When you carry a high-level Dota 2 game as hard as 23savage did against Team Liquid in a deciding match at Riyadh Masters 2023 today, emotions are likely going to be running high. But it is unlikely popping off early to celebrate what you think is a guaranteed win will cost you $1.7 million and become an instant meme.
The upper bracket semifinals between Talon Esports and Liquid on July 27 featured two close games to start, leading to a final round to decide which team would lock in a top-three finish for the $15 million event.
Talon were playing from behind for most of the game, with Liquid holding a sizable advantage from about 25 minutes in. But one big teamfight to kill Nisha, miCKe, and zai swung the momentum and opened up a deep push for SEA’s sole representative in the playoffs.
That swing led to a very successful rush into the high ground where Talon took yet another teamfight and moved to open up Liquid’s throne, looking like they were poised to win the series. You can see 23savage starting to celebrate multiple times before yanking his headphones off and jumping around while his teammates click away at the Ancient—unaware of what was happening on the other side of the map.
Since Liquid previously had such a large lead, they had already been pushing Talon’s base. This led to their own Ancient being exposed by creeps at the same time Liquid were defending, allowing zai to teleport in and clean up the game just seconds before Talon would have won.
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You can see the exact moment Talon realized something was wrong, but Boxi and iNSaNiA locked down the players in their base, ensuring that no one could TP back and stop zai from clutching.
Several pro players and streamers like Gorgc broke down exactly what happened, showing that 23savage used the team’s Glyph at 59:22 in-game when their base was not actively being attacked, meaning it was not available to reinforce the tier-four towers or the Ancient when zai pushed in.
With that loss, Talon may have lost out on around $1 million if they can’t win at least two more series to crack the top three in the standings. They will play the winner of Team Aster and 9Pandas on July 29, both teams that the SEA squad managed to defeat at DreamLeague season 20 in June.
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Liquid’s last-second win has them guaranteed to finish in the top three at a fifth Major this season, though it might be the first time they don’t match up against Gaimin Gladiators in the finals if they make it that far since Liquid knocked the reigning Major champs down in round one.
