In what seemed like an almost routine series of games, Team Liquid defeated the Korean representative MVP Phoenix in the grand final of the Wildcard playoffs. They will now join the rest of the teams in the TI4 playoffs.

With their second consecutive 2-0 victory of the day, Team Liquid is the ultimate winner of the Play-In series of The International 4. The best-of-three finals between Liquid and MVP Phoenix took longer than the match against CIS, as the Koreans showed significant resistance against Liquid's pressure doing Game One. However, their power started to fade during the second game, allowing the Americans to grab an easy victory.

Through their success, Liquid will now advance to Phase Two of TI4 playoffs, joining the 15 remaining teams in the groupstage. The groupstage is scheduled to last for four days, from July 9th through July 13th. Over 120 games will be played during this stage, as all teams will battle each other for the precious points. The top-two teams will be seeded in the Winners Bracket of the Main Event, while the middle eight competitors will have to go through Phase Three. The bottom six teams will be flying home early.

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Liquid vs MVP Phoenix

Game One 

The Koreans entered the game with strength, accumulating early map control using the tanky heroes and high kill potential of their lineup. However, Liquid mounted a patient and well thought out high ground defense, which lasted long enough to help them get back into the game. MVP's final attempt resulted in the death of four heroes for MVP, helping Liquid get a free Roshan kill as well.

The game continued to be close, swinging back and forth with pick offs and team fights. A gank against Slark at the bottom lane put Liquid in the lead, opening the map even more for the Americans. With Batrider and Mirana continuously scanning the map for kills, qojqva found the opportunity to breach the Radiant base and take down the top tier-three tower and barracks. However, a massive creepwave dealt critical damage to Liquid's buildings, while they were focusing on their own advance.

With relentless split-pushing and pressure by Pegasus's Batrider, MVP seemed to be one step behind of their opposition entering the later stages of the game. Liquid's constant attempts against the Koreans' remaining structures paid off in the end, with Serpent Wards and Exorcism resulting in the demise of the bottom barracks as well. MVP did manage to finish off the damaged middle barracks of Liquid, but the Dire's advantage was too high.

With Liquid winning yet another teamfight inside the Dire jungle, ForEv was forced to buyback and use Boots of Travel to siege the enemy tier-four towers in an attempt to delay Liquid's final push. While he was successful in doing so, he fell to Liquid's bullets yet again, offering a free Roshan to the Americans. From that point, it was just a matter of time until the last remaining barracks go down for MVP. While the Radiant defended valiantly, the 'GG' was called shortly after.

Game Two

MVP decided to use an old-school aggressive trilane with Naga Siren, Shadow Shaman and Ancient Apparition, in an attempt to pressure qojqva's Ember Spirit. The mid and top lane saw two 1v1 matchups, with Faceless Void going against Lycan and Templar Assassin battling Razor.

Liquid started their aggression early, with Heen going down to BuLba's nukes for the first blood before the third minute of the game. As the Radiant trilane was ahead in experience, MVP could no longer apply pressure to qojqva's Ember Spirit who managed to find a lot of early farm. QO and FoREv could no do much to help, as their lane opponents were dominant as well. The lane-stage defeat had major impact on Naga's farming potential, with the Relic being delayed too much.

With no Radiance on their Naga Siren and no natural Mekansm carrier on their side, the Koreans were crushed by Liquid's assault. While TC did go down twice before minute 15, both qojqva and Pegasus were unharmed and ready for action. With the gold pilling up on Liquid's side and their gold lead increasing by 1000 each minute, the Americans were able to roll over their opposition and breach the Dire base before the 30th minute mark. While Naga did manage to get a late Radiance, the outcome of the match had already been decided. Getting yet another free Roshan kill, Liquid entered MVP's base for the last time, ending the game and the hopes of MVP in The International 4.

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Headline image by Team Liquid