Throughout the TI11 group stage playoffs, we have already been treated to a variety of great games from several top-tier Dota 2 teams across the world. While there have been several upsets and many stalemates throughout these games, none left as much impression on the players and the audience as the OG-Liquid series today.
At around the 25-minute mark, OG position five player Mikhail Agatov, better known as Misha, disconnected from the game due to lag. When he attempted to reconnect back, a bug prevented him from doing so. After several attempts to reconnect, the game would not recognize any of them and declared his game an abandon.
The game was then paused just before the 26-minute mark while players on both teams waited for a response from the tech team. What seemed like a simple 10-minute fix took about two hours to finally complete while the players waited patiently for the situation to settle down. Well, not everyone was as patient, because OG’s core trio of Yuragi, bzm, and ATF insisted that they could manage the game 4-vs-5, owing to their great early start and 14,000 gold lead.
After two excruciatingly long hours, the game was back online and the series could finally continue. While everything seemed to be coming up OG before the pause, perhaps the two-hour pause helped Liquid refocus and prioritize better because they played with a renewed vigor, pushing for a surprise comeback that neither OG nor the fans expected. This led to a moment in the game that changed the trajectory of the game completely.
A massive turnaround in the match at this point led to an eventual comeback victory for Liquid in game one. Continuing the series with renewed vigor, Team Liquid pushed forward in game two as well, leading to yet another victory, defeating OG 2-0. This comes hot on the heels of OG losing 0-2 to Evil Geniuses the day before after going undefeated since the beginning of the playoffs.
Currently, the young iteration of OG is now competing in their final series of the day against BetBoom Team. This is BetBoom’s last chance at qualifying for the main stage at TI this year, so it is imperative they win all their matches against OG. This is no easy feat, however, since OG have been in top form throughout all the majors this entire year. How this series goes is yet to be seen since a lot of teams seem to be in great form during the group stages.
