The teams Talon Esports and Team Liquid played in the semifinals of the big Riyadh Masters 2023 of DOTA 2 for advancement. Talon Esports had the victory almost in hand, but Liquid was able to turn the match around with a spectacular Broodmother rush – something not all players noticed.
The Riyadh Masters 2023 in DOTA 2 is currently ongoing. It is a major eSports tournament taking place in Saudi Arabia.
The winning team will receive 5,000,000 US dollars. The winner of the semifinals between Talon Esports and Team Liquid had the chance to qualify directly as one of the top three teams – 1,700,000 US dollars would have been secured with the victory.
However, Talon Esports now has to play additional matches for a better placement, while Team Liquid has already secured its millions – although a player from Talon Esports celebrated like a winner during the match.
Here you can see the clip:
This was the match: It was already the third game of the two teams that evening and the last match would decide the winner. Team Liquid dominated for over 20 minutes, but Talon was able to gain an advantage during the team fights.
It looked as if Team Liquid was beaten. Talon stood with the whole team in front of Liquid’s Ancient, but they still had to clear the towers and bring down the Ancient.
The victory seemed secure. So secure that one of the Talon players jumped up and already celebrated. But Team Liquid had an ace up their sleeve.
Liquid player Zai rushed with his Broodmother to the enemy Ancient, which already had no towers left and was being attacked by minions. In fact, he succeeded in destroying the Ancient and knocking Talon Esports out of the upper bracket of the tournament.
Player Zai later explained that in the final moments of the match, he acted as if his entire team was muted. He had a plan and it worked out. His teammates supported him by preventing a teleport at the start of the opponents:
Team Liquid player Zai who pulled off the clutch just straight up saying he acted like his teammates were muted lol pic.twitter.com/MRZmTNfkgc
— Jake Lucky (@JakeSucky) July 27, 2023
If you want to watch the entire match, you can find a video of it on YouTube (via youtube.com).
MOBAs like League of Legends or DOTA 2 have a pronounced eSports scene with high prize money and maximum pressure on players. Every small mistake can decide between victory and defeat – milliseconds determine millions.
Therefore, it is not surprising what reactions these nerve-wracking matches provoke in the audience: LoL: 25-Year-Old plays his biggest match of the year at Worlds 2022, chooses impossible champ – crowd goes wild
