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A serious mistake

The first day of The International 2019 main event saw some unfortunate incidents. Among them is the situation with team Alliance, the former champion of The International 2013. If things went the other way, they could have had a better finishing.

Alliance Vs Rng Incident 02
Alliance went to The International 2019 looking to relive the old glorious days

It all happened in the elimination match between Alliance and Royal Never Give Up in the Lower Bracket. Whoever loses the match would stop their run at a 13th-16th finish.

Before the game, the TI3 Champion seemed like a better candidate to move further with their recent strong performance. Their hero pool is broader and the team chemistry is good. However, things turned out ugly for the former International champion in 2013.

Alliance Vs Rng Incident 03
Elimination matches are always scary, especially in a Bo1

Where it went all wrong

In the drafting phase, Alliance initially intended to pick the Faceless Void as a carry hero for the lineup. However, one questionable situation saw the TI3 champion use up all the reserved time. As a result, they missed their last banning phase, leaving the last ban turn blank.

Alliance Vs Rng Incident 01
Time ran out, Alliance missed their last banning turn

Not realizing that the Alliance’s captain - Aydin "iNSaNiA" Sarkohi clicked on the hero Gyrocopter. Alliance intended to ban the Gyrocopter as a carry to prevent RNG from picking him. However, it turned out that Alliance picked it instead. That messed up the whole lineup and Alliance had to go for an offline Void, leaving the carry position for Gyrocopter.

The result was brutal, RNG’s last pick carry, Anti-mage in the hand of Du “Monet “ Peng tore through Alliance’s defense and closed out the game in the 44th minute. RNG eliminated Loda and Co. from the $33 million tournament, ending the journey of Jonathan “Loda “ Berg and Co. in The International 2019.

Had it not been for the mistake, Alliance wouldn’t have to play with a messed-up lineup. The result could have been much better if the carry Michael “miCKe” Vu could play Faceless Void as carry instead of Gyrocopter.

However, the rest is history, iNSaNiA and Co. had to settle for a 13th-16th finish with $505,283 in prize money. RNG continued their run in the biggest Esports tournament.