OG, Empire, VP bow out
The fourth day of The International 2017 main event claimed three western teams’ tournament lives.
The combined forces of Team Empire and Virtus.pro weren’t enough to douse the burning desire of Team Liquid to extend their shot at this year’s Aegis of Champions as both got eliminated by the Kuroky-led squad.
Both casualties surely tried hard but weren’t simply enough. The CIS powerhouse, Virtus.pro, even tested Team Liquid’s limit as the first game of their series went over a hundred minutes only for them to be outlasted the Dark Horse.
The 103-minute bloodbath (no pun intended) epitomized the importance of the series. With their chance of having their legacies cemented on the line, both teams needed to slay Roshan seven times, destroy eight barracks, and kill each other 89 times befor No[o]ne’s Bloodseeker call the gg out. Even though Virtus.pro managed to extend the series up to the deciding game three, Miracle’s performance as Anti-Mage only proved Liquid’s dominance over the region.
Meanwhile, the Aegis of Champions remained to be the only missing piece on Team OG’s trophy case. The team well-known as the four-time Major champion never stood up for their accomplishments upon entering this year’s grand Dota 2 showdown.
Team OG ended up in the lower bracket after a lackluster performance during the group stage. Although they were able to win their first best-of-three in the stage of KeyArena against TNC Pro Team, their fans were never convinced about their performance.
Earlier today, LGD Gaming has finally ended OG’s desperate attempt to stay significant in The International 2017 race. The 2-0 drubbing of the fan not-so-favorites (for some reason, despite their Major dominance) not only proved true LGD’s dominance over OG during the Mars Dota 2 League, it also emphasized the eastern side of the world’s chance of breaking the Aegis of Champions pattern.
Despite a quick Chinese deathmatch on the lower bracket round 4 between Invictus Gaming and LGD, Team Liquid still need to eliminate two Chinese teams to give west a chance of stealing the coveted memento and the biggest prize pool in the history of esports.
