OG Eliminated as Chinese Dota Reaches Peak Dominance [Dota 2 International]

One of the most dominant teams in recent memory, OG, has been eliminated from the Dota 2 International following a 0-2 loss to LGD gaming. OG had a disappointing record in the Group Stage that placed them in the lower bracket, only one loss away from elimination, and elimination caught up with OG following two victories over Infamous and TNC. OG will take home $600,000 in prize money for the 7th/8th place tier.

OG is well-known in the Dota 2 community as being the winning team in four out of five premier “Major” tournaments, including the Manilla Major, Frankfurt Major, Boston Major and Kiev Major, winning more than $4 million at those four tournaments alone. They were upset by TNC in last year’s International Tournament and eliminated before making a splash. While OG got their revenge against TNC in this tournament, the result was largely the same.

With that, the final six teams of the Dota 2 International have been decided, and four of them are Chinese, including Newbee, i.G, LGD, and LFY. This has happened three times in the previous six International tournaments, but Chinese dominance had been on a relative decline since last year’s tournament. While a Chinese team did win the Dota 2 International 2016, they were only one of two Chinese teams in the top six, and the only one in the final four.

Throughout the rest of the year at the Major tournaments, only one Chinese team cracked the top four in either of the Boston Major and the Kiev Major. This sentiment was echoed by the direct invites to the Dota 2 International 2017, where only two Chinese teams were invited, and the four Western teams invited next to them were considered the bigger favorites. Including OG, two of those teams have now been eliminated, and a third will be eliminated in the next match when Team Liquid faces Virtus Pro.

Forev

Forev, part of the only team to eliminate a Chinese Team at this tournament, said the key is to overwhelm them in the early and mid game.

That will leave both invited Chinese Teams, plus two more that weren’t invited and played up through the group stages. The only Chinese team to be eliminated from the Dota 2 International thus far was i.G Vitality, a subsidiary of Invictus Gaming. i.G Vitality was beat by Digital Chaos, who was also notable for taking a game off LFY during the group stage, which only one other team had done. Digital Chaos player Lee “Forev” Sang-Don told GameRevolution that the secret to beating LFY, and other Chinese teams, is to not play their game. Don’t go for long-cooldown abilities, and overwhelm them with fast, deadly heroes.

“Can they play Overthrow?” Forev told GameRevolution, referring to a fast-paced Dota 2 arcade game where kills are the primary objective.

This worked in their lone victory against LFY in the group stage, and it worked well against i.G Vitality, where Forev was put on Mirana, a deadly hero with great chase capability and dominated. Digital Chaos would still lose to LGD, the team that eliminated, but only after an enemy hero survived on 2 health before getting off the game-sealing ultimate ability. Two more damage, and that whole game might have gone way differently.

In terms of teams that have beat Chinese teams at this tournament, Virtus Pro might be the West’s last hope, as they are responsible for sending LGD down to the lower bracket in the first place, after a commanding 2-0 victory. But, Virtus Pro will have to get through Team Liquid first, and the winner of that match faces the winner of i.G vs LGD.

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