After a long, excruciating wait, The International 2019 finally kicked off yesterday in Shanghai, China. Apart from being the biggest esports event ever, TI is simply magical for every Dota 2 fan out there. The first day of the tournament was full of amazing moments, rampages, Divine Rapiers and 70+ minutes games.
As the dust settles from Day one, let’s take a look at what happened in the most interesting series during the second day of the Group Stage.
OG vs Evil Geniuses
The first highly anticipated game of the day was between two powerhouses, OG and Evil Geniuses.
In game one the Europeans proved why they are the current TI champion, completely annihilating EG. One of the main factors behind their success was their Alchemist pick. The hero seems to be top meta core so far at the tournament.
Game two was much closer as EG very nearly secured the victory. However, after OG managed to quell the pace they managed to pull off an incredible RP and Omnislash combo, which was just too much for the NA squad to deal with.
Virtus.Pro vs Vici Gaming
The series between the two giants turned out not to be as interesting as many expected. VP was considered the favourite here even though the Chinese had a fantastic day one. However, the reality turned out to be very different. Although both games in the series ran over 40 minutes, Vici Gaming ripped through their enemies, continuing to be the top contender to take the number one spot in Group B.
OG vs NiP
OG is once again in the spotlight, this time against another European powerhouse – NiP. Although it would be wrong to call the games an easy ride for OG, n0tail and his teammates were able to win the series with a quick 2-0. In game one, Topson’s Windranger combined with IO gave NiP an absolute rampart. PPD had absolutely no answer for this rather bizarre combo, which even managed to bring down a tier four tower under backdoor protection.
After NiP lost game one they were unable to find the form to turn the table on OG in game two, leading to yet another victory for the TI 8 champions.
TI 9 is all we could have asked for from an event of this caliber. There’s tons of action in every single series, which makes the entire experience worth following from groups to grand finals.
You can check out all the games on Twitch at: https://www.twitch.tv/dota2ti
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