In The Summit 10 grand final, the Swedish squad swept paiN Gaming 3-0. The best-of-five series was decided in three games.
The winning roster includes: miCKe, qojqva, Boxi, Taiga and team captain iNSaNiA.
⤢ ВІДКРИТИOn one hand, this is a crucial victory for the team ahead of The International 2019, hopefully boosting their morale. On the other, a similar scenario played out tragically for another team previously:
In 2016, Natus Vincere won the StarLadder i-League StarSeries Season 2 right before The International, only to spectacularly crash out of the main event:
By revealing all their key heroes (like GeneRaL's Sand King) and strategies, "Born to Win" failed to perform well and were eliminated, finishing 13th-16th.
While Alliance's current hero pool is certainly not small, this will be their first International as a team. The "big stage jitters" are a real concern. Hopefully, the experienced Loda can instill confidence in his squad.
Alliance hasn't won a tournament since 2016. Their last victory was with the "golden" roster (Loda, s4, AdmiralBulldog, Akke, and EGM), which famously defeated Ukrainian Na'Vi in the legendary The International 2013 final.
⤢ ВІДКРИТИThis year, the fabled "El Clásico" could well return, making the dream of a "Na'Vi vs. Alliance" grand final a reality for many fans.
All that's left is to congratulate the Swedish squad on their well-deserved victory and wish them the best of luck at the upcoming The International 2019!
