Two-time TI Champions Team Spirit have been defeated by Xtreme Gaming at the International 2024 (TI13). This marks the end of the defending champions’ journey at TI13 and dashes the hopes of them becoming the first three-time champion.
Team Spirit (Image credit: The International 2024)
Team Spirit vs Xtreme Gaming at TI13 Playoffs
Team Spirit kickstarted their Playoffs journey in the first round of Lower Bracket. After losing to nouns in the previous Seeding Decider match, every match in Playoffs put them at the brink of elimination.
This upset, coming after a clean Group Stage finish, was a baffling sight for fans as they underestimated nouns’ tenacity. However, this wasn’t Spirit’s first rodeo to play from the Lower Bracket.
Things were looking good Spirit initially, as they were able to defeat G2 x iG earlier in the first round of Lower Bracket before facing Xtreme. But things would take a turn for the worse as they took on their Chinese rivals.
Day 2 Playoffs Results (Image credit: The International 2024)
This fight will be legendary!
If there’s a single rival, which Illya “Raddan” Mulyarchuk (aka Yatoro) truly respects and looks forward, it’s Xtreme’s Wang “Ame” Chunyu.
This was the series that both teams looked forward to, frankly even more than the other favorites, such as Team Falcons, Gaimin Gladiators and Team Liquid.
The first game was a rollercoaster of a match, with both sides constantly at each other’s necks. At every fight, it was either one of the hard carry players, which got killed. Yet, it eventually came down to one final decisive fight that enabled Spirit to claim Game One.
AME, AME, AME!
Going into Game Two, Ame got his hands on Luna, a top pick in the current meta. Albeit, at the cost of Magomed “Collapse” Khalilov getting his signature Mars.
Despite the threat imposed by Mars’ initiation, Xtreme Gaming played around Ame to keep him well-positioned and safe. Instead, it was Collapse, who was finding it difficult to initiate into Xtreme’s line-up.
The lack of initiation and teamfight potential eventually cost Team Spirit several fights, which quickly became lost turrets. Luna’s skillset make quick work of buildings, and the Game Two ended within 25 minutes.
Spirit couldn’t kill anyone
Finally, in Game Three, both teams decided to not give up Luna – or any meta picks for that matter. Given the drafting situation, both teams brought out their comfort picks instead. It was Yatoro’s Terrorblade versus Ame’s Medusa.
On paper, Spirit’s line-up had promising fight potential to set Terrorblade up as the main damage dealer. In most instances, Ame’s Medusa would have been too fragile to survive the full extent of Spirit’s team fight. However, credits to their Tusk and Undying picks, Xtreme managed to sustain the damage that their opponent could output. In the end, despite Spirit’s perfect execution of fights, Undying’s timely heals put Ame through the whole ordeal.
What makes it even more incredible is that Xtreme managed to keep everyone alive.
With that, Team Spirit taps out of TI13, ending their chance of defending their Champions’ title. However, it’s doubt that Team Spirit, especially Raddan, was disappointed by this game. They managed to experience Xtreme Gaming at their best, and probably be wishing them well to win TI13 in their place.
