Team Liquid, OG and PSG.LGD are the final contenders for The International 9 title

It was a week full of surprises, brilliant victories, and disappointments, but we have finally reached the end point with the three candidates for the title, and two of them seem to be looking for the glory of past years with PSG.LGD and Team Liquid reaching the top three, and OG ensured at least second place in a spectacular performance in search of a second successive title

It started this morning with Team Secret reaching its best finish in the history of The International championships, with a defeat over the favorite team of many Vici Gaming in the quarter-finals of the lower field in two games that lasted only 20 minutes each, with the focus of Secret heavily on strong magic damage with Elder Titan and Gyrocopter vs. Vici’s reliance on a tanky teamfight draft with Tidehunter and Leshrac, and given the outcome of the match, Secret seems to have made the right decision this time, through two rounds that dominated its opponent altogether in perfect revenge for the previous loss in Stockholm Major.

Secret’s happiness did not last long, who had to overcome another obstacle in a few hours, Team Liquid, who proved to be a very big obstacle that could be difficult to overcome for most teams of the world. Maintaining their perfect score since entering the finals in the lower bracket, Team Liquid has managed to win another clean match with a total of 9 rounds to none in front of all their opponents in the main event so far, despite Secret’s striving attempts to win.

And what an obstacle to Secret that was. For the third year in a row, the team was eliminated by their European rivals, who managed to advance and secure third place lead by KuroKy after a fascinating battle whose champions were Alevi “w33” Omar and Amer “Miracle-” Barqawi, who returned to prove to be two of the best players On the world stage. The loss wasn’t really that bad for Secret overall, as they achieved their highest position in their career and a $ 2 million prize, with more motivation to defeat Liquid next year.

So Team Liquid to the lower bracket grand final. But what about the top bracket finals? All eyes were on former champions OG and PSG.LGD in their awaited rematch, but history has done what it usually does and repeated itself, with the Chinese super-team failing to shake off their arch-rivals, who put the TI9 grand final in their eyes, winning 2-1.

The match was characterized by a constant exchange of punches between the two teams, and with a primitive win for LGD in the first game, OG returned to force the challenge to go to a decisive third game, which they settled later with a show that was one of the most exciting in this year’s Dota 2 tournament.

This is the first time a team has reached the final twice in a row since Na’Vi did so in TI1,2,3 at the start of the tournament, but it is not too late for the Asian team to return to the forefront with one a last chance against Team Liquid in the lower-bracket final, who in turn will try to reach their second final in three years and possibly repeat their dazzling victory from TI7.

Whatever the identity of the winner, we can only thank those players who have amused us in a tournament that is definitely the best in the last few years, especially with the biggest prize in history, which amounted to $ 34 million so far at stake.