The group stage offered plenty of high-quality Dota and drama – now it’s time for the Main Event.
It was certainly not a surprise that the top four pre-tournament favourites – Team Liquid, Virtus.pro, PSG.LGD and Team Secret – all made it to the Upper Bracket, but the path was not easy for any of them and on occasions things had to be decided in tie-breakers.
Here we look at how the top eight teams will fight to make it to the next stage of The International.
Team Liquid (1st Group A) vs OpTic Gaming (4th Group B)
Dafabet odds:
Team Liquid 1.196
OpTic Gaming 4.720
Liquid certainly did not have a convincing start by their standards and set an unwanted record when losing by a score of 37 kills to one in the second game against Fnatic. It must have been an alarming experience, as the TI7 champs then upped their game to finish on the top of their group with five wins and three draws (13-3), becoming the only unbeaten team in a clash in the entire tournament.
The highlight undoubtedly was a virtuoso win against the other most impressive team in the group, EG, schooling them all over the map and inflicting their first loss of the tournament.
At the end of day three, OpTic were close to elimination, sitting in last place in the group, but two heroic victories against paiN Gaming and Vici Gaming gave them the chance to play tie-breakers, where the North American team edged out Newbee in a best-of-one series.
With a total score of three wins, three draws and two losses (8-8), the team demonstrated character and mainly thanks to Pajkatt and 33’s performances they managed to secure a spot among the top eight.
Drafting is where OpTic could try to surprise Liquid, but the TI7 champions are certainly the favourites in this clash.
Virtus.pro (2nd Group B) vs PSG.LGD (3rd Group A)
Dafabet odds:
Virtus.pro 1.847
PSG.LGD 1.970
The Russians entered the tournament as the most dominant team throughout the season, but while convincing, they showed that they are not invincible any more – they posted three wins, four draws and one loss for a 10-6 tally.
The well-oiled machine might be just getting traction, as there was a feeling that they were experimenting with different strategies in some of the games to test what would work. As usual, the team was weak when RAMZES666 was shut down in the laning stage and the team struggles when the game needs to be carried only by No[o]ne.
PSG.LGD are the best-performing Chinese team and reached this stage after four wins, three draws and one loss (11-5). The team was expected to do well after finishing 3rd in the Dota Pro Circuit rankings and they are still one of the favourites of the tournament.
Their big advantage is the availability of playmakers from both the support (fy) and the core positions (Somnus丶M).
This tie shapes up as one of the most unpredictable so far – the two teams met last on the stage of the SuperMajor in June and exchanged a victory.
VGJ.Storm (1st Group B) vs OG (4th Group A)
Dafabet odds:
VGJ.Storm 1.529
OG 2.540
OG progressing to the upper bracket was arguably the biggest surprise of the group stage.
They lost two of their core players two months prior to The International and had to sign replacements at the last possible moment. ana, however, is well familiar with the team environment as a former OG player, while Topson quickly adapted and demonstrated world-class level with some heroes such as Monkey King.
OG achieved three wins, three draws and two losses in the group stage for an overall score of 9-7. Their aggressive style of play is paying off for now and while ana and Topson can work on some imperfections in the early game, OG are solid in the late-game stage.
VGJ.Storm were one of the best-performing NA teams prior to the tournament. Exploding in late April, the team became a force to be reckoned with, being able to play against the top-tier teams.
Although they were expected to do well, topping group B with four wins, two draws and just one loss (12-4) can be seen as an overachievement in the company of Virtus.pro, PSG.LGD and Team Secret.
The team excels in team fights and having remarkable space makers such as MSS and Sneyking, YawaR and Resolut1on can focus on their farm and dominate the game in the later stages.
The NA team is on fire and OG are likely to struggle against them in this clash.
EG (2nd Group A) vs Team Secret (3rd Group B)
Dafabet odds:
EG 1.473
Team Secret 2.710
Having made a major reorganisation of their roster after a disappointing Dota 2 Pro Circuit campaign, EG were not considered solid favourites to make it to the upper bracket.
The winning streak they demonstrated on the stage of The Summit 9 has, however, continued in Vancouver and EG do not look at all like a team that was formed only two months ago.
Second in their group, EG lost only to Team Liquid, drew with IG and scored six victories (11-3) – the only team to win that many.
In the remaining clashes, Fly will look to be the firm captain that the team needs, while Cr1t- moving to position 4 where he’s at his best, and the class of s4 in the offlane, make the new EG a fearsome team.
In all honesty, Team Secret were expected to impress more. They needed a tie-break on the last day to progress, having scored only two wins, four draws and two losses and with a balance of 8-8. They had to win at all costs against Newbee.
The departments in which Team Secret can surprise EG include Puppey’s tendency to experiment with heroes in their drafts. Also, Ace has some unconventional heroes in his locker (e.g. Arc Warden v OpTic Gaming) which has proved to be a successful tactic in clutch situations.
EG seem the better team currently and Team Secret will have to play their very best in order to resist them.
