The first day of The International 9 is all wrapped up, and ESTNN's Veselin Ignatov is here with a recap of the day.

After a long wait, TI 9 finally kicked off in Shanghai! The biggest event in esports began today and it was full of exciting matches. Not only did fans get to see the best teams in the world, but also some very interesting strategies, rapiers, rampages and more.

Let’s take a look at what happened today in some of the most exciting series of the day.

TI 9 Day One Recap

Secret vs Alliance

Team Secret versus Alliance was definitely among the most interesting series of the day. It is important to note that this was Nisha’s first-ever TI. Having said that, many people expected a lot from the young Polish prodigy because he played flawlessly the entire season. Unfortunately, his first game turned out to be a nightmare as he fed the Swedish squad.

Fortunately for Clement "Puppey" Ivanov and co.,Yeik "MidOne" Nai Zheng was here to save the day. His incredibly strong Broodmother gave Alliance no glimmer of hope. Apart from that, there were also great plays such as the amazing Aegis snatch from Tommy "Taiga" Le and his Dark Willow.

Team Secret delivered yet another surprise in Game Two - a support Invoker from Yazied "YapzOr" Jaradat. Let’s not forget that this is the guy who played a support Luna not so long ago. Having said that, he playedamazingly and finished without a single death.

Team Liquid vs Newbee

This was one of the first bombs at this years’ TI. Fans and analysts considered the European powerhouse the heavy favorite, but in the end, Yawar "YawaR" Hassan and his teammates managed to snatch two wins relatively effortlessly. In fact, Liquid lost the draft in both games, contributing heavily to their loss.

Team Liquid vs Chaos Esports Club

A Meepo double rampage for @w33haa and we take down CHAOS for our first win of #TI9! Time for a short break and we will be back on the same channel for our final game of the day: https://t.co/pXc1bImgXp#LetsGoLiquid pic.twitter.com/d0AHSth2Vb — Team Liquid (@TeamLiquid) August 15, 2019

After the unexpected loss, Team Liquid definitely looked shattered. However, they managed to get the needed motivation for their second series of the day, this time against their ex-team member - Lasse Aukusti "MATUMBAMAN" Urpalainen.

Game One between the two teams was an absolute stomp from the TI 7 champions. Their Leshrac and Templar Assassin gave zero chances to Misery and his team-mates. Chaos EC tried to play around Matu’s Pugna but Aliwi "w33" Omar’s TA was just on another level.

With their backs against the wall, Chaos pulled out a hidden gem - Matu’s Lone Druid. He has proven many times that, if given the proper start, he is able to single-handedly carry his team. Unfortunately, w33’s Meepo had other plans. In fact, Kuro managed to pull a very good fake Storm Spirit mid. Chaos took the bait and just a couple of seconds later, Meepo was picked.

Having no way to deal with the one-man army hero, w33 completely ripped through the enemy lines, securing himself a double rampage as well as zero deaths.

Natus Vincere vs Evil Geniuses

Na’Vi had a very stable day one at Ti 9. They started the day with a cool series against OG and even though they dominated more compared to their opponent, the end result was still a draw.

On the contrary, the NA powerhouse was looking a bit shaky in their first series against Fnatic. Despite that though, they managed to go hand-on to a draw. However, this was not the case in their second series of the day against Na’Vi.

The Ukrainians decided to try an Alchemist, a very popular hero in the current meta. Having Alch means that the team needs to play for him in order to win. Luckily, Na’Vi did this and just a couple of minutes in, he was starting to become a monster.

EG tried to counter get some early fights with their Leshrac and Gyro but nothing happened. NáVi took the first win.

Game two seemed like a walk in the park for Na’Vi’s mid-laner Idan "MagicaL" Vardanian. His Templar Assassin managed to get an insane amount of farm after clearing numerous stacks in the jungle. Suddenly, just 30 minutes in, MagicaL had four major items. However, this turned out to be a 70+ minute's long game where Sumail and EG had other plans.

After a rapier, many buybacks and countless Roshans, EG was able to deliver their knock-out punch.

Team Secret vs Team Liquid

One more game, one more victory! We have swept the series 2-0 against @TeamLiquid and secure a 6-0 score in the first day of #TI9 group stage! #SecretFighting ? pic.twitter.com/0gzV9XsAC3 — Team Secret (@teamsecret) August 15, 2019

This was undoubtedly the most anticipated game of the day, a real "Clash of the Titans," as some may call it.

Game One saw a solid start from Kuro and his teammates. Secret’s Alchemist was forced to go to the jungle after a couple of minutes in lane, a move which Puppey and his teammates definitely did not anticipate. As the game went on, however, and the teams moved out of the laning stage, things started to change.

Slowly but steadily, Secret started to gain a significant advantage over their enemies. On top of that, their entire lineup simply did not allow Team Liquid to take any easy fights. This forced MC and co. to play defensively and ultimately, dropping Game One.

Game Two was yet another display of perfection from Team Secret. The TI 7 champions decided to roll out w33’s Meepo again, but this time Puppey was prepared. Yapzor’s Earth Shaker was on point throughout the entire time and made w33’s life a living hell. In addition, Nisha was also having the time of his life on Slark.

Day 2 is Up Next

Today was simply an amazing day for every Dota 2 fan out there. As expected, Team Secret dominated their series and finished with three wins. Expect more epic series tomorrow, when we will find out the first secure teams for the next stage.

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Image VIA: Valve