Team Spirit Eliminates Virtus.pro to Secure Top 4 Finish at TI10

Today has been an extraordinary day at The International 10 (TI10) for the young guns of Team Spirit. After eliminating last year's winners OG, the Eastern European team has now eliminated regional rivals and one of the event's top contenders, Virtus.pro. In a series featuring outstanding Dota 2 gameplay, both teams put their best foot forward but Team Spirit prevailed 2-1 in the end. Because none of the games was a stomp, this series produced not only superlative but also highly entertaining Dota 2 gameplay. Virtus.pro exits TI10 in 5th-6th place, taking home $1,400,600 USD in prize money while Team Spirit secures a top four finish and moves to the next round of the lower bracket.

Team Spirit vs Virtus.pro: Match Recap and Highlights

Recap

In game 1, Team Spirit displayed excellent Dota 2 gameplay. After emerging ahead in laning, the team realized that it had to keep the tempo up, so it moved around the map to consistently find kills and place wards. Virtus.pro tried to fend off this pressure so Nightfall's Medusa could become the raid boss. However, Team Spirit's spellcasting was spellbinding, helping the team secure victory in 46 minutes.

In game 2, Virtus.pro drafted lane-dominant heroes. As Virtus.pro carried out this strategy with efficiency, it gained an advantage over the opposing team in the early stages. Team Spirit split the map but whenever they tried to take on the enemy head-on, they lost a lot of bodies. Yatoro was givena last-pick Terrorblade, but he was massively kited in teamfights. In the end, gpk and Nightfall's core performances led Virtus.pro to victory in 46 minutes.

Game 3 was a gruesome contest, involving a back and forth battle. While Virtus.pro had an early-to-mid game-centric draft, Team Spirit was much more focused on the late game. But this did not stop both teams from fighting relentlessly, and it all came down to which team could execute its teamfights the best. As time elapsed, Team Spirit's draft became more effective, and the team eventually won in 51 minutes.

Highlights

Here are some highlights of the series.

Team Spirit has mostly struggled against Virtus.pro in the past, but at Dota 2’s World Championships, Team Spirit came out on top. It has been a tremendous climb up the growth curve for the team throughout the tournament. The team, which had a relatively slow start in the group stage, is making waves and causing upsets at TI10. Alexander "TORONTOTOKYO" Khertek, the midlaner for Team Spirit, played an integral role in today's wins against OG and Virtus.pro.

At TI10, the other young prodigy from Eastern Europe, Virtus.pro, showed its true potential after failing at previous LAN events. Its strategy and gameplay were excellent. It was expected that the team would advance in the lower bracket following its loss against PSG.LGD the previous day but Team Spirit turned out to be better than anyone thought.