The final five were decided by the end of day four. We bid farewell to Empire and OG and even more importantly S4, which leaves Faith as the last remaining player who could claim their 2nd TI championship. OG’s run was cut short by LGD, further promoting their strength in the tournament as Maybe’s Leshrac and Storm decimated the defenses of OG. On the other side of LB Round 3 Resolut1on’s cinderella story came to an end at the hands of Team Liquid as Empire were 2-0’d. He was understandably happy when he spoke to Machine that he was given the chance to compete and played so well as a stand-in for Empire. Empire’s defeat of EG will go down as one of the biggest upsets that has ever happened at The International and Empire’s top 8 finish is an accomplishment they should be proud of.
In the first game of Team Liquid vs VP a main stage record was broken at The International as their first game vs VP went on for 103 minutes 33 seconds, breaking the former record which was held by DK vs IG during TI3. Normally when records are broken the games get less intense but after VP tied the series 1-1 the third game turned into a nail biter. With Ramzes’ Faceless Void keeping pace with Miracle’s Anti-Mage the game came down to Mind_Control’s Furion who put on a performance so great we’re sure Bulldog was smiling.
For Virtus Pro this meant their TI dreams had died. The roster that held so much promise fell just short of their goal after an incredibly close series that could have gone either way in both the first and third game. After their performance in Kiev, The Summit, and now at The International it is likely that this team will continue to deliver should they decide to stay together after the shuffle (which we believe they should). At the very end of the day we had the All-Star match where the players swapped roles and we saw some friendly trash talk and rivalry between teammates play out. It was a great way to unwind after a day that had us on the edge of our seats for most of the matches.
Recommended Games
LGD vs OG game 1
Team Liquid vs VP game 1
Team Liquid vs VP game 3
All-Star Match
