The eighth Dota 2 championship delivered
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August is the Christmas season for Dota 2 players. ‘Tis the time when millions of fans from around the world would gather in spirit to celebrate the grandest world championship of the esports title we all love—The International Dota 2 Championship.
It has been eight years since the best Dota 2 teams from around the world gathered for the first time to immortalize their names in the Aegis of Champions and win the lion’s share of the largest single prize pool esports tournament of all time. It has been eight years of beautiful Dota, but the eighth one has got to be the best so far.
Mineski-Dota vs TNC Pro Team
None of the Southeast Asian representatives were able to move past the 9th-12th place, despite a pretty respectable season, but at least fans of the Southeast Asian Dota 2 scene got one thing settled at the grandest Dota 2 stage—the Mineski-Dota and TNC Pro Team rivalry.
The battle for Southeast Asia supremacy has always been a hot topic between these two teams. TNC used to rule the region after their breakout in 2016, but the formation of Mineski’s SEA All-Star lineup took the limelight away from them. Both teams have battled against each other for countless times, but none of those were enough to establish which of them truly deserves the Kings of SEA title.
And as luck would have it, two of the region’s strongest contenders faced each other in a best-of-one elimination match at the lower bracket of The International 2018 main event. The match epitomized the entire rivalry as TNC pulled off a massive early game lead only to be taken away by Mineski in two team fights.
TNC Pro Team ended their The International 2018 run with their worst placing yet, while Mineski retained their 9th-12th place from The International 2011.
Sanduguan: The 2018 Philippine Coverage of The International
For the first time in the Philippines’ rich esports history, two of the country’s biggest esports-dedicated studios have collaborated to bring the Filipinos the ultimate coverage of The International.
Instead of competing against each other for the audience like they usually do, MineskiTV and WomboXCombo teamed up for the Sanduguan: The 2018 Philippine Coverage of The International.
Thanks to the gaming event organizing company, Gariath Concept, the Philippine esports industry’s biggest talents such as Lon, Kuya D, Wolf, Tryke, Kuya Nic, and Pao flew to Rogers Arena in Vancouver, Canada to give the passionate Filipino Dota 2 fans the biggest coverage of The International 2018.
Gaben’s Lakad Matatag
can’t believe this slipped my mind.
Gaben. Gabe Newell. The co-founder of the video game development and digital distribution company Valve Corporation led the opening ceremony of this year’s grand Dota 2 tournament and uttered, in front of million watchers from around the world, Two of the greatest words from this year’s The International 2018 Battle Pass which were popularized by MineskiTV casters, Lon and Kuya D:
“Lakad matatag!”
If that’s not the dream, then I don’t know what is.
READ: Your Guide To The International 2018 Battle Pass
The Drama
I mean, who doesn’t like the occasional drama especially when it’s at the grandest Dota 2 stage, right?
It all began after the best-of-three grudge match between OG and Evil Geniuses, two teams which are led by former brothers in N0tail and Fly, respectively. The European underdogs just survived a 2-1 series against their enemies, when N0tail stared dead at Fly’s eyes while giving him a quick handshake during the post-match ceremony.
READ: The Battle Of (Former) Brothers
We can only speculate but the gesture somehow signified how bad things ended up between the both of them, so bad that it cost them their brotherhood. The plot thickens when a Reddit thread went viral, showing how Cr1t shouldered N0tail while being interviewed. The Evil Geniuses management played it off as unintentional but the Dota 2 community was dubious.
The Fly and N0tail drama never got its closure at The International 2018 after Evil Geniuses got eliminated by PSG.LGD. But since we’re already talking about drama, N0tail undeniably won the breakup.
The OG Run
For this reason alone, The International 2018 can be easily considered as the best The International ever.
If you would have told me one month ago that OG will win The International 2018, I’ll just probably laugh at you. The four-time Major champions have had a crazy season—using the word crazy in the widest possible sense:
- The breakout star of The International 2017 didn’t work out for them.
- They had to change their roster mid-season resulting to the invalidation of their Dota Pro Circuit points.
- Fly, who founded the organization along with his best buddy N0tail, left OG to join Evil Geniuses with s4.
- With two men down, OG was forced to give up their slot at the China Dota 2 Supermajor, the last Major tournament of the Dota Pro Circuit.
- N0tail re-assembled OG just in time for The International 2018 open qualifiers with his former teammate, ana, and topson, a European pubstomper with no prior experience in competing at high-level tournaments.
- OG managed to survive the open qualifiers and eventually claim the lone regional qualifier slot reserved for the European region to return to The International 2018.
But even when they were already at the grandest Dota 2 stage, only a few believed in their capabilities to win it all, especially around Virtus.pro, Team Liquid, and PSG.LGD, the leaders of the Dota Pro Circuit. All of those changed after OG won their best-of-three series against Evil Geniuses at the second upper bracket round. The momentum gained from beating their nemesis were enough for OG to march through the grand finals, knocking down PSG.LGD in the lower bracket.
Just when we thought the tournament couldn’t get any better, two of the greatest teams in the tournament went out in full five-game series to determine who is the rightful bearer of this year’s Aegis of Champions. PSG.LGD and OG took two games apiece to bring the grand finals in a best-of-one. The crowd was torn during the entire series none of them needed their seats.
After a 36-minute thriller led by ana’s Ember Spirit, Topson’s Zeus, Ceb’s Magnus, JerAx’s Rubick, and N0tail’s Nature’s Prophet, OG denied China its turn on the Aegis of Champions and claimed it for themselves.
OG will be celebrating their The International 2018 championship with $11,000,000+, while PSG.LGD will still go home with $4,000,000+
Are you ready for the next Dota 2 season?
