OG’s road to the Aegis of Champions 2018

The International 2018 was the eighth iteration of Dota 2’s flagship Annual Championship, hosted by Valve Corporation. It was the first to be held outside the United States at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia. The tournament began on 14 June 2018 with the Open Qualifiers and closed on 25 August 2018 with the Grand Final. OG being the underdog team defeated the Chinese group PSG.LGD 3-2, who were favourites to win the tournament. It was the first grand final to feature 5 games since 2013.

The International 2018 was the largest tournament to take place with a massive $25.3 million pool prize compared to the previous years of The International. The top eighteen teams each took a piece from the prize pool with the OG sitting on top, going home with $11.2 million while PSG.LGD earned $4 million at second place, followed by Evil Geniuses at third place with $2.6 million.

The International 2018 broke the community superstition, where the Chinese teams win even years and other teams win odd years. Hence, the alternating of this championship crown that has been carried for seven years was officially over. It was the first time where OG entered from Open Qualifiers to become The International 2018 Champions.

OG didn’t back down after winning the TI 18. They came back the following year at IT 19, not only did they dominate every stage of the competition. They then went on a rampage through the upper bracket, knocking the likes of Newbee, Evil Geniuses and PSG.LGD to the lower bracket.

No team has ever managed to make top thee or let alone make it all the way to the finals and win consecutively. With the same line up, they managed to secure first place at The International 19, becoming the first team to win multiple TI’s. For more updates on gambling and gaming around the world, keep reading GutshotMagazine.com and stay tuned!