Xtreme Gaming upset Team Falcons 3-1 to claim Dota 2 Elite League championship
Prior to their showdown in the Elite League Grand Finals, Xtreme Gaming were notably swept by Team Falcons in the three matches they played so far this year.
Chinese powerhouse Xtreme Gaming (XG) have been crowned as champions of the Dota 2 Elite League after they pulled off a massive upset over MENA-based juggernauts Team Falcons, 3-1, in the tournament's Grand Finals on Monday (15 April).
The current iteration of XG were formed at the end of last year when Chinese Dota 2 legend Wang "Ame" Chunyu returned to pro play. The team then acquired Guo "Xm" Hongcheng, Lin "Xxs" Jing, and Zhao "XinQ" Zixing from Azure Ray fresh from their victory at ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023. The squad was then rounded out by Ding "Dy" Cong, the only player remaining from the previous roster.
XG stakes claim as new Chinese contender
XG quickly rose to the top of the Chinese scene, though they produced mixed results in the international tournaments at the start of the 2024 season.
In February, XG only managed a 7th-8th place finish at BetBoom Dacha Dubai 2024 before winning Games of the Future 2024, though the latter featured significantly weaker competition. The team then placed third at DreamLeague Season 22 in March prior to the start of the Elite League.
Meanwhile, Falcons have been far and away the best team in the world after they scored back-to-back championships at BetBoom Dacha Dubai 2024 and DreamLeague Season 22. Many expected the MENA-based juggernauts to go for three-straight championships at the Elite League.
Both XG and Falcons received direct invites to the Elite League's second round-robin Group Stage. XG finished second in Group B with a 9-5 record while Falcons topped Group A with a 10-4 standing, tied with Team Liquid for the best performance of that stage.
XG and Falcons had their first showdown at the Elite League in the Playoff upper bracket semifinals, where Falcons soundly swept their Chinese opponents. This victory for Falcons was notably the third-straight time they swept XG this year.
Falcons then swept another Chinese team in Azure Ray to become the first team in the Elite League Grand Finals.
Meanwhile, XG were forced to take the long road and survive three lower bracket elimination matches to meet Falcons again. They first swept another MENA-based team in PSG Quest before knocking out Team Liquid in a 2-1 series at the lower bracket semifinals.
XG then started the final day of the Elite League with a 2-0 sweep over Azure Ray in the lower bracket finals to earn their rematch with Falcons in the Grand Finals.
The championship round started out as many expected with Falcons taking a comfortable 43-minute win. Stanislav "Malr1ne" Potorak and Ammar "ATF" Al-Assaf led the way for Falcons, with the former recording 16 kills and 18 assists on two deaths on Razor while the latter had 14 kills and 20 assists on five deaths on Doom out of their team's 42-22 kill lead.
XG struck back hard in game two, scoring their first game win over Falcons in just under 30 minutes of action. Ame led the way with a clean seven-kill, 11-assist performance on Luna to pace his team's 25-14 kill lead while Xm on Leshrac added nine kills and 10 assists on three deaths.
XG then took control of the series in game three, where they stomped Falcons to the tune of a lopsided 29-7 kill score in 33 minutes. Xm led the way on Viper with eight kills and 15 assists on one death while Ame on Faceless Void and Xxs on Mars each had seven kills while combining for 18 assists on three deaths.
Falcons went down swinging, however, as they pushed game four to 53 minutes before late game mistakes allowed XG to claim the 3-1 series victory and the Elite League championship.
Ame showed out on Chaos Knight in the closeout game, finishing with 12 kills and 12 assists on five deaths to fuel XG's 36-27 kill lead. Xm on Razor also had 10 kills and eight assists on five deaths.
Dy on Disruptor notably had the game-sealing play when he caught out Oliver "skiter" Lepko's Faceless Void with a Glimpse-Static Storm combo, allowing XG to take down Falcons' carry without buyback.
With their victory, this star-studded iteration of XG claimed their first tier 1 international championship as well as the Elite League's US$300,000 grand prize. Meanwhile, Falcons settled for second place and US$150,000 in consolation.
XG will have the opportunity to claim a second-straight tier 1 international trophy and stake their claim to being the best team in the world at ESL One Birmingham 2024 next week.
ESL One Birmingham 2024 features 12 of the best Dota 2 teams in the world fighting for their cut of a US$1 million prize pool from 22 to 28 April.
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