The International, Valve’s annual world championship tournament for Dota 2, is off to an amazing start. Some of the biggest names in professional Dota are already fighting for their tournament lives, we’ve seen big plays from some of the game’s most promising young stars. Most of the people who thought they knew how this year’s tournament would play out are already second-guessing their brackets in the wake of Newbee’s big win over Evil Geniuses.
But not everyone has time to watch all of the top-tier Dota 2 being played this week. There are other life responsibilities, like work and school, standing in the way. So we’ve rounded up a few moments we think any fan of Dota should enjoy, and newcomers might at least like to watch, along with our nomination for match of the day. It’s not the same as watching all 9 of today’s matches live, back-to-back. But it’s better than nothing, right?
Match of the Day
Newbee vs Evil Geniuses - Game 2
(Skip to 05:50:54)
This was one of the most action-packed games of the day. Momentum went back and forth throughout the match and there were several moments when it looked like Evil Geniuses would be able to force a third game. Things didn’t quite pan out for the TI5 champions, but they’ll still need to be pushed out of the Lower Bracket before they’re finished at TI7.
Top Plays
Team Secret Repels Gank Attempt With Triple Kill
This is probably the moment when most fans realized Infamous didn't quite have what it takes to eliminate OG from the tournament. We're not saying we could've done any better. But it's also fair to point out that as far as gank attempts go, they couldn't go much worse.
Invictus Repels Gank Attempt With Quad Kill
You can't blame Team Liquid for trying. It looked like they had a great opportunity to steal a quick kill from Invictus...right up until the trap was sprung. Instead of lining their pockets with a bit of extra gold, four of Liquid's five members got an expensive trip back to the fountain.
EG Grabs A Quad Kill With Black Hole
We're still happy if we can catch more than one enemy in a Black Hole, much less hold them their long enough for our teammates to get the kill. So "impressed" doesn't even scratch the surface of how we felt watching Universe trap three of his peers and serve them up to Evil Geniuses on a silver platter. If only it had been enough to keep them in the Upper Bracket...
Kaka Masterfully Saves kpii From Certain Death
This is the one of those plays people will be talking about for the rest of TI7. Maybe longer. Just when it looked like kpii's Bristleback was looking at a minute or two in the graveyard, Kaka uses Earth Spirit's Boulder Smash to deliver a seemingly impossible save.
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Dota 2 is currently available for Windows and OS X. The game’s world championship tournament, The International, will continue through Aug. 12.
Be sure to check back with Player.One and follow Scott on Twitter for more Dota 2 coverage in 2017 and however long Valve continues to support Dota 2 in the years ahead.
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