T1 shocks Bangkok, eliminates Team Vitality in 2-1 fashion

T1 T1 Korea Rank #2 stax Kim Gu-taek (김구택) Meteor Kim Tae-oh (김태오) Sylvan Go Young-sup (고영섭) BuZz Yu Byeong-cheol (유병철) iZu Ham Woo-ju (함우주) scraped a 2-1 win over Team Vitality Team Vitality Europe Rank #2 trexx Nikita Cherednichenko Derke Nikita Sirmitev Kicks Kimmie Laasner Sayf Saif Jibraeel Less Felipe de Loyola Basso in the first lower bracket match of the Masters Bangkok playoffs. The second seed from Pacific matched up well against the top seed from EMEA, and the last two maps were statement victories in this three-map series.

Map one was Lotus, with T1 sticking with their unique double-Duelist composition as Vitality stuck with Raze, Viper, and Vyse. It began well for Vitality as they won the pistol round, but an eco win from T1 turned the half on its head. The double-Duelist from T1 snowballed on the attack side, with Meteor on Iso and BuZz on Raze causing much trouble for the solo-Sentinel composition from Vitality. After losing seven rounds in a row, Vitality finally started to claw back into the map thanks to the ever-steady hands of Less and his Viper.

The half ended at 8-4 thanks to a clutch 4k from stax , who prevented Vitality from truly recovering the half.

Vitality needed to start well on their attack, on what should be a weaker defense side from T1, but Meteor and iZu led their team to another pistol win and a larger lead. T1 couldn't convert the bonus, and some clean headshots from Less and trexx tied the map 10-10. It looked dire for T1, until they won their first gun round on the defense to regain the lead, and the teams traded rounds to bring the map to overtime. The ending was rather anticlimactic, as Vitality won both rounds handily and completed the comeback to win Lotus 14-12.

Haven was next, as T1 stuck with their double-Duelist and Vitality matched that idea by moving their IGL Sayf onto Jett. T1 was able to win the first pistol off another iZu 1v2 clutch, and a flawless anti-eco rolled into a bonus conversion. For the second map in a row, T1 started on fire, as it took an amazing round from Derke to get Vitality their first round win. Just as the half looked to be within reach, Meteor won a clutch to knock Vitality back down.

The two teams traded rounds in a back-and-forth fashion afterward, but that favored T1 as they reached the half with an 8-4 lead for the second time.

Moving onto the attack side, T1 was quick to win the pistol round off of the combinations between Yoru and Iso, and an outstanding round from Sylvan on the anti-eco was followed up by a bonus conversion. Losing the bonus was the death knell for Vitality's Haven, as T1 safely ended it 13-4 and took the series to map three.

It all came down to Split, as Vitality ran a Tejo-less Breach composition and T1 ran their third straight double-Duelist composition for their tournament lives. Less found four on the pistol round to earn Vitality their second pistol win of the series, but T1 ecoed them the round after. Vitality played patiently on their attack, though their patience was also a weakness. T1 was wise to the executes and iZu was a monster with the Operator, taking advantage of the slow attack from Vitality.

The Operator, whether used by BuZz or iZu, was an issue for Vitality. It looked like the only way they could win rounds on their attack side was through hero plays from Less, as Derke and Sayf struggled. Vitality wasn't able to convert a 5v3 in round 10, and T1 ran ahead to a 9-3 lead at the half.

A quick trap play on mid from T1 showed the difference in attack strategy between the two teams, as T1 won the pistol, but Vitality pulled an eco round win to keep their hopes alive. Vitality needed to come back just like they did on Lotus to keep their Masters Bangkok hopes alive, but Meteor ended those hopes as T1 closed out Split 13-5 and won the series 2-1.

While Meteor had an outstanding series, it was the other Duelist BuZz who was the star in this upset win. BuZz ended the match with a match-leading rating of 1.20 and 15 first kills, outpacing the next player by five.

With this win, T1 will face EDward Gaming EDward Gaming China Rank #1 S1Mon Hsien Meng-Hsun (谢孟勋) ZmjjKK Zheng Yongkang (郑永康) nobody Wang Senxu (王森旭) CHICHOO Wan Shunzhi (万顺治) Smoggy Zhang Zhao (张钊) in the lower bracket final for a chance to face G2 Esports G2 Esports North America Rank #1 jawgemo Alexander Mor trent Trent Cairns valyn Jacob Batio JonahP Jonah Pulice leaf Nathan Orf in the grand finals of Masters Bangkok.