The main event of The International 2019 is underway at the Mercedes Benz Arena in Shanghai, China from August 20th-25th 2019.
In our last article, we covered the first two best of 3 games of the day.
PSG.LGD made short work of Virtus.Pro in the first BO3, while VG won a hard-fought game against TNC with a 2-1 scoreline.
Following these matches were the four Best of One elimination games in round 1 of the lower bracket.
Lower Bracket Round 1 Game 1
The first game of the lower bracket saw Alliance take on Royal Never Give Up. Although Alliance were favoured to win this matchup, a mistake made during the draft cost them dearly, as they mispicked gyrocopter instead of banning it.
Despite this goof up, they tried really hard to make it work and almost won the game. But RNG managed to fight back and eventually took the win.
Sadly you don’t get a second chance in the lower bracket. Alliance exit the tournament in the 13th-16th place with prize money of over $ 504,007.
Lower Bracket Round 1 Game 2
The second game of the lower bracket saw TI7 winners Team Liquid take on SEA powerhouse Team Fnatic in an elimination best of one.
Team Liquid had their classic IO-Gyrocopter-Necrophos picks and never allowed Fnatic to get a foothold in the game. A host of missed blackholes from DJ on Enigma didn’t help either, resulting in a comfortable win for Team Liquid.
Team Fnatic exit The International 2019 in the 13th-16th position, with prize money of over $ 504,007. Sadly, this is the same position Fnatic ended up at The International 2018.
Lower Bracket Round 1 Game 3
The third game of the lower bracket saw Chinese squad Keen Gaming take on South American representatives Infamous in a best of one eliminator.
While Keen Gaming would have been favourites in this matchup before TI, Infamous’s performance in the group stage was surprising and they impressed everyone with their teamwork, quirky picks and resilience.
Despite Keen Gaming getting their iconic Phantom Assassin pick, Infamous with their Templar Assassin and Wraith King proved too big a barrier for Keen.
Keen Gaming exit the tournament in the 13th-15th place winning a prize of over $504,007+, becoming the first Chinese team to be eliminated from the event.
Lower Bracket Round 1 Game 4
The final lower bracket game of the day saw Team Mineski take on legendary esports organisation Natus Vincere in a best of 1 elimination game.
Despite a strong performance from Navi, Mineski were able to beat Navi in an exciting game that ended in a base race.
With this defeat, Navi are the first CIS team to be eliminated from TI9.
They exit the tournament in the 13th-16th place with a prize of over $504,007+
Final day one standings:
Tomorrow’s schedule includes 2 upper brackets best of 3 games followed by 2 lower brackets best of 3 elimination games.
For highlights or replays, one can visit the respective twitch channels and check out the past broadcasts.
All games are also uploaded to DOTA 2 official YouTube channel.
The action resumes tomorrow at 7:30 AM IST.
Do not forget to update your fantasy teams for tomorrow. You can do that either in game or at https://www.dota2.com/fantasy.
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