The International crowns its 2019 champions
The shield is much prettier than a cup
Dota 2’s mega esports event The International has wrapped up, with OG lifting the aegis for the second year running. The team will take home a cool $15 million (£12.2m), as well as the honour of being the first team to win the event twice, let alone twice in a row.
Their opponents Team Liquid took the first round in the best of five finals despite having appeared to be falling behind, but then OG struck back in three straight games. Theirs was the more dominant run throughout the event, too – Liquid fought their way up from the lower brackets, but OG seemed to be breezing throughout.
The final moments of the tournament came down to OG wiping Liquid as they chased them back to their base:
Both teams could have been the first to win their second International, and every player on stage had been to a TI final before, but OG’s team is even the exact same roster that won last year. “It feels just the same [as last time],” said captain Johan “Notail” Sundstein in his post-win interview. Then there was lots of very wholesome family hugging. Well deserved.
The International will head to Stockholm next year for its tenth iteration. Maybe OG will be able to get the hat trick. It'll also be starting its 2019-20 season in November. Until then you’ll just have to occupy yourself with the many, many hours of VODs on Twitch, I suppose.