Evil Geniuses and TNC Pro Team are on a roll!
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Two months ago, if somebody were to tell me that the North American and Southeast Asian representatives will dominate the first half of The International 2018 group stages, I probably wouldn’t believe them.
Well, it’s not just because I don’t believe in the teams, but two months ago at the China Dota 2 Supermajor, the giants of the Europe, China, and CIS regions were still dominating the competitive scene. No teams from North America or Southeast Asia were able to secure a podium finish at the last Major tournament of the Dota Pro Circuit because of the usual top dogs.
I mean two months ago, if somebody were to tell me that the North American and Southeast Asian representatives will dominate the first half of The International 2018 group stages, I probably wouldn’t believe them.
Two months ago, Evil Geniuses were on the brink of missing this year’s The International due to roster instability. They just debuted their new lineup with ex-OG members, Fly and s4, who filled in the spaces left by Misery and Fear. And as expected of them at the China Dota 2 Supermajor, they ended up in a lacklustre finish.
The same predicament of missing The International were also troubling TNC Pro Team. The all-Filipino Dota 2 squad underperformed during the entirety of the Dota Pro Circuit and were one misplay away from returning to this year’s grand Dota 2 showdown.
Russian Dota 2 caster Vitalii Nikolaevich “v1lat” Volochai even predicted that TNC Pro Team would end up as one of the biggest losers of The International 2018, citing how they can only play Dota against the ‘other TNC’.
Like seriously, two months ago, if somebody were to tell me that the North American and Southeast Asian representatives will dominate the first half of The International 2018 group stages, I probably wouldn’t believe them.
But that was me two months ago, because fast forward to two months from then, the North American and Southeast Asian representatives were dominating the first half of The International 2018 group stages.
EG has finally found their stride with their new members and the current trend of heroes such as Clinkz, Storm Spirit, and Phoenix are all favoring them thanks to Arteezy, SumaiL, and fly. So far, only Invictus Gaming were able to scratch their record with a one-game loss. They were able to overcame one of the Dota Pro Circuit leaders in PSG.LGD, and proved OG that fly and s4 are better off with them by winning.
Meanwhile, TNC Pro Team bounced back from a timid day one to secure the second place of their group. They were able to take games off the Dota Pro Circuit winner, Virtus.pro, and were also able to exact their revenge against OpTic Gaming for drubbing them two months ago at the China Dota 2 Supermajor.
The third group stage day of The International 2018 resumes tomorrow at midnight, with EG looking to extend their win streak against their Group A’s bottom seed, Winstrike Team.
