China has had a very mixed run at The International 2022, but the brightest stars continue to shine for Team Aster as they carry the region’s banner forward after slowly dismantling Team Liquid in a 2-0 sweep.
Despite ongoing concerns surrounding commentary giving English-speaking teams an advantage, Aster looked calm, composed, and ready to crush their opponents.
Liquid are always just one big push away from getting back into a game, but with the pressure Aster was able to apply throughout both games thanks to some excellent drafting, giving up any ground felt like it was a death sentence for any of the European team’s core heroes.
That pressure was excruciatingly difficult to deal with in game one, with Money’s Sniper almost dealing more damage than both of Liquid’s frontline combined and running up a 15-1-11 KDA to show for it. That paired with Ori’s excellent Leshrac play, Siamese soaking up damage with the support Sven, and the ability for Xxs to roll in on Pangolier just led to too many problems for Liquid unless their timing was perfect.
Timing was slightly less crucial for Liquid in game two, but Aster played a very slow mid-game after falling behind, forcing the EU squad to play into lanes rather than rushing into something—biding their time behind Monet’s Terroblade until it was time to strike without fear.
It slowly feels like Aster has become the silent killer of this TI. Sneaking quietly into the playoffs while the abundance of Western European talent and Evil Geniuses’ dominant early performance stole the show. But now that the lights are the brightest, the DPC version of BurNIng’s Legion has come knocking at the throne.
With this win, Aster are the final team to move on in the upper bracket, locking in a top-six seed and a date with Tundra Esports in the next round. Meanwhile, Liquid will face elimination in a clash with Entity in the lower bracket.