In this week’s In Case You Missed It:
Infamous make it further than any other South American team
Infamous almost didn’t make it to TI, having to go through the South American qualifiers and defeat powerhouse Brazilian team, Pain Gaming, in the Grand Finals to even get to Shanghai.
But when they arrived, the Peruvian squad quickly surprised everyone with a2-0 upset over Fnatic, and tie games againstEvil Geniuses,Vici Gaming, andNatus Vincerein the Group Stage, narrowly missing out on a spot in the Main Event Upper Bracket.
In the Lower Bracket, Infamous continued to shock everyone with upsets overKeen Gaming, andNewbeein the first two rounds of the Lower Bracket, before finally being eliminated in an extremely close2-1 seriesby DPC top-ranked team, Team Secret.
Infamous finished in 7th-8th place, making them the most successful South American team at any TI, and took home US$840,000 in prize money for their efforts.
TI10 will be held in Stockholm, Sweden
The world’s biggest Dota 2 tournament isreturning to Europeafter nine years.
The International is making a homecoming of sorts, with Stockholm, Sweden as the tournament’s venue for its 10th anniversary. The first International took place at Cologne, Germany in 2011.
The move was not unexpected, given the strength of European squads such as Team Liquid, OG, and Team Secret in the tournament. Having these teams play on their home soil, so to speak, would definitely be a treat to their loyal local fan bases.
Liquid’s historic 11-1 run through the Lower Bracket
TI7 champions, Team Liquid, were one of the favorites going into Shanghai, but a disappointing Group Stage that saw them win only two games dropped them into the Lower Bracket with their prospects looking bleak.
However, the team that showed up to the Main Event looked completely different, and a resurgent Liquid went on a historic 9-0 run over the first four days, eliminatingFnatic,TNC,Royal Never Give Up,Evil Geniuses, andTeam Secretin dominating fashion.
Liquid didn’t drop a single game in the Main Event until Chinese powerhouse PSG.LGD took a close game one in theLower Bracket final. But Liquid bounced right back and won the next two in a row to take the series, making it back to their second TI Grand Final, where they would face defending champions OG.
OG are the first-ever 2-time TI champions
In the first-ever TI Grand Final to feature two past champions,OG defeated TI7 winners, Team Liquid, 3-1to become the first-ever double Aegis winners and take home the grand prize of over US$15.5 million.
Anathan “ana” Pham, Topias “Topson” Taavitsainen, Sebastien “Ceb” Debs, Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka, and Johan “N0tail” Sundstein will etch their names behind the coveted Aegis of Champions for the second-straight time.
In game one of the Grand Final, Liquid, hot off their 11-1 run in the Lower Bracket, snatched victory from OG in an incredibly tight game. But OG quickly bounced back in game two, tying up the series with their comfort picks of ana on Ember Spirit and Topson on Monkey King.
In game three, OG’s high-damage tri-core of ana on Faceless Void, Topson on Pugna, and Ceb on Enchantress let them steamroll their way to a quick 23-minute victory, with Topson, in particular, putting in a godly performance on Pugna, finishing with a KDA of 17/3/11.
At tournament point, OG pulled out theirsignature ana carry Io comp, with Notail on Abaddon to protect him and Topson on Gyrocopter as a secondary damage-dealer.
Liquid did their best to contain ana, but once he got to level 15 and picked up Aghanim’s Scepter it was all over. OG marched towards Liquid’s base and demolished its hapless defenders to force the GG and claim their second TI title.
