The International 2017 Grand Finals
Newbee versus Team Liquid - the winner
goes the Aegis of Champions to the loser
disappointment and muttered
condolences of maybe next year.
For a Miracle - Amer Al-Barqawi that disappointment is all too real.  At this time last year he had
already been eliminated from the
international
his chance at being the best in the
world was cut short by an upset that no
one could have predicted TNC a team that
barely scraped by was in the loser
bracket all of a sudden they 2-0 
them very definitively and we thought
they had the better trap but I just
thought oh gee would be able to pull it
out but at this time things are
different Miracle has lost learned and
with a new team by his side has another
shot at greatness Miracle's journey to
the internationals grand finals was one
that took him through the highs of wins
and two majors and the crushing lows of
defeat at TI6
but before all of that there was a time
when Miracle had no idea that Dota even
had a pro scene even when I asked him
like me to watch TI 1, 2, 3
he's like nope never heard of it in fact
a Miracle didn't start playing because
he one day dreamed of hoisting the Aegis
No our story starts in a net cafe in
Jordan with one simple thing a guy who
loved Dota when he was young Amer was
like most kids his age he played soccer
in the streets and spent much of his
time out of the house with his friends
one day he became curious about his
older brothers interest and wanted to
join them on their lengthy trips to the
local net cafes he thought convincing my
Mom I want to go with my brothers I want
to see what they do there we start
taking him with us and he started
learning watching only around 12 years
old
Amer quickly got hooked on Dota1 and
his skills grew the local scene dubbed
him miracle boy that moniker later
shortened to just miracle stuck even
after the release of Dota2 Miracle
primarily played for fun
solo laddering with intense focus
oblivious to Dota's rapidly growing pro
scene miracle skill increased with time
but he was still just a pub player who
enjoyed the casual aspects of dota when
the official MMR ranking system was
released
in late 2013 Miracle had already
achieved an impressive 5.3 K MMR after
hitting 7k solo MMR a little while later
Miracle began to realize he could be
among the best carries in the world and
set his goal at becoming the highest
ranked player of all at first I was like
just playing for fun let's say did I hit
8k and then I was like oh shit like that
there's a small chance
some people might talk to me in-game his
reputation as a serious pub star was
spreading especially after he became
only the second player to hit 8k MMR
behind Aliwi "w33Ha" Omar.  Miracle hoped
that a professional team would contact
him he was ready to prove that he was
more than just a pub star he had a very
brief stint on a smaller team known as
the Balkan Bears but his big chance
truly came when Johan “n0tail” Sundstein
added him on skype.  At first I actually
thought it's like a fake account and I
was I wasn't really responding but then
I was like alright I'm gonna talk to him
and it was him and I talked to him on
skype and Miracle went from pub star to
playing alongside some of Dota's most
respected talent as a founding member of
OG overnight with veterans like n0tail and Tal “Fly” Aizik leading him, Miracle
took his first significant steps into
the professional scene though he might
have been ignorant of Dota2's
competitive legacy Miracle wasted no
time in making his own mark on the scene
right from the get-go miracle proved
that he was a dominant individual talent
as well as an incredibly flexible and
versatile player to boot the MLG World
Finals was an excellent showcase for Miracle,
as he not only dominated the likes of Syed Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan and Sergey “G” Bragin in lane,
but carried on a massive variety of heroes such as Queen of Pain, his signature Anti-Mage and even a pocket Earthshaker.
by the time the first ever
valve major in Frankfurt rolled around
Miracle was impressing thanks to
excellent play against top teams
although OG were largely viewed as a
dark-horse
going into the event people were excited
to see if Miracle would continue to
perform on a massive stage.   [Casting]
The tournament started off on the wrong foot, but as the pressure mounted
OG delivered.  Going on
one of the most ridiculous lower bracket
runs in Dota2 history to claim the title
[Casting}
[Casting}
Miracle in particular was lethal on Shadow Fiend
stunning even when his still unproven
back was against the wall just three
months into his tenure on a professional
team Miracle had already claimed a valve
title and was undoubtedly one of the
best players in the world.  His shy
personality contrasted with his flashy
in gameplay but fans nevertheless
flocked to the game's newest superstar
OG and Miracle continued to be an elite
force in the Dota world for the next
half year winning a number of events and
regularly finishing top four against the
stiffest of competitions.
