Talon Esports bagged a commendable 3rd for SEA fans at the Lima Major 2023, almost completing a dream underdog run from the lower bracket up till their decisive battle vs Team Liquid in semifinals.
Talon used their own playstyle and core picks to get thus far, not adhering and confining themselves to the established meta. Moving forward, everyone should keep a close on eye on the new SEA powerhouse.
Image source: Talon Esports
Talon Esports wins third at Lima Major 2023
It has been a rather underwhelming start to the DPC 2023 season for SEA teams. The two SEA powerhouses that participated at the International 2022 (TI11) didn’t qualify for Lima Major 2023. Talon Esports is now the fourth highest ranked team in DPC 2023, and we reckon that title is well deserved.
For the record, Talon Esports defeated HellRaisers, Spirit, Entity, and Shopify Rebellion to make it this far. These are opponents that are the best from their respective regions and there’s even a TI Champion amongst these rivals.
Talon’s Lima journey was a treacherous one, which makes this worthy of a success story to tell.
The Lima Major Playoffs Recap
It wasn’t Talon’s first encounter vs Liquid in the semifinals, as they clashed back in the first Upper Bracket round. However, Liquid with its golden boy, Michał “Nisha” Jankowski was overwhelmingly strong.
Despite the unfortunate loss, Talon made light work of HR, which wasn’t much to call home about as a third-rate opponent in lower bracket. However, Talon’s true testament to their worth was when they faced Team Spirit, the TI10 Champion. Well, that, and also the odd incident where Illya “Yatoro” Mulyarchuk’s Terrorblade walked into the enemy heroes with his skills on cooldown, and his team has already died.
Recap video courtesy of NoobFromUA:
Next was against Entity, part of the big trio of Western Europe Dota. Talon’s young prodigy, Worawit “Q” Mekchai was on point with his initiations.
We saw a more decisive play by Q’s Tiny in their final round vs Shopify Rebellion, where he decides to initiate on the unsuspecting Artour “Arteezy” Babaev, who was casually pushing the mid-lane while Talon’s Spectre was dead. This play costed Arteezy a dieback, and an immediate GG call afterwards. Needless to say, Q’s play left even Shopify in awe due to its surprise factor.
Rematch with Team Liquid
Eventually, Talon Esports had to face their old nemesis, Team Liquid in a rematch of the Lima Major 2023. This time, however, Liquid supposedly has a handicap, where Mathis “Jabbz” Friesel stood-in for Samuel “Boxi” Svahn due to health issues.
Yet, Liquid remained powerful and prevailed against Talon. Liquid ultimately had better drafts by cutting off Talon’s power players and any form of reliable initiation. This left Talon with no viable midgame combo while still wanting to play the late-game meta, which was their bread and butter throughout Lima Major 2023.
Talon Esports loses 0-2 against Team Liquid at Lima Major 2023
Final Thoughts on Talon Esports at Lima Major 2023
For what it’s worth, Talon truly played to their strenghts, instead of the typical strategy of fast-paced midgame Dota. Their faith in Nuengnara “23savage” Teeramahanon and Rafli “Mikoto” Rahman to be their late-game assurance was commendable.
While leaving it to Q’s early game initiations to buy Talon as much space for the carry is reasonable. It was this very factor that enabled Team Liquid to shut down Talon before they could turn online. Talon without its staples and global presence just couldn’t perform at the same level as its previous series.
Talon Esports is now our best bet for a SEA candidate capable of landing top-three in a major. We won’t be expecting BOOM Esports or Fnatic to join the DPC Major anytime soon since they were demoted to Division 2 for placing bottom-two in Tour 1.
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