanwhile, Gunnar's KOTL managed to get some good farm, but he could not change the tide.

Azure Ray reached Radiant's doorstep within just 25 minutes of the game. Moo's Spirit Breaker was getting slaughtered as he failed to make an impact in team fights. Despite valiantly defending the top racks with Void's Chrono and KOTL's spells, defeat seemed inevitable.

K1 got kicked out of position by fy's Tusk, and died immediately without a buyback. This ultimately cost the game for nouns, as they were now facing mega creeps and getting slaughtered by Azure Ray's heroes.

Azure Ray advanced to Dota 2 TI12 Upper Bracket Semifinals and will lock horns against LGD Gaming. On the other hand, nouns dropped to the Lower Bracket Round 2 and will face Shopify Rebellion or TSM.