A disappointment at the Shanghai major in
March of 2016 was quickly remedied by a
second valve title this time at the
Manila Major three months later his
usual stellar performances only serve to
further the mystique around miracle as
he will see Lee went toe-to-toe against
the best from around the world and
emerged the victor his Invoker became a
thing of legend and questions as to
whether or not miracle was only a pub
star were nothing more than a distant memory.
[Casting]
[Casting]
[Casting]
[Casting]
[Casting]
But even as his professional career was taking off one thing had all still remained the
same Miracle I played Dota with a nearly
unmatched dedication grinding away in
game after game day in and day out his
level of focus is something on
comparable to any player I've ever seen
I've seen a lot of players grow and
become excellent at the game but when he
looks at the screen while he plays it's as
if he's in the game as if he's in the
battlefield in the months following the
Shanghai major he famously became
involved in a race to 9 K MMR with Artour “Arteezy” Babaev, Evil Geniuses’ star player.
Then on may 11th 2016 from the
practice rooms at the epicenter 2016
land Miracle made history.
With the 9K player leading the charge to stellar results in the months before TI6 OG was
touted as a clear favorite to win it all
it was the next step for miracle and the
win at TI would take his already growing
reputation to the next level
[Casting]
The loss was a crushing blow to Miracle
and a miserable way to cap off his
otherwise brilliant first year of
competitive play while he had already
come so far and achieved so much bombing
out at TI put a metaphorical
asterisks on his career in fact it was
clearly one of Miracles worst
performances ever.  I wanna know what kind of wizard
you are that he's figured out that OG would just go from winning Frankfurt
major in Manila major and doing pretty
well in the group stage like they look
like a really strong team and they just
boom out the result called for a change
and on September 16 2016 miracle joined
Team Liquid while Liquid started slow
posting mixed results for the rest of
the year it turned out to be a perfect
move for Miracle.  Once Maroun “GH” Merhej was added to the squad prior to Dream League Season 6
Miracle was surrounded
by a group of tremendously talented
players which took some of the burden to
carry off his shoulders.
GH and Lasse “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen would join
Miracle in the ranks of the 9k MMR club
and with Kuro “KuRoKy” Salehi Takhasomi’s  savvy drafting making full use of
Miracles incredibly deep hero pool Team
Liquid had everything they needed to
start winning big tournaments needless
to say liquids run up to TI 7 reflected
their tremendous potential while their
results at DAC 2017 and The Kiev Major
were disappointing liquid still entered
TI 7 as favourites to win it all.  But the fans were still worried.
I wanna say Liquid
so bad, but they F@#$%&*! drop the ball at so many TI's.
That's okay you can pick him if you want.  Screw it!  I'm going with Team Liquid.  C'mon boys!
Would Miracle choke under the pressure once again. Could he shake the ghost of TI 6 out of his mind and play at the level he was capable of
when the chips were down
thankfully the answer was yes
[Casting]
[Casting]
[Casting]
[Casting]
With a tournament high 21 unique
Heroes played and some absolutely
stellar games Miracle answered those
questions once and for all these scene
teams down 0 and 1, teams that go from
winners to lowers and fall apart under
the pressure Miracle has done the exact
opposite Liquid who looked shaky after a
winner's bracket loss to Invictus Gaming
were an unstoppable freight train by the
tournament's end and finally it was time
Miracle was about to play through
the Aegis of Champions
Newbee versus Team Liquid Grand Finals
sleep will have to come from the south
[Casting]
[Casting]
[Casting]
[Casting]
[Casting]
[Casting]
[Casting]
[Casting]
[Casting]
[Casting]
[Casting]
[Casting]
[Casting]
[Casting]
The man who just two years ago
yearn to prove that he was more than a
pub star was staring down the biggest
games of his life what started out as a
simple love for Dota had turned into
something different altogether a chance
to be a part of the game to be
immortalized as one of the best to ever
play
who would have thought that the Miracle
boy from the net cafes in Jordan who
knew nothing of the International and
pro Dota would become a two-time major
winner a TI champion and one of the
game's most popular figures it just goes
to show what can happen with dedication
focus and the will to be the best at the
end of the day his love of the game
isn't going anywhere and neither is
Miracle after all there's majors to win
a TI title to defend and of course Dota
to be played and we wouldn't have it any
other way
thanks for watching our telling of
miracles story
it's an incredible pleasure to share
with you the outstanding story of such
an inspiring player is there a story
you'd like to see us tell let us know in
the comments below and be sure to
subscribe for more great content
