The Upper Bracket

PSG LGD are Top 3 at The International 2018. Congratulations. Team Liquid drop to the Lower Bracket. #TI8 pic.twitter.com/n0kzwVhlhC — Wykrhm Reddy (@wykrhm) 23 August 2018

TI is always a very special event, not only because it features the biggest prize pool in any other eSports event, but also because it has that special vibe going on through the entire tournament. Most of the players are consumed about winning rather than the overall prize-pool. That’s the biggest achievement that you can accomplish in this game.

After an amazing group stage game, where we’ve seen a lot of back and forth action, the top teams from each group started the bloodbath in the Upper Bracket.

Participating in a four day epic battle, the two survivors now have to go head to head in order to determine which team will be the first TI 8 finalist. PSG.LGD and OG managed to prevail over their opponents and they deserve their current spot, guaranteeing a top four finish.

PSG.LGD

The Chinese powerhouse proved yet again why they are the best team from that region. They came in to the event as one of the main favourites surely managed to defend that up until now. But how did they manage to get here?

In the group stage, PSG.LGD started a little bit shaky, because they only managed to get three draws in first day, followed by a win and a loss against EG in the second. Having their backs against the wall, Maybe and co really stepped up their game and won every single game that they had in order to secure the Upper bracket.

In their first match there, LGD had to face one of the biggest threats at TI 8 – Virtus.Pro. The CIS team was the first team to secure their spot for TI and they were looking unbeatable at a certain point.

That was true up to a point, because in the first game of the series, VP completely demolished their opponents up to the 30th minute mark, when a missed black hole by 9pasha gave Maybe’s Storm Spirit enough time to sweep through VP and win the game in a single push. Drow Ranger power at its finest.

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Having the confidence, LGD made a good second game and advanced on to face one of their biggest nemesis and the current reigning TI champion – Team Liquid. The interest about this game was immense, because people expected both teams to pretty much destroy each other.

However, this wasn’t the case. Both of the games were pretty much one sided as LGD just stomped Kuro and his squad, most notably in the second game, where Maybe’s Bloodseeker finished with a 16/0/11 KDA score.

Now PSG.LGD have to face yet another European team in the face of OG.

#Dream green

The second team that guarantees themselves a top four finish is OG. We can’t really say that their current position is surprising, but it was unexpected, considering the fact that they went through a massive roster change in the face of s4 and Fly.

In the group stage, OG were in the same group as PSG.LGD and both teams finished in a draw. After this game, OG had some painful losses against EG and Team Liquid, which made people think whether they would be able to even get a place in the Upper Bracket.

Realizing the situation, n0tail and his team mates greatly improved their game play and won the majority of their other games, which in the end gave them the Upper Bracket spot.

Their opponent for the first game there was the somewhat unexpected winner of Group B – VGJ.Storm. After not following the rules regarding coaches, the NA squad had a penalty, which undoubtedly affected their game play and they lost both of their games, which gave OG the chance to continue ahead.

EG vs OG – MOST INCREDIBLE GAME! #TI8

The second game in the Upper bracket was by far the most anticipated one in the entire event. The first match of the series started out pretty even but in the end OG managed to prevail.

The second game however, OG made one of the best comebacks yet. EG were completely destroying their opponents left and right as Sumail had nearly a kill for every mine that had been played.

However, after failing to finish the game in time, the late game setup of OG, featuring Spectre, started to come online and EG were just not able to deal with it. On top of that, Arteezy had a pretty bad game, despite having that lead, which resulted in a pretty much useless carry in the face of Gyrocopter.

We can safely say that this was the sweetest win for OG in the event so far.

The Lower Bracket

OpTic Gaming fought hard, but couldn’t stop VP’s advance. They exit the tournament placing in the top eight. #TI8 pic.twitter.com/bUk4NaO8ny — DOTA 2 (@DOTA2) 23 August 2018

Unlike the Upper Bracket, the other part of TI 8 is definitely looking a lot scarier, because every loss means a ticket home. Some of the so called “hidden winners” such as Mineski for example, were just unable to hold their ground and left the event earlier than they would like to.

The same applies for OpTic gaming, which did an amazing run and deserve a commend. Talking about luck, they had the pleasure to meet Team Liquid and VP in the Upper and then Lower bracket, which was surely their biggest challenge as a team yet.

After getting down to the Lower Bracket by OG, Evil Geniuses had to face Virtus.Pro. In the first game Sumail played his legendary Storm Spirit and gave little to no hope to the CIS powerhouse. While the second game was a little bit more interesting, EG still managed to prevail and now they are waiting to play with the winner from Team Liquid vs Team Secret.

Probably the most interesting game in the Lower Bracket is TL vs TS. Team Secret managed to stomp VGJ.Storm in their first game and they also played really well in the second, which resulted in the elimination of the NA team. However, now they have to face their biggest challenge yet.

Final Thoughts

The International 2018 Day 4 Standings. #TI8 pic.twitter.com/Ak6PWD88cH — Wykrhm Reddy (@wykrhm) 24 August 2018

Clearly, the best teams in the world right will determine which will be the best TI champion. They are all really, really close, so it is impossible to give a clear prediction. Regardless of that, we think that PSG.LGD will be one of the finalists and perhaps EG will be the second one. If this happens, EG will most likely be the winner, because always manage to win against LGD somehow.

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