Join us for the GAMERS GALAXY Upper Bracket recap.
Following the amazing Group Stage of the GAMERS GALAXY: Invitational Series Dubai 2022, it is time to focus on the playoffs. Yesterday, some of the teams had to fight in the so-called Play-ins. This match allowed them to secure a slot for the event’s Lower Bracket.
However, before we have the chance to watch the LB clashes, it is time to focus on the ones in the Upper Bracket. Today, the best four teams in this tournament had to go head to head and fight for the Upper Bracket Final. Three of the teams here are from Europe, whereas the other one is SEA’s powerhouse BOOM Esports.
Unlike the matches in the Group Stage, these clashes are in a Bo3 format. This gives the teams enough time to bounce back and take the series in their favor. So, let’s take a look at some of the most interesting matches and learn more about what happened in each series.
Nigma Galaxy vs OG
The first match of the day was highly anticipated because it features two of the best teams in Europe right now. Nigma Galaxy was unable to show its prowess in the DPC, but the team played well in this event. As for OG, this is the team’s first LAN with the new roster, and so far, Bozhidar “bzm” Bogdanov and the rest are playing better than expected.
Game 1
The first game between the two powerhouses had was full of amazing heroes. We expected OG to pick Invoker, but Nigma Galaxy decided to get it in their favor. They paired the hero with OD, Chen, Clock and Tiny. On the other side, OG picked some of the heroes that allowed them to shine in the DPC. Besides Templar Assassin and Razor, the two times TI champions picked Mars, Shadow Shaman, and Trent.
OG’s laning stage was going well, but Nigma decided to rotate a couple of times, which gave them a slight edge. After exchanging a couple of kills, Nigma was able to secure the Aegis and won several important fights. Despite that, the team could not get a solid advantage over OG.
Fortunately, two good smokes allowed them to force their opponents’ BKBs and win two fights in a row. This gave them a comfortable 6k+ advantage just 25-minutes after the start of the game. OG was able to get a sneaky kill on Roshan, but the fight that took place immediately after that did not go well for the EU team. Consequently, it lost two lanes of rax, which was a sign that the GG call was near. Needless to say, it took TI 7 champs a couple of minutes to end the game.
Game two
After Amer “Miracle-” Al-Barkawi’s amazing game with Invoker, Nigma Galaxy decided to pick the hero yet again. On the other hand, OG picked Mars and Shadow Shaman alongside Troll Warlord, Puck, and IO.
This game was more hectic than the first game, at least early on. Neither team was able to get a lead, despite the constant ganks and skirmishes all over the map. OG secured a couple of big kills that gave them a slight lead, but Nigma Galaxy won a crucial team fight that allowed them to bounce back.
As the game went on, Troll and Gyro were slowly but surely becoming more powerful. Both teams tried to participate in as many fights as possible and the outcome was always unpredictable. However, Nigma was able to force a couple of buybacks after securing the Aegis, which gave them a considerable advance. After securing Butterfly for Gyrocopter. TI 7 champions pushed the top lane and secured several big kills. This allowed them to force the GG call and reserve a sport for the UP Finals.
BOOM Esports vs Tundra Esports
The second series of the day was between BOOM Esports and Tundra Esports, two teams that are yet to face each other. Usually, Tundra Esports should have been considered the favorites in this match, but after BOOM’s recent dominant performance, the SEA powerhouse is the team everyone expects to shine.
Game one
The first game between the two started well for BOOM, despite having a late-game focused lineup. The team decided to put Medusa in the safe lane and get Ember for mid so that the hero could gank. Despite picking TA and Puck, Tundra Esports made a lot of mistakes early on. This allowed their counterparts to snowball and slowly gained a significant advantage.
Despite their efforts, Team Tundra was unable to live up to the expectations. The team’s draft was just not effective against the overly-farmed cores of BOOM. Their medusa even got the Aegis, which was the last nail in the coffin. Since the team had no chances of recovering, it decided to use the gg call and focus on the second game of the series.
Game two
The second game of the series looked good for BOOM Esports on paper, but things didn’t go as planned. Tiny, Gyro, and IO ripped through the SEA powerhouse and gave their team a solid lead. BOOM’s Phantom Assassin was crushed in the laning stage and did not have any items that would allow the hero to utilize her potential. TT took full advantage of the situation and participated in as many team fights as possible.
In the end, TT’s lead was over 12k, and thanks to the Aegis, the team was able to take down the first lane of rax and kill most of BOOM’s heroes. Needless to say, the SEA team had no way to survive and decided to focus on the third game.
Game three
After equalizing the series, it was time to check game three. This time, BOOM took Tiny for them, whereas TT decided to pick Chaos Knight. Despite having the more active roster, Team Tundra was unable to gain a lead over their opponents early on.
Both teams tried to gain a lead, and even though TT was closer, only CK had enough farm to go up against the powerful Snapfire and Tiny. He even managed to secure the Aegis, but this was enough to bring down the powerful SEA team. Oliver “skiter” Lepko and his CK gained even more advantages as the game went on, which made BOOM’s job difficult.
In the end, the CK was too powerful even for the SEA Regional Finals winners. Following this victory, TT secured themselves the chance to play against Nigma Galaxy in the Upper Bracket final.
