In a major upset, Hokori clean swept Infamous in the 2022 International South American Qualifiers. Join us as we break down what happened.

In the grand finals of the South American TI 11 qualifiers, Team Hokori took the series 3-0 against favorites Infamous. Hokori were the underdogs of the match guaranteed. But in a great turn of events, Hokori had Infamous' number in all 3 games, and will now be participating in Esports' biggest tournament. Although hope is not lost for Infamous as they will have a second shot at the upcoming Last Chance Qualifiers.

Hokori's Clean Sweep

The TI 11 qualifers are providing upset after upset it seems. First with BetBoom coming out on top in the Eastern Europe qualifiers and now Hokori coming out against Infamous. Although there is hope for the teams, it's a great underdog story that Hokori has come out on top. But, with most underdogs, it's a close competition. The 3 grand final games of the SA TI11 qualifiers were a stomp, with Hokari taking all 3 games pretty convincingly. Although game 3 did have quite the finale, with Infamous going for a ballsy play with Faceless void to refresher Chronosphere Hokori's exposed ancient.

All 3 games featured a similar pool of heroes that both teams shared that included Marci, Ember Spirit, Morphling and Weaver. But on the other hand, there were some unqiue picks with Hokori picking up Huskar, Clockwerk and Ancient Apparition and Infmaous picking up Omniknight and Undying.

But in all 3 games that went past 40 minutes were in favor of Hokori that just managed to take such strong leads in the early game and keep pressure up. Hopefully, Hokori can keep their playstyle up and shake things up on the main stage of The International. You can check the full game stats here.

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A dream come true

Hokori's story is a true underdog story, and a real DPC story. The team started out at the start of the DPC season with the current squad and has qualified for the International. The 5 stack were ranked grinders, and didn't see much international exposure, other than their 4 position, Thiolicor. Who played in the early iteration of SG Esports back in 2017 with Soniq's Leslao. In which they managed to play at the Kiev Major and ESL One Hamburg in the same year.

For a team to come out of nowhere to upset the South American favorites, it means a lot to aspiring players. It just goes to show that anyone and everyone, can make it to The International. What's really amazing about Hokori's run is how they came back in the qualifers. Starting in the upper bracket, and then in the semi's losing 2-0 to Tempest. Then, when Hokori met back up with Tempest in the Lower bracket finals, they paid them back the 2-0 favor. Then, they managed to clean sweep the favorites.

The bracket of the Ti11 South American Qualifers
The bracket of the Ti11 South American Qualifers

Phantom Assassin strikes again

The biggest winner of 7.32 continues her rampage despite 7.32b trying to balancer her out. At least Phantom Assassin only got to see play in the final game of the series. In that hands of Hokori's Edward "Lumiere" Guillen where, despite the decent counters of Lina and Faceless Void were picked couldn't match up. Is there any stop to Phantom Assassin's hit list or will she be a contentest pick throughout all of The International? Only time will tell.

Hope isn't lost for Infamous

For South American Dota fans, hope isn't lost for Infamous. Although Hokori has the main slot, there are also the last chance qualifers coming up. Where Infamous can compete for a spot at the International Stage. The LCQ's are a lot more challenging, but it's nothing that Infamous can't overcome.

For more coverage of the TI11 qualifers, stay tuned to Esports.gg!