It's official – Team Spirit are the Dota 2 World Champions. The Russian squad lifted the Aegis of Champions at The International 10 after defeating PSG.LGD 3-2. But just how did this Cinderella story come to fruition?
It seems hard to believe now that Team Spirit nearly didn't even make it to The International 10 after failing to secure enough Dota Pro Circuit points during the regular season. The team then found themselves down 2-1 in the finals of the open qualifiers, just one game away from never making it. Now they’re the champions.
A false start
The event did not get off to a great start for Team Spirit as they struggled to find their feet and ended the first day of the Group Stage 0-2, losing to both Vici Gaming and Team Secret, both of whom they went on to knockout during their lower bracket run. However, Spirit eventually turned it around and managed to get into the upper bracket, with a score of 10-6.
After losing 1-2 in the first round of the upper bracket to Invictus Gaming, Spirit's chances of success looked slim. Being in the lower bracket meant playing many more games, and one bad day could spell the end of the campaign. But Team Spirit were undeterred.
Round three of the lower bracket was when they met their first real test as they matched up against defending champions OG. However, Spirit quickly dispatched them in a 2-0 series showing that they were not afraid of the big stage.
Next up was fellow Eastern European team Virtus.Pro, who have spent the year beating Team Spirit in the Dota Pro Circuit. It was a close series that required all three games, but Spirit came out on top, winning 2-1. The nail-biting third game was nearly the end of Team Spirit, with the squad only claiming an advantage of more than 3k gold in the 35th minute. However, during a fight gone wrong, Team Spirit lost 8k gold, and Virtus.Pro reduced the lead to 4k.
Fighting the odds
Spirit then faced IG, who originally sent them to the lower bracket. However, Team Spirit ended up beating them 2-0, and then for a place in the Grand Finals, they had to face Team Secret, who they also lost to on the first day of the Group Stage.
The Grand Finals were a complete whirlwind of emotions. Team Spirit started it off by taking two games against PSG.LGD, and it looked like they were on another level compared to their opponents. However, LGD, not wanting to lose another final, turned things around and delivered a 2-0 to tie the series 2-2.
The fourth game of the event was a complete out-draft by PSG.LGD. Team Spirit ended the game with just two kills, with the match only lasting 25 minutes. It was the quickest of the series so far, and heading into the fifth game, momentum was firmly in PSG.LGD's favour.
Spirit showed their confidence, allowing LGD to pick their favourite combination of Tiny and Lycan, which terrorised teams during the event. Despite this, Team Spirit managed to take the Aegis and, in the most unlikely story, claimed the first win at The International for Eastern Europe since Natus Vincere lifted the prize at the first International back in 2011. How fitting that on the 10th anniversary, it returns to the region that started it all.
All the players on Team Spirit deserve praise, but of particular note is carry player Illya 'Yatoro' Mulyarchuk. He played 14 heroes over 20 games during the main event and went on three rampages – an impressive figure considering there were only five rampages in the whole tournament.
Team Spirit's run through the event was truly amazing, and it proves why fans love The International and Dota 2. It speaks to the unpredictability of esports, that there was an in-game bracket prediction event going on, and no one had Team Spirit making the finals.
Team Spirit won the event, ultimately, because of the improvements they made. The team that played on the first day of the Group Stage would have gotten destroyed by the Team Spirit that lifted the Aegis, but they levelled up through each game and became an unstoppable force that not even two-time finalist PSG.LGD could stop.