Today’s losses for DRX and Team Liquid have seen the pair become the latest sides eliminated from Masters Bangkok. After Trace Esports and Sentinels were sent home the day before, today’s eliminations mean that half of the participants have now exited the tournament.
DRX lose in Pacifics final rematch
“What’s up, guys? Who is the best team in Korea now?” – T1 BuZz
T1’s all-Korean superteam might just be working after all. A five-game loss to DRX in the Pacific Kickoff final coupled with an opening defeat to Team Vitality in Bangkok raised questions around T1’s level, but it didn’t take much longer for them to get the ball rolling.
In a rematch against fellow Korean roster DRX, T1 found their footing to complete a 2-0 victory and book their spot in the playoffs. A close opening map finished 13-11 in T1’s favour, but DRX crumbled when not on their own map pick as they only clinched four rounds on Pearl and were condemned to elimination.
Assembling a Korean superteam saw T1 pick up players from DRX directly in the last off season with stax and BuZz making the switch. When speaking to the media following the loss, DRX’s head coach termi was asked whether his former players’ knowledge of his side may have helped them claim the series win.
“Stax and BuZz were with the org for a long, long time and we are pretty familiar with each other, but we did change up our play style a lot — there have been a lot changes — so I don’t think familiarity played a bit part in how today turned out.”
Asked about takeaways from the tournament, Dueslist HYUNMIN highlighted the need to enjoy the game.
“I think the first takeaway I would have is just to enjoy every game I play, no matter who it is. I just feel like having fun makes us a better team.”
Lanter, MaKo was asked how he thinks the DRX’s form will continue into Stage 1 of Pacific following the team’s Masters Bangkok exit.
“The amount of growth that we’ve shown during a short period of time surprises me and I’m very positive with our future potential. Even though the younger players don’t have much experience, the amount of confidence they were showing and the calls they were making during Masters Bangkok just really makes me think: ‘Oh my gosh, are they veterans? Are they really rookies?’.
“So yeah, I just think with more time and experience we’re just gonna improve and I feel like we can be unbreakable and undefeatable.”
Team Liquid lose EU vs NA clash
After heroics against the Americas’ Sentinels yesterday, EMEA’s Team Liquid were sadly unable to keep up their momentum and found themselves on the receiving end of 2-0 defeat by G2 Esports.
Convincing 13-5 and 13-7 saw TL eliminated by one of the tournament favourites, though the side may take some solace from the fact that few expected them to even reach Masters Bangkok in the first place.
Head coach LohaN was the first to speak in the post-game press conference, asked for his thoughts on potential difficulties his side faced due to a lack of experience competing at global events.
“The boys showed good resilience today. They were pulling together, were trying. At the end of the day, I think this is a learning experience for us. I’m still proud of the journey we did. Obviously everyone here today is sad for the game, but I think we need to keep our chins up and be happy for the work that we put [in] and how it showed today. Because we were resilient, yes we lacked experience, but I like the will to win that we showed today.”
TL’s Keiko undertook a particularly noteworthy journey to Bangkok, not only qualifying for the first global event of his career but also doing so in a country where he has roots through his mother’s side of the family. He was asked for his opinion on the biggest changes in playing at this level.
“Today it did suck losing, but, to be honest, the experience here was amazing. I really hope we can make all the other events this year because playing on a stage, playing with a lot of people cheering for you is an amazing experience.
“The difference between regionals and Masters would be, for me, definitely the crowd, the experiences, the schedules — all these different challenges and obstacles that we had with not having enough prac times, not having consistent schedules or just things popping up randomly. I think that was a new experience for all of us.”
