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Dota 2: TI9 Day Three Recap

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Dota 2: TI9 Day Three Recap

After an amazing day three full of epic action, new records (Syed Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan now has over 1000 kills at The International) and eliminations, it’s time to see some of the most interesting series of the day.

Team Secret vs TNC – The Europeans Can Bleed

 

Team Secret was one of the biggest favorites before the start of the tournament. Having said that, they seem to live up to the expectations for now because they have not lost a single map yet. However, this changed today after TNC was able to hold on to a draw.

Game one of the series was won by Team Secret in a very dominant way. They pretty much gave TNC no chances and it seemed like this will be a fast two-game series. However, little did they know, the SEA powerhouse had to yet make their mark.

Game two lasted for around 54 minutes but in the end, Carlo “Kuku” Palad and his team-mates were victorious. Having said that, the European team tried to experiment a bit by putting Yeik “MidOne” Nai Zheng in the safe lane with Venge and Nisha with Sniper. It was all going well for the most part for Team Secret as their four-protect-one strat was starting to kick in. Sniper became way too strong at one point and TNC were just unable to break his defense and reach their enemies high ground.

However, as the game went on, they waited patiently until they “lured” Secret out of their base. What’s more, Nisha even brought a Divine Rapier but it was still not enough to keep the hungry TNC players away from their base.

The victory against Team Secret is a clear sign that TNC is indeed one of the hidden favorites to win this years’ TI. If they continue to be this consistent, who knows what will happen.

Virtus.Pro vs OG – The Back-to-Back TI9 Trophies Dream is Real

 

Definitely one of the most anticipated series of the day was between the CIS hegemon and the TI 8 champions.

Many people expected this series to be a lot more back-and-forth. However, it was simply a brilliant show put up by the European team. In-game one, OG dominated the laning stage, which gave them a solid lead later on. VP had somewhat of a more late-game based setup, so they tried to quell the pace of the game to get some farm and be able to actually put up a challenge. Unfortunately for them, OG did not all this to happen and continued their match.

With their backs against the wall, VP decided to change their draft drastically for game two. On the contrary, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” was the leading motive for OG. Unlike the first game, this one was surely more contested by VP. However, as soon as the TI 8 Champ’s cores got some items, things started to look grim.

Having over 20k+ net worth advantage just 34 minutes in the game was a clear sign where this was going. OG remains first in Group B after losing just one game in the entire tournament so far.

Newbee vs Alliance

Even though this series did not seem to be as interesting, it turned out to be a rollercoaster of emotions full with rapiers, mega creeps comebacks and more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq_zycs1MMI

To be honest, Alliance did dominate in both games but they pretty much “threw” game one after having over 26k+ net worth advantage as well as mega creeps on their side. Yawar “YawaR” Hassan’s Anti-Mage and the rest of his team were able to stand their ground and eventually pushed in to deliver their knock-out punch.

 

Despite the very frustrating loss, Alliance went into game two very confident. Similar to the previous game, they were in control of it and dictated the tempo. In end, the European team was able to claim the victory and a draw in this series.

Fnatic vs OG

 

Another clash of the titans, this time the TI 8 champs had to face Abed Azel L. Yusop and his team-mates.

The first game of the series, Fnatic rolled-out the immortal Magnus and double melee cores. On the contrary, OG mainly relied on magical damage but they also had Anathan “ana” Pham’s Slark. The Australian prodigy had an amazing game, especially during the first couple of minutes.

Fnatic tried to fight around their two empowered cores but OG’s Slark was just way too strong to deal with. After team-wiping their enemies, OG claimed the first lane of rax just 28 minutes in. With nothing to stand in their way, they claimed the victory and the lead in this series.

Game two saw another IO play from Ana after he played the hero yesterday. Even though OG had a rough start of the game, they were able to bounce back after a couple of very important kills. As soon as Topias “Topson” Taavitsainen got his core items, his Troll Warlord became the strongest hero in the game. Even Daryl Koh “iceiceice” Pei Xiang ’s mighty Timbersaw could not put up a challenge.

Fnatic’s last glimmer of hope was Abed but even he could not do anything against the strength of OG. They proceed to the next phase of the tournament as winners of Group B.

Conclusion

 

This years’ TI group stage is probably the most interesting ones we’ve watched yet. Having said that, we already know the name of the first team which will be heading home from the qualifiers – Chaos Esports Club. Even though they have some of the best players, Lasse Aukusti “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen. could not just work it out.

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Dota 2: TI9 Day Three Recap
Zlosterr
Zlosterr has been a fan of esports for many years and mainly focuses on Dota 2. He has more than five years of experience writing Dota 2 content for numerous platforms. Besides being a passionate fan of the game, he's also played for various amateur teams.