It's Day Two of the Playoffs at the International 2019. Like the previous day, two Dota 2 team made it to the next round of the Upper Bracket while there were also teams that got eliminated. In the Upper Bracket, it was OG and EG that moved to the second round. Similar to the previous two teams, PSG.LGD and Vici Gaming, OG and EG are guaranteed at least a sixth place finish. That means they can take home at least $1.1 million.
Upper Bracket
The first match of the day was OG against Newbee, with OG totally dominating. OG showed why it was the defending TI champion. The first game once again featured the carry Io strat courtesy of Anathan "ana" Pham. Supportng ana was Topias "Topson" Taavitsainen on Bristleback and Jesse "JerAx" Vainikka on Rubick. OG later revealed that even with 277 professional games to his name, this was the first time Topson had used Bristleback in a tournament. The second game was also all OG, with Topson on Monkey King getting a total of 17 kills and ana on Juggernaut with 12 kills and zero deaths.
Did you know?
— OG (@OGesports) August 21, 2019
When Bristleback was picked for @TopsonDota during our first game against @newbeecn it was the first time he ever played the hero in a professional game!
Only Pogson things.#TI9 #DreamOG pic.twitter.com/L42aFAvDM5
The second match was an exciting one as Team Secret took on EG. Secret had a strong performance during the DPC Season. However, EG showed just how hungry it was for a win as they dominated the first game on the backs of Artour "Arteezy" Babaev on Sven and Sumail "SumaiL" Hassan on Leshrac. Both players ended the game with double-digit kills. EG did what it could to close the match early again, picking Sven for Arteezy and Leshrac for SumaiL. However, it wasn't that easy, as Secret fought back. The second game was decided after around an hour. EG got wiped out in a team fight. In fact, both Arteezy and SumaiL experienced what is known as dieback. This led to a third and deciding game. Secret looked to have a solid pick and took the early lead, but EG made a comeback. SumaiL on Ember Spirit and Arteezy on Phantom Assassin shined, while being supported strongly by Gustav "s4" Magnusson on Enchantress.
Lower Bracket
In the Lower Bracket, the big matchup was Virtus.pro vs Royal Never Give Up. Despite being one of the strongest teams of the tournament, Chinese team RNG surprised everyone as it got megacreeps and VP eventually called GG. The second game featured RNG still picking Leshrac for Gao "Setsu" Zhenxiong and Shadow Demon for Tue Soon "ah fu" Chuan. VP did what it could to bring the match to a game three, but RNG managed to hold off and take the win.
The second game was TNC Predator against Team Liquid. The first game looked to be going in TNC's favor, especially with the strong pick and the Batrider for Carlo "Kuku" Palad. It looked like TNC would pick off Liquid one by one. However, the balance shifted to Liquid once Aliwi "w33" Omar managed to get the Desolator on his Templar Assassin. Assisted by Amer "Miracle-" Al-Barkawi on Troll Warlord, w33 focused on the middle lane and went for a GG push. Eventually, TNC had no choice but to call it. TNC tried to recover and push for a game three, but Liquid could not be deterred and proved why the team is called the King of the Lower Bracket.
With their respective losses, VP and TNC are eliminated from the tournament and get to take home around $674,000.
Day 3 Matches
The first two matches of the day begin in the Lower Brackets with:
- Newbee vs Infamous
- Team Secret vs Mineski
After that, the second round of the Upper Bracket begins with:
- PSG.LGD vs Vici Gaming
- OG vs Evil Geniuses
