Here's What Happened In The First Two Days Of Dota 2's TI10
After, months on end of its absence, The International’s group stage has been a treasure trove of great and unique Dota, that only an interregional competition like this one can provide. We were able to catch glimpses of it in the majors that occurred during the DPC season, but these first two days of TI gave enough content to almost feel like the last year and half was barely noticeable.
This group stage has been a bit unexpected but nonetheless fun, as it feels like every team has been doing the work to perform as well as they can. This group stage means something, placing into the upper bracket of TI is crucial, because no team has ever won TI from starting in the lower bracket. Good performances here are key, as is winning whenever you can. Some teams have learned this, some are still struggling to figure that out. As things continue to ebb and flow into the group stage’s final games, here are some of the crispy highlights that came from the start of the group stage.
EG Makes Good On Their Promise
Evil Geniuses had an explosive start to the tournament on Day 1, finishing top of their group and becoming close enough to enter the upper bracket.
Their game showed how aggressive this team can be. Game 1 against Vici was a slaughterhouse, with Abed "Abed" Yusop, Artour "Arteezy" Babaev, and Roman "RAMZES666" Kushnarev not dying a single time the whole game. Abed’s Templar Assassin tore through the Vici line up, dealing over 25,000 damage and consistently obliterating heroes across the map. With a Tiny, Bloodseeker, TA combo, EG ran through Vici, completely stifling their draft.
Game 2 was a lot closer, in fact it was Vici with the higher kill score by the end of the game. Zeng "Ori" Jiaoyang’s Queen of Pain dominated the early game, earning seven kills to his name by the ten-minute mark. He completely obliterated Abed’s Razor in the midlane, and enabled his team to make plenty of ganks around the map. However, once Arteezy’s Sven came online, EG was able to swiftly turn around teamfights in their favour and take objectives on the map.
In both games, EG really showed how well they can respond to their opponents. Whether it was the rushing draft of the first game or the durable lineup of the second, EG showed they have a versatile set of strategies to make it far in the tournament.
Click to enlargeTeam Secret Shores Up
The team did not disappoint. They very quickly dispatched Virtus.Pro 2-0 in games that went 30 minutes or less. In both games, Lasse Aukusti "MATUMBAMAN" Urpalainen went 14/0/7 and 13/1/1 on Anti Mage and Ursa respectively, absolutely running wild against VP. They picked up another 2-0 win against J.Storm, where 40 minutes into game 1, Clement "Puppey" Ivanov’s IO and Michał "Nisha" Jankowski’s Morphling took over and saw Nisha take on a monstrous 11 player killstreak.
Their final game against Alliance ended with a 1-1 tie, the first match ending in just over 20 minutes. Once again, Matu can boast a deathless game, going 9/0/10 on his signature Lone Druid. The final game saw the two teams battling it out for almost an hour, but Alliance’s draft was able to overtake Secret’s for most of the game, having a stellar teamfight all throughout.
Things are looking good for Secret. Their roster is incredibly strong, and it’ll be great to look forward to seeing their performance today and for the playoffs.
Click to enlarge
Alliance is back!
Alliance brawls their way to the top (2-1-0)
Alliance is coming off a pretty hot streak, having recently won Dream League Season 12 and obtaining Top 3 at ESL Hamburg. Coming off the previous meta, their carry player Nikolay "Nikobaby" Nikolov built a reputation for himself, especially off the back of his Faceless Void and Night Stalker. This new patch gives Alliance the opportunity to show how can they adapt as a team, and they’ve certainly taken up the challenge.
They easily went through Team Aster in their first match, showcasing midlaner Linus "Limmp" Blomdin’s prowess on the Viper, which led him to go 11/1/11. 33 was also able to bring back a somewhat forgotten hero in Brewmaster, who didn’t see much play after TI8. Alliance drafted Brewmaster three times yesterday and won twice with him.
Alliance’s real proving ground was their match against TNC Predator. In game 1, Limmp went wild once again, not dying a single time on his Viper. While Limmp secured the early game and went 11/0/11, it was Nikobaby who could close it out on his Phantom Lancer, going 9/0/6. TNC finished the game with only 7 kills.
Game 2 saw 33’s Brewmaster come to play, not dying once and securing the early game and an 11/0/16 record. Once again, Nikobaby shows his worth as a carry player and completely sweeps up TNC in the late game as Shadow Fiend, ending 12/2/8.
