The International 2022 is over and the Dota 2 team that hoisted the Aegis is none other than Tundra Esports. What's even more impressive is that they did in style by sweeping opponents Team Secret 3-0. With the win, they bring home about $8.5 million.
Their win is truly one for the books on a lot of levels. For example, they're the second team to win TI by sweeping the other team. The first one to do that was Team Liquid against Newbee back in TI7. The team's coach, Kurtis "Aui_2000" Ling, is now a TI winner as player and coach. He was part of the Evil Geniuses roster that won TI5.
Both Leon “Nine” Kirilin and Oliver “skiter” Lepko became part of the royal roaders. These are players who managed to win TI the first time they played it.
Tundra is a relatively new organization in the Dota 2 esports community. They first made the scene when they signed on the roster of Mudgolems in 2021. Sadly, they weren't able to join TI10 after being defeated by OG in the Western Europe Qualifier.
Journey to TI
For the 2021-2022 DPC season, Tundra didn't really have that "strong" performance as one would expect, but it was consistent. They placed fourth during the Regional Final in Tour 1. After that, they claimed fourth place in Tour 2 and third place during the Stockholm Major. When they placed first at the end of Tour 3, they had obtained enough points for a direct invite. Thus, it really didn't have an impact even if they finished 15th-16th place during the Arlington Major
Road to the Grand Final
During the group stage, the team started to show just how good they were by dominating opponents. They won in five matches and had a draw in the remaining four. This allowed the team to end at the top.
During the playoffs, they managed to sweep opponents OG and Team Aster to claim a spot in the Upper Bracket Final. It was here that they would meet Team Secret, who they defeated 2-1.
The Path of a Champion
While a lot of fans were expecting it to go the distance, Tundra had other plans. One way to describe it is that they came up with their own meta by playing to their strength. It was this mentality, along with hard work, that eventually allowed Tundra to stomp and dominate Secret and become the champions that they are today.
What about you? What was your favorite part of this year’s TI?
