A pub match involving two mid players gave birth to an interestingly spicy new rivalry.
The last Majors before TI, the WePlay AniMajors, were notable for so many things in the professional Dota 2 scene. First off, it cemented PSG.LGD as a notable return of China as the best region in the world, competitively speaking. It also showed that DPC points and performance are not everything, as proven by the early exits of Alliance, Virtus.pro and Team Aster. Finally, in a strange turn of events, it gave birth to a very entertaining rivalry that will most likely feed salt for both NA and SEA fans this coming TI10.
After a heated meeting in a pub match, Quinn “Quinn” Callahan of Quincy Crew and Karl “Karl” Baldovino of T1 went into their first meeting at the WePlay AniMajors with tempers flaring, tips and voice lines flooding. It was an entertaining series to watch due to the fact that you can clearly tell there was beef between the two teams, and the fact that they got to meet again in another tournament is a blessing for those looking for both drama and high-level Dota 2.
First encounter – WePlay AniMajor, Upper Bracket Round 2
The team’s first meeting was in the upper bracket of the recent AniMajor, and with BSJ providing context beforehand for the teams being on edge with regards to the matches. The winner of the series will get to stay in the Upper Bracket to face the waiting PSG.LGD, while the loser gets to stew in anger in the lower bracket against Vici Gaming.
To give credit to both teams, they gave fans of theirs a show as the series went the distance in three games. Quincy Crew took the first game handily with Quinn and carry player Yawar “YawaR” Hassan raising the North American banner and thrashing the SEA lineup. The match ended after 42 minutes, with QC scoring 23 kills against T1’s 12.
The second match fared much better for the Southeast Asian T1, as the team managed to get comfort picks for their cores; mid-laner Karl got his hands on Doom, while team captain and off-laner Carlo “Kuku” Palad got Dragon Knight. With their draft including Nuengnara “23savage” Teeramahanon playing Terrorblade, T1 managed to close out the second game at the 42nd minute mark, sporting 19 kills against QC’s 18.
The third match was a hype for T1 fans, as the SEA team managed to come out on top despite what seemed like a disastrous early game. Despite a strong showing from both Quinn’s Windranger and off-laner Rodrigo “Lelis” Santos’ Broodmother, a couple of team fights tilted in T1’s favor tipped the momentum of the match entirely to secure them the win. It also did not help that Quincy Crew’s ‘rat’ Dota lineup bit them hard during the endgame, with T1 holding their own against the heavy split-pushing power of QC.
Their first meeting ended with a decisive T1 victory, carried by a ton of tips towards Quinn to help accelerate the mid-laner’s malding and disrupt his judgment. With the ESL One Summer 2021 just around the corner after the AniMajor, Quincy Crew still has a chance to redeem themselves and prove that they are better than T1 at triggering their enemies.
Second encounter – ESL One Summer 2021, Upper Bracket Round 3
Quincy Crew would get the chance to redeem themselves earlier than they expected, as the team’s standings in the DPC and their performance during ESL One Summer 2021’s Upper Bracket Round 2 would guarantee that they would meet T1 for the second time. This meeting, however, seemed more of a one-sided affair. After soaking in some confidence and experience playing in European pubs, T1 was a fearsome contender in the tournament, and Quinn and company would learn that soon enough.
Although the first game went the distance in 41 minutes and with everyone in Quincy Crew pulling off some great plays, T1 proved to be above and beyond their level as the performance of the SEA team transcended what was expected of them. Quincy Crew even dominated the first two thirds of the game thanks to a great performance of Quinn’s Puck, who always managed to catch the backline of T1. However, a game-deciding fight broke out near the Roshan pit at the 38-minute mark, forcing buybacks from both Quinn and Lelis. This snowballed into die-backs for both of them, and thus ending the game with a solid late-game win for T1, 22 kills to QC’s 17.
The second game was basically a replay of the first, only with Quincy Crew showing off more early with a very decent lead going into the 30-minute mark. However, as many analysts and commentators have already pointed out, T1 is comfortable lagging behind early game as they are almost unbeatable in the late game, and Quincy Crew found that the hard way. In the last four minutes of the game, T1 doubled their kills from 10 to 20, and completely turned the game over its head. What’s more surprising is the fact that they did this against a draft that included a Terrorblade and Death Prophet, two amazing late-game scaling heroes. T1 wins their ESL One Summer 2021 rematch against Quincy Crew, 20 kills to 12.
Future – TI10
With both teams already having secure slots at The International 10 this August, it’s fun to think about how their third possible match could go. T1’s place as the top SEA team was already established as they won against Virtus.pro in the Grand Final of the ESL One Summer 2021 tournament, while Quincy Crew still has a lot to prove to everyone and themselves as they lost to OG in the lower bracket of the same tournament. Either way, fans of both the Southeast Asian and North American Dota 2 scenes have a lot to look forward now as both teams get themselves ready for the game’s biggest stage at TI10.
