Geek Slate Outplays Blacklist International To Qualify For Lima Major

Geek Slate, formerly known as Geek Fam have qualified for the upcoming Lima Major following its decisive victory against Blacklist International in the Southeast Asia Dota Pro Circuit (SEA DPC). Despite having only returned into the competitive Dota 2 scene this season, Geek Slate’s new roster have performed above expectations as the team outplayed the likes of BOOM Esports, Fnatic and Talon Esports in the process.

Following Fnatic’s unexpected victory against Talon Esports, Geek Slate only needed to win against Blacklist International for a direct qualification to Peru.

List of DOTA 2 Teams That Have Qualified for Lima Major 2023Blacklist International vs Geek Slate: Match recap and highlights Recap 

This series was highly important for both teams, as a victory here for either team essentially meant that they would qualify for the upcoming Lima Major.

The loser of the series will face Talon Esports in a tiebreaker to determine the final invite later today, as the latter unexpectedly lost to Fnatic earlier in the week.

Game One

Geek Slate drafted the duo of Troll Warlord and Batrider for Rolen "skem" Ong & Joshua "Kokz" Maraño while Blacklist International went for a more stable draft in Ursa, Pangolier and Broodmother.

The early game went fairly into the favor of Geek Slate, having secured numerous kills and a couple of objectives in towers during the first 20 minutes of the game. However, as time went by Blacklist International slowly gained momentum.

Despite Geek Slate’s base being constantly pressured, the team was able to hold their ground. Unfortunately due to Skem's Troll Warlord dying near the enemy jungle without buyback, Blacklist International saw the perfect opportunity to destroy Geek Slate’s base.

Game One ended after 42 minutes, as Geek Slate were unable to mount a defense.

Game Two

Geek Slate had a better draft going forward in Game Two, as it switched things up with a Marci - Templar Assassin combo while Blacklist International were looking to close out the series with Marc "Raven" Fausto’s Lina.

The early game again went in favor of Geek Slate. Unlike the previous game, the team was strategizing a lot better in terms of objectives and teamfights. However, their early game advantage slowly faded away as the game progressed, with Raven’s Lina and Karl "Karl" Baldovino’s Tiny hitting their item timings in the late game.

Despite Blacklist International having the momentum in the late game, a disastrous teamfight near Geek Slate’s base saw things returning into the favor of Geek Slate as Blacklist’s 10K networth advantage faded into thin air. While the rest of the game went into a stalemate, another disastrous teamfight for Blacklist International saw Geek Slate taking Game Two after 74 minutes.

Game Three

With a Major slot now on the line, both teams were looking to avoid playing tiebreakers. Blacklist International drafted the duo combo of Morphling - Primal Beast for Raven & Karl while Geek Slate opted for a more stable draft by choosing Naga Siren, Pangolier and Viper as their core heroes.

Geek Slate had the better early game, with skem’s Naga Siren leading in terms of net worth while Nikko "Force" Bilocura’s Viper provided additional damage. However, as the game progressed Blacklist International once again managed to turn things around as Geek Slate were unable to pick off Raven’s Morphling.

While the late game mostly consisted of the battle between illusions, a decisive teamfight that saw Raven and Karl without buybacks allowed Geek Slate to close out the series after a long 77 minutes.

Highlights

Here are some of the highlights from the series.

Following the match, Geek Slate will join Execration at the Lima Major as SEA’s second representatives. As for Blacklist International, they will have a final chance to qualify for the Major however it would have to defeat Talon Esports in a two-way tiebreaker later today.

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* This article was originally published here