TI11 LCQ day 3 recap: Secret, Liquid secure qualification

The chances have been seized.

The International 11 Last Chance Qualifier came to a close tonight. Western European teams Team Secret and Team Liquid were the two teams past the post, meaning that TI11 will have six representatives from the region—including OG, Tundra Esports, Gaimin Gladiators, and Entity.

Here’s a recap of what happened in day three of the TI11 LCQ playoffs.

TI11 LCQ playoffs day 3 results

October 12

Upper bracket final

Lower bracket semifinal

Lower bracket final

Puppey will not be denied TI

Clement “Puppey” Ivanov, 32 years young, will be playing in his 11th edition of The International—the only player to have done so, with the next closest at nine appearances.

And what a way to do it. The hard support’s play is as deft as ever, most evident in this crucial save for Remco “Crystallis” Arets’s Sniper during a Roshan sneak in a hard-fought game one comeback against Virtus Pro.

Then, Puppey led his team on his signature Chen to close out game two in less than 30 minutes, finally securing a TI slot. It has been a long road for the team—but they won’t get much time to rest.

This also marks Secret’s seventh consecutive appearance at TI, with the organization’s highest placement at third place last year at TI10. Can the European titans finally claim the Aegis of Champions?

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Team Liquid survives after torrid start

Team Liquid, starting the day in the lower bracket, stared elimination in the face and said “not today.”

Game one against Vici Gaming decidedly went against any plan Liquid could have thought of. But in what could be Lasse “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen’s last TI due to his plans for retirement, the 27-year-old revived a classic Liquid play style—going mid with the most cancerous of heroes.

Game two and three saw Liquid entrusting him with the Sniper and Lone Druid respectively, and he put the team on his back. The first game saw his Sniper dominate the lane against Void Spirit to a 16/3/15 KDA.

His jaw-dropping game three performance as Lone Druid was arguably even more impressive. Facing a Puck in the mid lane, MATUMBAMAN utterly crushed Vici from start to finish.

When it came time to face VP in the grand finals, however, Liquid’s original midlaner was thrusted once again into the spotlight. Michael “miCKe” Vu popped off with a combined 23/0/23 KDA as Pangolier and Queen of Pain over two games, completely outplaying his mid opponent Danil “gpk” Skutin in the lower bracket finals.

Aydin “iNSaNiA” Sarkohi’s Liquid is returning to TI again, after missing out last year’s edition. The squad has gone from strength to strength over the LCQ—and will need that form in an increasingly tough field of competition.

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