Well, I have no idea what’s going on with The International 6. This tournament has been a myriad of upsets and disappointments. Last night TnC Pro Gaming took down tournament favorites, team OG, in a shocking 2-0 sweep in a best-of-three lower bracket matchup. Many experts had the Filipino TnC squad finishing in last place for the tournament (myself included) as they had not proven themselves against teams outside of their region.
Team OG seemed just as shocked as the rest of us. OG won two Valve-sponsored major events this year — the only team to ever accomplish such a feat. Fans and experts alike couldn’t believe they were already out of contention for the tournament they were supposed to win. Here is what their team captain had to say after the match:
Not much to say.. I'm sorry I've let everyone down. Gl to the rest
— Tal Aizik (@talflyaizik) August 10, 2016
While both games in the TnC/OG series are worth a watch, the second game was the standout of the two.
Game two got off to a rocky start for TnC Pro Gaming as they were bullied in the laning stage and succumbed to fruitful rotations and team fights by the OG side that put TnC at a gold disadvantage. To make matters worse, OG squad had chosen two heroes adept at farming gold quickly, while the heroes on the TnC side lacked AOE clearing abilities.
Apparently, the gold deficit didn’t seem to matter to team TnC. They seemed to find pickoffs on OG’s most important heroes at the right time, crawling back into the game and taking objectives that secured them the win.
TnC Pro Gaming will take on Digital Chaos, the other Cinderella story team from The International 6, tomorrow. Digital Chaos also swept their opponents last night, taking down Chinese powerhouse LGD gaming and securing themselves a spot in the tournament’s top 8.
Be sure to check back all week for more coverage of The International 6: Dota 2 Championships.