Dota 2 The International 2018 – The Final 5

The International 2018 is getting close to the Grand Final and only 5 of the initial 18 teams are left in the tournament. Four of them are the usual suspects and one is the event’s black horse and possibly the strongest of them all.

PSG.LGD

PSG.LGD finished the Dota Pro Circuit in 3rd place, with 2 Major titles and 3 other Grand Finals played throughout the regular season. As a result, they went into The International 2018 as one of the top contenders for the Aegis of Champions. So the fact that they’re now about to play in the Upper Bracket Finals and have already secured a top 3 result is definitely not a big surprise.

Team Liquid

Team Liquid finished the regular season in 2nd place with almost 9500 points. In 2017-2018, Liquid played in no less than 6 Grand Finals of DPC events, winning 4 of them. In addition to this, they’re the TI 7 champions. So once again, it’s not a big surprise that we find them among the final survivors of the most prestigious Dota 2 event of the year.

Evil Geniuses

Just like in 2016, EG went into this year’s TI with a terrible track record for the season. However, the recent roster changes made by the organization turned its Dota 2 team into a formidable contender for the Aegis of Champions and the results up until this point speak for themselves. Evil Geniuses has already secured a top 4 finish and will play the winner between Team Liquid and Team Secret for a chance to advance into the Lower Bracket Finals.

Team Secret

After years of disappointments, we finally see Puppey fighting for a top position at The International. Team Secret started the Main Event in the Upper Bracket but lost its first match against Evil Geniuses. After that painful loss, it went on to beat Vici Gaming and VGJ.Storm in the Lower Bracket, two strong opponents that were expected to beat Secret in a Bo3. Both times though, Puppey and his teammates found a way. But can they do it again, this time against the TI 7 champions from Team Liquid?

OG

OG is everything a dark horse needs to be and more. With Resolut1on leaving the team around mid-season and Fly plus s4 leaving right before the China Dota2 Supermajor, OG had to quickly find replacements or disband. N0tail and JerAx were quickly joined by 7ckngMad, the team’s former coach, and two new players were brought on board: ana, a former OG player, and Topson, an amazing young talent from Finland.

OG’s road to where they are right now was long and full of dangers. Initially, the team survived the Open Qualifiers and earned a spot in the Regional Qualifiers. Then it won the only spot reserved to Europe and qualified for The International 2018. Then, during the Group Stage of the event, it went from bottom 2 in its group to top 4, after a series of great performances.

OG started the Main Event in the Upper Bracket and it quickly became clear that the victories in the Group Stage weren’t an accident. The team crushed VGJ.Storm and then defeated Evil Geniuses in what will remain a very historic match between N0tail and his former teammate, Fly.

Next stop is PSG.LGD, who crushed Team Liquid in their latest match in two quick games. It’s difficult to say at this point who has the advantage, but OG seemes destined to play in the Grand Final of The International 2018.