Another, the ninth in succession, tournament The International, which is the main tournament of the year, has ended up. This year two-time champions have appeared winning the main tournament for the second time in a row. These lucky players are guys from the team OG who did not have any serious problem during the tournament. At the final they beat Liquid 3-1, losing only the first map.
Record prize pool of the tournament was divided this way
- 1) OG – 15 604 335 dol.
- 2) Team Liquid – 4 458 381 dol.
- 3) PSG.LGD – 3 086 572 dol.
- 4) Team Secret – 2 057 715 dol.
- 5-6) Evil Geniuses – 1 200 333 dol.
- 5-6) Vici Gaming – 1 200 333 dol.
- 7-8) Royal Never Give Up – 857 381 dol.
- 7-8) Infamous – 857 381 dol.
- 9-12) Virtus.pro – 685 905 dol.
- 9-12) TNC Predator – 685 905 dol.
- 9-12) NewBee – 685 905 dol.
- 9-12) Mineski – 685 905 dol.
- 13-16) Alliance – 514 429 dol.
- 13-16) Fnatic – 514 429 dol.
- 13-16) Keen Gaming – 514 429 dol.
- 13-16) Na`Vi – 514 429 dol.
- 17-18) Ninjas in Pyjamas – 85 738 dol.
- 17-18) Chaos Esports – 85 738 dol.
Virtus and NaVi have not realized the expectations
The CIS team have not shown themselves in a good way this year. The team Na`Vi got qualified through the open qualifiers and spent the first day of the tournament very well, taking a map from the champions OG, however, on the next day and the playoff the team got out of sorts and were not able to show any worthy result.
One of the favourites of the tournament, the CIS team Virtus.pro, that have shown great results this year, disappointed their fans. Starting this tournament poorly, the team showed great results during the second day and still moved to the winners’ bracket. However, at the playoff the team’s game worsened and they lost against PSG.LGD, and after that they got defeated by RNG, both times with 2-0.
How were the participants moving to the grand final?
The finalists of the tournament, Team Liquid, played not so well initially and after the group stage they got to the lower bracket where they always were one step away from leaving the tournament, however it was not an obstacle for them on their way to the final where they defeated such team as Evil Geniuses, Team Secret, and PSG.LGD.
The winners of the tournament, OG, gaine domination immediately and it was pleasant to watch their game. Neither of the teams and also analysts of various channels could not predict their actions and heroes. They spent the group stage perfectly and joined the upper bracket of the tournament. At the final winners’ bracket they met with PSG.LGD who they met with last year at the final where they won 3-2. This game can be called the most persistent game of the tournament. The Chinese machine PSG.LGD, supported by the home tribune, gave a battle to the future champions, however, they still were not able to destroy the team. The Chinese roster won the first game, however, at the second game OG showed a crazy alchemist who collected one of the earliest radiances in professional Dota and killed the Chinese team almost alone. In the third game the team PSG.LGD also gave this character to the opponents and couldn’t oppose to him anything again, so the players got to the lower bracket to its winner Team Liquid.
The first map of the battle between Team Liquid and PSG.LGD was won by the team from China. The second map became a key one when the team PSG.LGD had a chance of winning, however, they lost two meetings, one of them happened near Roshan and further the players could not give a battle. At the final map, the European team won a series feeling ambitious.
Grand final
At the final we could see two team that have already won The International and it happened for the first time for the relatively long history of the tournament.
On the first map the team Team Liquid seized initiative, however, there happened an overturn at some moment. OG started to press the base of Team Liquid, leaving a barracks at the upper line, but , withstanding an assault, Team Liquid went to the throne. Having a buyback with a core hero (Spectre), OG did not believe that there was time to break their throne but Team Liquid coped with this task, the core hero got bought back, but it was too late. Team Liquid won the first map.
Later there happened something nobody expected. The team OG destroyed their opponents on three maps in a row leaving no chance to them. The final was a bit boring. OG were just a machine that was impossible to stop. They beat a big amount of timings of different items and showed an impossible game and got the aegis they deserved.
OG became the first team that have won The International for 2 times, that being the case that they became champions for two times in a row. They became the most successful DOTA 2 players and the richest esportsmen in the world.
According to the tradition, between the maps of the final, there was an announcement of the holding place of the next The International 2020. Stockholm became the lucky.
