The new-look Mineski won its first championship this season after sweeping LGD Gaming 2-0 in the PGL Open Bucharest grand final at PGL Studios in Bucharest, Romania.
The Southeast Asia juggernaut relied on the fantastic performances of veterans Mushi and iceiceice in the ultimate round to dominate the Chinese representatives in both games.
Mushi on Phantom Assassin and iceiceice on Monkey King combined for a 15-3-18 KDA in the first game that lasted only 35 minutes.
The pair was even more devastating in the second match, with Mushi’s Vengeful Spirit and iceiceice’s Broodmother ending up with a total of 20 kills and 25 assists against only three deaths.
Mineski pocketed $130,000 as champion, and each of their players will receive 150 qualification points.
Only the three players with the most qualification points will count towards the team’s total points when it comes to tallying markers for The International 2018 next year. The eight teams with the highest total will directly qualify for TI8.
LGD was consoled with $65,000 as runner-up, and its players were given 90 points each, while Immortals and Evil Geniuses pocketed $30,000 each team and their players were awarded 30 points each.
As of writing, all five Mineski players lead the pro circuit ranking with 240 each, followed by the players of Liquid, who each have 150 points after their win at StarLadder Invitational 3.
In team rankings, Mineski leads the table with 720 points, followed by Liquid’s 450. LGD have 202.5 at third, while four teams scamper for fourth place with 90 points each club.
Game 1
The first game was a see-saw, balanced battle between Mineski and LGD, with the former winning team fights and the latter expanding map control with tower pressure.
Because of map control, LGD were the first to kill Roshan and claim an Aegis but its efforts were spurned after Mineski quickly reacted and brought down the shield-wielder AME, who was on Ursa.
But Mineski turned the tide of the game around with a crucial Roshan kill, which eventually allowed them to breach LGD’s high ground.
With Mushi’s PA armed with a Desolator, a Black King Bar, a Basher, a Linken’s Sphere and the Aegis, and iceiceice’s MK equipped with an Echo Sabre and BKB, it was too much for LGD to handle and the Chinese team had to call GG and end their suffering.
Game 2
LGD drafted a tanky lineup with Earthshaker, Viper and Underlord, along with the Leap-able Mirana, but it still found itself helpless against Mineski’s barrage of attacks in the early game.
Mineski drew first blood with a kill on Yao’s Earthshaker, and ganks from Jabz’ Earth Spirit and iceiceice’s Broodmother saw the SEA giants erect a 9-3 lead inside 10 minutes.
The veteran-laden group then went clinical with their strategy of killing Roshan first before going for an all-in push, which led to a number of quick sieges that saw Mineski blast through the Radiant Tier Three Bottom in just the 28th minute, despite LGD spending four buybacks to defend their home base.
Mineski pulled back after opening LGD’s high ground, but only to kill Roshan and claim another Aegis before waiting for a creep wave to push inside LGD’s base and compelling the Chinese representatives to wave the white flag and give up the PGL Open Bucharest title to the SEA giant.
