The DreamLeague Season 11 Major has thrown up plenty of surprises and, arguably, none more so than Keen Gaming's run to the final six.
The Chinese team were largely unfancied for success in Stockholm but find themselves one step away from a place in the upper bracket final.
Keen face Fnatic on Friday, with both teams knowing that victory would seal a spot in the final three at DeamLeague with the added incentive that a win would all but guarantee a spot at TI9.
So far, Team Secret, Virtus.pro and Evil Geniuses have confirmed their places at The International 2019, which will be played in Shanghai.
Securing a spot at The International 2019, which will be played in Shanghai, so early in the DPC season would be a significant achievement for Keen.
Watch: Keen Gaming v Fnatic live stream from 6.30pm GMT / 7.30pm CET
Keen to reach TI9
Paul Chaloner said both Fnatic and Keen will be highly motivated when they meet in Sweden on Friday.
He said: "If Keen win this one series against Fnatic they're top three at a Major. That's almost enough to guarantee them TI on its own. One series. That's all they've got to tell themselves. Old chicken's got to be in there going: 'Guys one series and we go to TI this early in the year and we're Keen Gaming!'."
Old kids on the block
Keen's all-Chinese roster of old chicken, 一, eLeVeN, Kaka and dark have certainly impressed Redeye, who believes this is their best lineup for some time.
Speaking on Luckbox's Dota 2 podcast Sujoy Roy said: "They've got a great lineup. There were no flukes in there. I went back and I watched the Liquid game and I watched the EG game. They they played well they just played solid, good Dota.
Redeye said: "Look at the lineup. Ignore dash man for a moment. Old chicken, eLeVeN, Kaka, dark - these are all players that have been around the block. They've been there, they've seen it, they've done it all. At one point eLeVeN was probably one of the best offlaners in the world probably.
Related: DreamLeague Season 11 schedule and bracket
"Kaka is almost certainly one of the greatest supports we've had playing the game. Kaka has been playing out of his mind. In the old days I think people were a bit like, 'Oh his Sand King's really good but everything (else) is bit shit'. He's shown now he's got more depth to him.
"Old chicken, solid as ever and the Dash Man - Mr Dash Dash or line line or one. One is his name because it's a side one - fantastic player as well. He's been a real revelation in that team so this is a totally different team to the Keen that we saw last year as well and the Keen that we saw 18 months ago.
"They've had three iterations of Keen in the last 18 months this is the best by far."
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The Luckbox Podcast is an CSGO and Dota-focused podcast available on YouTube, Soundcloud, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
