Game ended Team Liquid 2-0 TNC Predator
Team Liquid vs TNC Predator will close TI9 playoffs day two, with the winners to face Royal Never Give Up in Dota 2's flaghship event. The losers, meanwhile, will pack their bags and go home.
So. Who will take it? The odds show there's very little to choose between Liquid and TNC Predator.
Liquid vs TNC at TI9 starts at 12pm BST / 1pm CEST with live streams and betting odds at Luckbox.
Related: TI9 standings, bracket and results
Head-to-head Record
Even
This is a best-of-three replay of TI9 Group Stage best-of-two in which TNC won 2-0.
Before that both teams met-up in ESL One Birmingham 2019 Group stage and drew 1-1. The only other confrontation in 2019 was in Chongqing Major lower bracket round 2 where Liquid eliminated their opponent of the day 2-0.
Out of the 11 times both orgs faced each other since 2015, Liquid won six times and there have been two 1-1 draws.
Their Road to TI9
Qualification
Advantage Liquid
Team Liquid
Team Liquid finished 5th of the DPC table thanks to a late awakening in the DPC season. They finished second consecutively in the two last majors of the year. (MDL Paris Major, EPICENTER Moscow Major)
TNC PRedator
TNC finished 9th in the final DPC table. TNC got a hollow season as they performed well in Kuala Lumpur at the beginning of it and in Moscow at the very end of it. This allowed them to not go through the regional qualifiers headaches.
TI9 Group Stage
Advantage TNC
TNC Predator
TNC finished fourth of the same group as Team Liquid, three ranks above them. Surprisingly they only lost to Mineski and managed to win a game each against power houses like Team Secret and PSG.LGD.
TNC Predator 2-0 Keen Gaming
TNC Predator 0-2 Mineski
PSG.LGD 1-1 TNC Predator
TNC Predator 1-1 Alliance
TNC Predator 1-1 Newbee
Team Secret 1-1 TNC Predator
Team Liquid 0-2 TNC Predator
Team Liquid
Team Liquid was not miles away from worrying fans on their TI9 Group Stage performance, finishing 7th of their group with 4 defeats (Newbee, LGD, Secret, TNC). They only managed to get two victories against eliminated Chaos E.C and Keen Gaming. They are yet to show a performance against heavier names in this TI9 in spite of a higher form recently in the DPC season, they lack consistency. Well, we always expect so much from Team like Liquid too.
Team Liquid 0-2 Newbee
Team Liquid 2-0 Chaos E.C
Team Secret 2-0 Team Liquid
Team Liquid 1-1 Mineski
Team Liquid 0-2 PSG.LGD
Team Liquid 1-1 Alliance
Team Liquid 2-0 Keen
Mindset going into the match
Team Liquid is obviously a better team on paper. Their DPC standings show a better consistency over the year than their opponent of the day too but compared to what is expected of Liquid, their TI9 Group Stage performance is worrying.
Liquid already conceded two games against TNC in TI9 and TNC is now known for loving long games. I cannot see how they would not snatch at least one game against a, sometimes inconsistent, Team Liquid. Why not 2 in the end?
Edit: TNC did not take any game in the end with a Team Liquid in form to beat them 2-0
