The International, Dota 2's championship eSports event, concluded over the weekend, following five days of intense bracket challenges. In the penultimate finale, North American team Evil Geniuses took home the top spot, defeating Chinese team LGD Gaming in three out of the four games they played.
The world’s largest eSports tournament ever, The International, just concluded on July 21st. It was a spectacle on many levels; whether it be a sold out arena, the massive prize pool, or the level of competition, the tournament was truly massive and an achievement in many different ways. With the dust finally settled a single question has arisen: why does this tournament matter? The unpacking of this question is simple, but it also speaks volumes about the gaming community as a whole.
The International came to a close on Monday, July 21st with a match between Vici Gaming and Team NewBee. The match lasted through four of a possible five games. The first game went Vici's way, while the remaining three were all dominating performances by the newly crowned champions, NewBee.
The third day of The International has concluded with some absolutely spectacular displays of skill. Today was the dreaded “elimination day” where all of the teams, save the two in the Grand Finals, were to be eliminated. Without further ado let's get into our recap of the third day of competition at The International.
The second day of The International concluded on Saturday, the 18th. Saturday's play included the first two elimination matches of the Loser's Bracket, the start of the next two series in the Loser's Bracket in which only one game was played for each, and the All-Star Game.
Author’s Note: This recap was made possible with contributions by Andres Greer.
Friday was the first day of the Main Event at Dota 2’s biggest tournament, The International. The three matches on Friday were played in the Winner’s Bracket with three of the four teams in the bracket knocked into the Loser’s Bracket. How exactly did the day play out, you ask? Luckily you are in the right place to get caught up!
Big news for fans of eSports, as Valve has partnered with ESPN to broadcast Dota 2's largest tournament, The International. Partnering with the traditional sports juggernaut is a move that could potentially increase the legitimacy of eSports from an outsider's perspective. Valve's own Erik Johnson had this to say about the partnership:
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!
If you are a stranger to esports or the internet, you may have missed that Dota 2’s largest tournament “The International” has been underway for over a week now. You may be wondering how in the world you could catch up with all that has gone on before the main event begins on the 18th. Fret not, you have come to the right place to get you caught up right before the Main Event begins.
Dota 2's biggest tournament, The International, has surpassed an overall prize pool of $10 million. The massive size of the prize pool should be mostly credited to dedicated Dota fans who have contributed nearly $9 million so far. The base of the pool was contributed by the game's developer Valve which clocked in at $1.6 million.
"Fantasy Dota is a game that you can play with up to nine of your friends, where each of you forms teams made up of pro players to compete against each other, earning points for your team based on how each of your pro players performs in tournament matches."
Valve introduced and tested this out back in February, and now it’s ready for action. Starting on May 19th, Season 1 of Fantasy Dota runs for 70 days until July 28th. If you have a Fantasy Ticket from the The International Compendium, you can start drafting your fantasy teams now.
