Upsets and Comebacks abound in Day 2 of The International’s Main Event
Day 2 of The International’s Main Event featured comebacks and upsets all around. The 16 teams have been trimmed down to 10. All remaining teams are guaranteed at least $200,000. That’s freaking 9,000,000 PHP folks. Let’s take a look at what transpired between the four series that transpired earlier today.
Upper Bracket
NA Civil War
Established American team Evil Geniuses went up against another NA based team in Complexity Gaming. This match up held much at stake with the winners being guaranteed at least $800,000 (36,000,000 PHP) and, of course, the bragging rights to being crowned ‘Kings of the NA Dota 2 scene’. High stakes indeed. Evil Geniuses made quick work of Complexity Gaming with a 2-0 drubbing. EG proved that experience is definitely a factor.
Everyone’s Dirty Little Secret
European super team and fan favorite Team Secret went toe-to-toe with arguably the 4th most popular Chinese team left in the competition in EHOME. Though EHOME enjoyed success in the past, their resurgence in the Dota 2 scene isn’t as hyped up while on the other hand, Team Secret seemed ripe to take over Dota 2. EHOME. while the ‘underdog’, is loaded with veteran talent that included Bai “rOtK” Fan and Zhang “LaNm” Zhicheng.Team Secret looked poise to take over Game 1 with a loaded Artour “Arteezy” Babaev Shadow Fiend but things fell apart because of EHOME’s gutsy stands and superior team fight. EHOME eventually shocked the world with a 2-0 schooling of Team Secret.
Lower Bracket
Korean-Russian War
Russian TI veterans Team Empire tumbled down to the lower bracket after losing out against LGD in a series that could really have gone either way. While Korean side MVP.Phoenix fought their way to the Main Event from the Wildcards. MVP.Phoenix morale was definitely higher after punching in successful wins. But the Korean’s rise in Dota 2 seems to be unstoppable with them edging out a respectable Team Empire side in stellar fashion with a 2-0 display. Retiring player Park “March” Tae-Won lead his team to victory and was overflowing with emotion in the interview afterwards. Well he did just guarantee his team $800,000. Gotta love his enthusiasm, so maybe don’t retire yet March?
Chaos vs. Precision
Cloud 9 surprised everyone with a solid showing at the Group Stages but they were sent down to the Lower Bracket by an in-form CDEC team. C9 is one of the most dynamic and risky teams to grace the Dota 2 landscape. Their tournament lives were on the line against one of the most polished teams in Vici Gaming. The helter skelter C9 side took the lead early in Game 1 but heroic plays from the Xu “fy” Linsen Rubick proved to be too much for Jacky “EternalEnvy” and company. So Cloud9 is out of The International and that makes me kind of sad. They may not bring out the Ws on a regular basis but they are sure damn entertaining.
Bracket Updates. ISource: Wykrhm Reddy)
The games for tomorrow are set. And without a shadow of a doubt they will keep us at the edge of our seats.
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