The International 2019 Dota 2 Championships has become the largest ever Esports event in history. TI9 took place in Mercedes Benz Area in Shanghai China. Fans around the world have gathered here to witness the largest Dota 2 competition.
The first day panned out with 50 insane matches. The International 2019 will surely be the best The International ever. After the first day, the current standings are as follow
Surprise by surprise
The first day of Dota 2 has welcomed us with some crazy matches. In the opening matches between Team Secret and Alliance, we got to see the first-ever Mega Creep comeback.
The game was nail-biting with the two teams trading kills and tower. Alliance kicked off a good start with a large lead in gold and experience. The TI3 champion successfully took down the bottom lane’s barracks early at the 24th minute. Team Secret gradually lost another lane at 31 min.
Unfazed, the #1 seed in the tournament fought on. One fierce combat at min 41 saw all Alliance’s team member down. Team Secret jumped at the chance to take down the middle lane and 2 tier4 towers. However, it came at the cost of Zai’s dieback as 3 members of Alliance bought back immediately.
Alliance decided to go for the final push to get the mega creep. That turned out to be their grave mistake as Team Secret successfully defended the throne and caught 2 members of Alliance. With 3 versus 5, Alliance had to suffer defeat after the all-in push from Team Secret.
Invoker support?
Right after the heart-attack Team Secret gave us with the opening game, Puppey delivered us another surprise. The tactical third pick Invoker from the captain of Team Secret drew lots of attention from Alliance. Midone is infamous for his amazingly efficient Invoker Midlane.
However, the midlane sorcerer this time came under the control of Yapzor. Team Secret eventually won the game handily with zero death for Yapzor’s Invoker. Would this become the new trend in the meta?
The fated matchup, Meepo double rampage
Team Liquid got bad opening matches when losing 0-2 to Newbee. Unfazed, they bounce back with a better performance when facing their old friend MATUMBAMAN in Chaos Esports Club. Team Liquid won the first match handily with a 12 mins Desolator for W33’s Templar Assasin.
The interesting thing happened in the second match where Team Liquid managed to get the last pick Meepo. Meepo is somewhat an unconventional pick in the competitive scene due to his easily countered nature. However, W33 is notorious for his amazing Meepo micro skill, rivaled only by Abed in Fnatic or Ace in NiP.
The game went surprisingly smooth for Team Liquid as they took down everything in their path. With 15k Networth in just 20 mins, W33’s Meepo wiped out the whole Chaos Esports Club squad, scoring a double Rampage for himself. The game ended in 22 mins in a convincing fashion.
TNC Predator – The Chinese slayer?
TNC is among the lesser-known teams in the group A. However, they kicked off the event with a bang, winning both 50+ minute games against Keen Gaming.
However, when facing their neighboring team Mineski, TNC failed to perform in both 40+ minute games. It seemed like Mineski did their homework with the addition of their coach, Mushi. He was a veteran in the world of Dota since the beginning of the game’s competition.
Later on, TNC predator managed to take one map off PSG.LGD, the strongest Chinese team currently. Though it took tremendous effort, TNC made it after 48 mins with a great performance from Armel’s Ember spirit with a KDA of 15-0-16. However, with a better draft in game 2, LGD tied out the score handily after 36 mins.
The Untouchable
Currently, Team Secret and Vici Gaming are the only teams that haven’t lost a single game. However, Team Secret won 6 games in a row when Vici Gaming only played 4 games. That made Team Secret top of the leaderboard.
The sinking ships
Currently, Infamous and NiP only played 2 games and lost both. It was understandable as their opponents were established teams like OG and VP. However, the most alarming team who needs wins desperately is Chaos Esports Club. They played 6 games and only managed to win 1. Alliance and Evil Geniuses are next in the list where they only won 1 game and lost 3.
Interesting most picks
Interestingly, the first day of the event revealed some unconventional picks. In the latest competitive meta in EPICENTER Major, these heroes weren’t the favorites.
Most picked hero – Shadow Demon – 17 times
Among the most unpopular heroes in pubs, Shadow Demon is somewhat a situational pick in the competitive Dota 2 scene. People would most likely pick Shadow Demon to play with Attribute reliant heroes like Terrorblade, Luna, Drow Ranger, Morphling or Alchemist.
However, Shadow Demon was picked 17 times on the very first day of The International 2019. Even weirder, he was not picked along those carry heroes but stood alone in the lineup. However, he topped the chart with a staggering 71% winrate.
Elder Titan, Ogre Magi – 16 and 13 times
Elder Titan is also like Shadow Demon, a rarely picked hero. He is mostly used to counter attribute reliant heroes exactly the opposite of Shadow Demon. With Elder Titan’s ability, he can reduce the base armor of those heroes. Elder Titan was barely picked in EPICENTER Major with just 8 times.
Ogre Magi has been almost forgotten in the competitive scene for quite a while. The supportive pubstomper hardly appears in any pro match. However, he was picked 13 times as an offlaner on the first day. Is this the Orge Magi Arcana confirmation?
Gyrocopter – 14 times
The ranged carry is most notable for his signature pair with IO. However, since the nerf to his Neon-Ball companion, we have seen Gyro growing out of the relationship with IO. In these 14 matches, only 4 of them saw Gyrocopter going hand in hand with IO.
The flying machine boasted a staggering winrate of 79%, making him the most efficient pick until now. It seems like the meta has shifted and Gyro is better on his own.
The next day of The International will begin shortly. Stay tuned for more updates on the largest Esports event ever.