Thunder Awaken is bringing the full weight of their trademark South American aggression to any team—even The International 10 champions.
The Peruvian team showed up in the first game of their TI11 group stage series against Team Spirit—which eventually ended in a 1-1 draw—led by captain Farith “Matthew” Puente’s phenomenal Nyx Assassin play.
- Twitch copypasta and memes: How to cheer for your favorite esports teams
- The International 2022: TI11 Schedule, results, teams, where to watch
Matthew’s 4-man Nyx Impale crushes Team Spirit’s hopes
Thunder Awaken came crashing right out of the gates, earning an almost comical kill lead in a game that eventually finished 44-17.
Matthew was a big part of nearly every kill. He finished with a KDA of 2/6/32, the highest kill participation on his team. Along with midlaner Herrera “Darkmago” Gonzalo’s Storm Spirit, the two were everywhere, taking down Spirit heroes while their carry Faceless Void farmed.
But when facing the TI10 champs, even the best sometimes isn’t enough. A supremely confident Thunder Awaken, with Aegis in the hands of Storm, dived Team Spirit under the Dire tier two tower—only to be met with epic resistance from the Eastern European team.
Spirit played in the treeline perfectly, using Night Stalker’s flying vision to constantly kite and juke away from Thunder Awaken. Even a three-man Black Hole wasn’t enough to turn the fight, and Thunder Awaken lost the fight thoroughly—losing all five heroes and the Aegis.
But the South American squad didn’t slow down their aggression. Despite the setback, they continued to accrue kills at an alarming rate—mostly off the back of DarkMago’s long-range initiations, with the trusty Nyx always ready to back him up.
A desperate Spirit, not wanting to be penned into their base any longer, Smoked as five and headed out to try and contest the Roshan. Unfortunately, they ran into the Vendatta Nyx Assassin—who proceeded to bug the hell out of them.
Even though Spirit’s smoke broke, they continued to march down the narrow Dire jungle ramp that leads to the Roshan pit. Matthew, biding his time, Blinked and caught four Spirit heroes with an Impale, allowing his teammates to jump in and dole out damage at will.
READ MORE: Collapse’s perfect Centaur Warrunner play leads to a wombo-combo at TI11
