Are we going to see a Chinese grand finals at The International 7?
It looks like at least one Chinese team is going to be competing in The International 7 grand finals, and the race to the first spot is going to be between LGD Forever Young and Newbee.
Having already beaten Evil Geniuses in the first round of the upper bracket, The International 4 champions Newbee proceeded to defeat domestic rivals Invictus Gaming by a score of 2-1. Now, Newbee are only one step away from the grand finals of the biggest esports event in history. The question is whether or not LGD Forever Young will prove it’s indeed another Chinese superpower.
The team’s dominant performance in the group stage has been proven with a two-game victory against Russian favorites Virtus Pro, and it now has the team one step away from The International 7 grand finals. Although the Russian team was easily able to dismantle LGD Forever Young’s sister team LGD, the academy division left Virtus Pro with few opportunities in the first game of the series, and closed the game out in under 30 minutes.
The lower bracket, in contrast, was a series of one-sided contests. OG got revenge on the Filipinos in TNC for eliminating them at last year’s iteration of The International, defeating their opponents by a decisive 2-0 victory. As the final team from Southeast Asia remaining at the event, TNC’s elimination in ninth place is a dramatic shift from The International 6, where three teams from the region placed within the top eight placements overall.
Meanwhile, the last North American representatives Digital Chaos were also eliminated by main LGD. Similar to the series between OG and TNC, the series consisted of two very decisive victories from the Chinese side. LGD and OG will now meet in the lower bracket.
