Dota 2: TI9 – Day 2 Recap

Day two of The International 9 is a wrap and what a crazy day of Dota it was. If your predictions ended up in the garbage, don’t feel bad. This TI has been full of so many surprises so far, it’s impossible to know what is coming next.

Let’s take a look at some of the highlights of our second day of the group phase.

OG vs NiP

Can you talk about day two without talking about this series? Prepare your pubs, because carry Io is coming, and you’ve got Ana to thank for it. He played the wholly unpredictable wisp pick for the carry role in both games against NiP and showed why OG are not to be underestimated this year.

As game one began, NiP looked to have the advantage throughout the laning stage, and Ana’s pick didn’t look like it was going to pay off in the early phase. In fact, NiP held the net worth lead all the way up until the 37-minute mark.

But by now the wisp was online and Ana was ready to wipe NiP off the field. He got 11 kills throughout game one, a large potion of them on NiP’s captain, PPD.  When OG took game one at 41-minutes with this out of left field carry strat, it seemed hard to imagine seeing it again.

But there it was in game two. Another Io carry pick for Ana and another victory for OG. This time in just 30-minutes. Ana ended game two with a KDA of 9/2/6 on a hero we only ever expect to see in the support role at a setting like TI. This series was definitely a special treat for OG fans.

Vici vs Infamous

One of today’s biggest stories is the unexpected Infamous come back. They ended yesterday at the very bottom of the ladder with zero points. After going 1-1 with Na`Vi in their opening matches, Infamous had to face Vici Gaming, who were the undefeated kings of Group B at this point. But that is a different story at the end of today.

Infamous took out first blood before game one was even 5-seconds in. It was obvious they were hungry for this win. Vici had the advantage initially, building up a small lead in the net worth during the laning phase which grew to a 7k lead by the time the game reached 36 minutes and had ballooned into the double digits by the 40-minute mark.

It looked like Vici had it in the bag, no matter how hungry Infamous were. But a team fight at 41-minutes in changed everything. Infamous had Vici in a tight spot, three down, no buy backs and a fresh Rosh spawn coming out in less than a minute.

From here on in, Chris Luck made things happen for his team on his Storm Spirit. Zipping around the map, initiating on vulnerable members of the Vici lineup, and creating all the opportunity his team needed.

By 43-minutes Infamous were pushing the mid and bottom rax with the aegis. Vici found their net worth suddenly slashed down from a 15k lead to a meagre 1k. Infamous now had control of the momentum.

Though Vici held on as long as they could, there was no way Infamous were not going to push their new advantage as hard as they could. After an hour of back and forth dota and with the kills at 32 apiece, Infamous broke the high ground again. Vici called GG and Infamous secured themselves a much-needed win.

While game two went the way of Vici gaming, this was the series that broke their winning streak. Infamous continued to impress in their following series against Fnatic as well. Taking it out 2-0.

LGD vs Newbee

It was China vs NA in this series, as both PSG.LGD and Newbee went head to head.

Newbee had been looking surprisingly strong yesterday, causing one of the day’s first upsets and beating Liquid 2-0 in their day one series. But LGD were looking strong yesterday as well, so as game one opened it was anyone’s guess how it would go.

It went fast. Just 24-minutes. LGD dominated from the laning phase, looking very strong right from the outset. Newbee managed to score themselves a paltry 4 kills. LGD cleaned up by comparison, with 25 kills at the games end.

Game two, however, was the Newbee show.

This game started with a much faster pace, the kills were 2-3 in the first 5-minutes and it was obvious that Newbee were planning on fighting back after their quick game one defeat.

Like game one, LGD had a strong showing in the laning phase and the upper hand throughout the early game. Once the game hit the 30-minute mark, Newbee had taken control.

At 46-minutes the kills were 20-25. LGD had the kill-lead, but Newbee were pushing their high ground. They took both the ranged and melee mid rax and then pulled back to safety to grab themselves a second uncontested Roshan.

LGD kept up a strong front and ended the game with 41-kills on the board. But kills alone do not a victory make. Newbee penetrated LGD’s defense and took the game for a 1-1 series.  Despite the loss for his team, this was still an amazing game for Somnus\M. He went 15/5/14 on Leshrac and was earning about 50 gpm more than any of Newbee’s core heroes.

Vici vs EG

Evil Geniuses have not been looking their usual selves so far through these group stages. Some unexpected losses yesterday to Fnatic and Na`Vi had them lingering awfully close to the bottom of the standings.

But their final 2-0 series against Vici today showed a spark of the EG we’ve been expecting to see. Including a solo rampage kill by Arteezy that turned what was looking like a valuable engagement for Vici into the victory for EG.

Our final standings today are looking like a bit of a shakeup from yesterday. Team Secret are still regining undefeated in Group A, but OG and Na`Vi have both moved up quickly through the rankings of Group B.

It’s hard to predict what tomorrow will bring for our teams, but whatever happens, it is sure to be another jam-packed day of exciting Dota 2.

You can catch all the action from the International live on the official Twitch multicast or squad streams.  Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter for daily updates from TI9 and the latest Dota 2 news.