Just like your favorite spicy food, Fnatic’s TI11 elimination game against Gaimin Gladiators started out rough, got easier over time, and then destroyed them when they were least expecting it.
Despite having a network lead upwards of 14,000 gold at the 40-minute mark, GG had an explosive 10-minute run to dispatch one of the final SEA teams and extend their own tournament life for at least one more day.
There were points when Fnatic were slowly building their lead that GG looked like they just wouldn’t be able to contend with how quickly the SEA team could melt them. But the European team wasn’t playing to win in the short-term, they were working to extend the game to hit the timings they needed to reach to contend.
“We are playing for our timings and we delay the game until we are certain we can win,” tOfu said. “Like we give up some racks for example because we know we are too weak at this point or you mess up a fight and you know you can’t contest this Roshan so you just need to delay the game in order to get a second chance. And eventually, BOOM gets his Aghanim’s [Scepter], you get some amazing pulls, and that’s the way back into the game.”
Part of that late-game domination came from BOOM being able to do whatever he wanted once he was fully farmed up and ready to go on Storm Spirit, a hero that he currently contends for top player in the world with. But it wasn’t just him, as every member of GG had double-digit kills as they almost lapped Fnatic in the closing minutes.
In the end, Fnatic couldn’t capitalize on their own timings and eventually couldn’t contend with the late scaling draft GG played out to stressful perfection for fans watching at home.
For GG, they move on to face the loser of Tundra Esports and OG in the next round, while Fnatic bid farewell to the home crows and exit in a tie for 13th place.
