The International is THE event to watch in Dota 2 – it’s the highlight of the season, and fans around the world watch it every year. Now the event is well underway, and it’s time to see what’s been happening… and what we can still look forward to!
What’s happened so far
Some pretty cool matches have already taken place. While not many major teams have been eliminated, we have seen some pretty cool and exciting matchups. Of course, the bigger teams are getting a lot of the attention – and they’ve been living up to quite a bit! One of the highlights so far was the matchup that OG had with Quincy Crew. Two players on these teams (Sumail and Ys) are brothers – the rivalry was quite a lot of fun to watch, but ultimately went in the favour of Sumail, who was also on the last TI winning team!
A pretty big upset was what happened to Fnatic – the team was knowcked out of the TI10. They lost 0-2 to Russia-based Team Spirit in the lower bracket series – in other words, they’re out! The lower bracket has seen another pretty huge team already – T1 was knocked down after losing to China’s PSG.LGD. It was quite a decisive win, with the first game ending less than 35 minutes, and the second one in 54 minutes.
It’s not over for T1 yet though – they can continue in the lower bracket, unless they are knocked out in their next few games! As far as big deal matches go, Vici Gaming and Virtus Pro was also quite exciting – Virtus Pro managed to overcome the ‘handicap’ of not having played a TI before, and managed to knock out the more veteran Vici Gaming squad!
What can we still look forward to?
Well, the main thing would be OG’s hopes for a three-peat of their overall TI win. OG managed to win the previous two Tis – both in 2018 and 2019, they took home the win. The 2020 event was cancelled, which means that 2021 will be the first event happening in two years… and it’s OG’s chance to keep up their streak.
It’s a lot of pressure – but of course, OG aren’t guaranteed the win. The two top seeds so far have been Invictus Gaming and PSG.LGD. Given their performances so far in the season, that’s about right – expectations are high on both teams. Team Secret and Virtus Pro are a little less likely to snatch up a win, but both still have a fair chance to make it.
The Group Stage is done now, without any major upsets – that means its time to look at the playoffs, and what they might bring on the way to the finals! The winner of the 2021 TI10 is far from decided – and there are a lot of hopeful teams still in the running. That said, esports bookmakers aren’t having the best time – the odds between T1 and PSG.LGD for example were x1.18 and x4.86 just before the event, making it an uneven match for anyone that wanted to bet on Dota 2!
