Team SMG Sweep Blacklist International To Win SEA Qualifiers
With their recent addition of Ukrainian mid-laner No[o]ne, Team SMG has completed their qualifier run to book a slot at The International. Their Grand Final opponents were the Filipino powerhouse, Blacklist International.
Though fans expected the series to be close, Team SMG showed their superiority and mopped the floor with Blacklist International, ending the series 3-0. This sweep might have happened due to Blacklist International’s exhaustion, as they had to win a series against Geek Fam before their Grand Final appearance. Still, SMG looked like the better team throughout the series.
The first game of the series was interesting because the game server crashed at the 14-minute mark. Before the crash, Blacklist International dominated the laning stage and had a comfortable lead. The game was remade to start at the 14-minute mark, so Blacklist still had their lead.
However, it seemed like Blacklist lost momentum after the pause, as Team SMG began picking off Blacklist heroes one by one. Ultimately, Team SMG won after an excellent performance from MidOne’s unkillable Lifestealer.
Game 2 wasn’t too interesting, as Team SMG completely stomped Blacklist. The game ended with a kill score of 28-3 in favor of the International team.
Blacklist didn’t want to exit the qualifiers without a fight and displayed a solid performance in Game 3. They built up an 11,000 net worth lead at 31 minutes and had reasonable control over the game. However, a disastrous fight for Blacklist International at the 38-minute mark gave Team SMG a way back to complete the comeback.
After a 3-0 win against Blacklist International, we will finally see MidOne, ah fu, and No[o]ne back at Dota 2’s biggest stage, The International.