TALON ESPORTS is heading to The International 2022 after surviving a Polaris storm 3-2.
It will be org’s first TI appearance, a massive feat considering they only entered the scene barely a year prior.
It was a close series as the all-Pinoy squad earned an early qualifying point as they took Games 1 and 3 in a best of five.
Despite having their backs against the wall, Talon equalized the series with a dominant Game 4 courtesy of their highly mobile lineup of Slark, Marci, QoP, and Invoker. Their constant roam and ganking prevented Polaris’ Natsumii- from freely farming on his carry Luna.
A 38th-minute teamfight inside Polaris’ base saw Talon take down Natsumii and Xavius’ Keeper of the Light, forcing Polaris to tap out, lacking the damage to continue their defense.
Talon takes the decider versus Polaris
As the series headed into the decider, Polaris went back to their carry Pudge after dominating in Game 1. Meanwhile, Talon wanted to delay the game as they drafted 23Savage’s Doom and placing Mikoto on Pangolier to anchor down their early to mid-game, while still yet stunting for the late game.
Polaris took an early lead, winning the early and mid game with their constant roaming. But Talon found a way back with a team fight win inside their own jungle in the 26th minute. They took down two heroes, opening up Roshan.
With Aegis in tow, Talon started snowballing their lead as they took down towers after towers to go up 6k in gold. Another team fight in the 30th minute saw Talon take down Polaris’ mid QoP and Bane support.
This was the opening Talon needed to take down all of Polaris’ outer turrets. The team was soon knocking on their base.
A 48th-minute team fight sent Talon directly to The International as they took down the QoP and KotL and forced immediate buybacks. As they continued their siege in bot lane, they managed to catch the Pudge off guard, taking down Polaris’ buyback-less carry. With Pudge out, Talon easily took down the rest of Polaris before the Pinoys tapped out.
Last chance qualifiers for Polaris and T1
Despite the heartbreak, Polaris would still fly to Singapore for the Last Chance Qualifiers.
Earlier in the day, Polaris Esports pulled off a massive upset in the lower bracket finals as they eliminated tournament favorites T1, 2-1.
T1 had reinforced their The International bid a month ago as they brought in two-time The International Champions Topson and Ana to replace Karl and Gabbi in the Regional Qualifiers.
It was T1 who took first blood as they took Game 1 in a 53-minute thriller. Polaris struck back in game two, equalizing in a dominant 39-minute victory.
With TI hopes on the line, it was Polaris who came out on top as they sent the favorites home after controlling the game from start to finish.
Still, T1 will fly out to Singapore as they join Polaris in the Last Chance Qualifiers.