Twelve runners-up teams from each area competed in the TI11 Last Chance qualifiers, giving it their utmost to win one of the two open seats in the International 2022. Fans anticipated Cinderella stories, mainly from T1 with high hopes for Topson and Ana, despite the fact that there were favorites going into the qualifiers.

T1 had a total of four games scheduled within a 24 hour window, including two games against Team Liquid and two games versus Infamous. In their first-ever LCQ match against Team Liquid, the T1 team displayed strong play, with Topson shining on Primal Beast. The performance of the two-time TI champion, however, wasn’t enough to secure a victory because T1’s weaknesses began to emerge during the mid-game.

Liquid was able to catch up in terms of momentum after T1’s numerous chaotic team fights, and the European favorites didn’t relinquish the advantage owing to Boxi’s Earthshaker.

What went wrong?

The most problematic hero from their initial draft, Gyrocopter, was still included in T1’s second match draft despite a modest change. Because Topson also suffered in the early game, Ana’s Gyrocopter was unable to shine once more, and T1 was forced to submit in little under 30 minutes.

The series then continued with T1 against Infamous, who had once more made a solid start. Topson and Leshrac gained momentum, while Ana and Pudge made use of the free space. Though T1 had Undying and Primal Beast in their draft and had the advantage early on, they still battled to win the game, which they were finally able to do at the 53-minute mark.

In the second game, Infamous eliminated Topson and Ana. Despite Kuku’s strong performance on Primal Beast, T1 was unable to win the game and had to settle for a tie.

On T1, the LCQ’s first day was a little challenging, but the second day is going to be considerably harder. T1 will compete against Xtreme Gaming, who is presently tied for first place in Group B, in the morning session. After that, Virtus Pro will wait for T1, which will be followed by two back-to-back games against some of the top LCQ contenders.

The Team Secret and nouns series were the highlight, save from T1’s run on the opening day. In the first game, Team Secret had the North American competitor’s number, but nouns came out firing in the second game. With the aid of Batrider, Nouns’ physical damage-focused lineup, which included Templar Assassin, Witch Doctor, and Weaver, was successful in upsetting Team Secret and forcing a draw.

Other Teams Wasted No Time

Virtus Pro squandered a game against Wildcard Gaming in which they had a 92 percent chance of winning. Right after losing a fight in which they held an Aegis and also Cheese, VP lost control of the game. Realizing they had no buybacks, Wildcard Gaming marched over to VP’s base and finished the game.

The subsequent group games saw Na’Vi go nearly undefeated while Xtreme Gaming come very close to losing.

Only the playoff stage seedings will be determined by the LCQ group rounds. The lower bracket of the playoffs will begin with the worst two finishers from each group, and a loss there will result in the remaining two slots in TI11 being forfeited.