The International 2018: review and tournament retrospective
Yuriy SheremetLast time we recalled the seventh International. Then we were speaking about its unicity. We even said that is is a tipping point in Dota 2 tournaments history. Why is The International 2017 so important and how is it connected with TI8? Let’s find it out.
Dota enters a new cycle
After the end of The International 2017, Valve changed the system of holding their tournaments. Now, to get qualified for the main fiesta of the year, you had to gain a slot at Top 8 of the world rating of Dota Pro Circuit. Throughout 2018, till the eighth Int, the teams were earning those DPC points. This update made the teams rearrange their priorities and reconsider the game as then it was not enough to have a good season. You had to play Dota 2 matches better than others. In the first season, the following teams gained direct passes to TI: VP, Liquid, PSG.LGD, Team Secret, Mineski, Vici Gaming, Newbee, and VGJ. Thunder. The other contestants got defined in the qualifiers.
The list is revealed, or goodbye, Seattle
Apart from the structural change of the approach to qualifiers to the tournament, its place was also changed. For the first time since 2011, The International left Seattle. The new house for the tournament was Vancouver, Canada. Winstrike, Fnatic, TNC Predator, Team Serenity, IG, VGJ.Storm, EG, OpTic Gaming, paiN Gaming, and OG joined the teams mentioned above.
The International 2018 in Vancouver started a new tradition. From this event on, all the following Valve tournament were made off-premise. But it would happen later, now let’s cut to the chase.
The main drama in 2018
The International tournaments are remembered not only with good marks. It was in the past and it will be in the future. TI 8 was not an exception. In May, at the end of the DPC season, the captain of OG, Tal “Fly” Aizik and the offlaner Gustav “s4” Magnusson left the team and joined the champions of 2015, EG. It would be OK if not Fly’s comment where he said that he would never win TI with OG. The community considered this action as a betrayal. Those were Fly and N0tail who had always been playing side by side since the moment when they appeared on the competitive stage. They stood at the origins of OG in 2015.
In terms of sports logic, Fly’s decision seemed rational. OG had been on the wane for a long time, they lived through two failed Ints, so choosing a stronger team is the right move in the development of the career. But if we take a look at it from the moral side, such an action cast a slur on Aizik. As for OG – they had hard times. In half a shake, the team and player of the third position left the team. Several days were left before The International. So N0taiL, JerAx, and ana were forced to find a solution immediately. And they found it. s4’s place in the team was taken by the coach of the team, Sébastien “Ceb” Debs, N0tail moved to the fifth position, ana took carry’s role and mid was given to “Topson” who was still unknown at that moment. One would think, the team was about to crash but then nobody knew how the things would pan out.
Predictions crashed down
The season 2017-2018, from the end of TI7 to the start of TI8, was going on in a turbo mode. In total, that season had 22 tournaments in the overall ranking. It is a good number, isn’t it? At this pace, the teams met with each other almost every two weeks beating one another. But still, this bloodbath defined clear leaders of the race. Certainly, these were the champions of the previous year Team Liquid, CIS honor Virtus.Pro, Chinese “machine” PSG.LGD and Team Secret that hit stride. One of these teams was foretold to win until something unusual happened.
Cinderella story in Dota 2 world
The competitive Dota knows a big deal of stories of fascinating rises. Just take a look at Wings’ way to The International 2016 or CDEC in 2015. But the things that happened at The International 2018 cannot be explained by logic.
OG managed to pass to the tournament through all the circles of hell. They went through bloodbath at open qualifiers and won European qualifiers. At the tournament, N0tail and the team got to the ‘death group’. Their opponents were PSG.LGD, Team Liquid, and EG. The group stage was pretty intense but OG managed to get to TOP 4 and make it to the upper part of the playoff bracket.
The first opponent for OG was the North American team VJ.Storm which was presented by Resolut1on at that moment. The Americans had a brilliant group stage so the battle 0-2 without special chances and it became a shock for the whole community. At the second match, OG played a principal opponent – EG.
The atmosphere of that match could be called boiling. Two former friends fought with each other. It sounds like a scenario for a Hollywood action movie. That battle was truly something like that. At the torturing battle, OG managed to break the opponent and pass to the winners’ final. Apart from the show and unexpected result, the match gave us one of the most epic moments in Dota: Fly and N0tail’s handshake.
At the final of the upper bracket, OG was to play PSG.LGD. The Chinese team destroyed the upper bracket beating VP and Team Liquid 2-0. And it was really fantastic that OG was able to win a match with them with a score of 2-1 and pass to the grand final. Then it seemed a dream but the history was written in reality.
At the grand final, OG again met with LGD. On the first map, the Chinese underestimated the power of the opponent and got into Ceb and his team Treant Protector’s traps. The Europeans won. At the following two maps, the Chinese team seemed to break loose. They wiped out OG and seemed to be ready to raise Aegis. Everybody thought so apart from OG. The fourth map of the grand final happened beyond reality. OG managed to play with an advantage of 20+ thousand and win and one barrack. On that map, “Ceb” and his legendary Axe stood out again. It was the time for the final map.
At first, the game was being dictated by LGD. Every fight would have ended up beneficial for them if Ceb had not played for OG. His Magnus combined with Ember Spirit turned around key fights and let OG snatch a victory from LGD.
This final became the first since The International 3 where a real Bo5 took place. The previous year OG broke a seven-year tradition of the tournament becoming the second west champion in a row. семи летнюю традицию турнира, став вторым западным чемпионом подряд. That yeat, OG put their names into history but again, then nobody knew what would happen a year later. Stay tuned.
Yuriy Sheremet – Expert in mobile gaming and esports among shooters and MOBA games.
At EGamersWorld, Yuriy, as in 2020 when he joined the portal, works with content, albeit with adjustments to his area of responsibility.