Cover-Credits:
The second day of The International 10 (TI10) has concluded and the playoffs are slowly taking shape. From a wild first series of Team Secret vs PSG.LGD, to SEA underdog Fnatic’s impressive performance and Team Aster breaking OG’s TI win streak record even with a handicapped member; a lot has happened. Group A shows Invictus Gaming dominating the ranks, standing out as the clear favorite, while Group B exhibits beastcoast and Team Secret right amongst the Chinese teams, PSG.LGD and Vici Gaming, at the top of the rankings. At the moment, Thunder Predator and Quincy Crew are in a tough spot after a rough Day One and Two, facing possible elimination if they are not able to step it up and accumulate more points in the final two days of the TI10 Group Stages.
The International 10 Group Stage: Day two recap
Group A
OG was undefeated in TIs since 2018 and this undefeated streak was finally broken by Team Aster, after the conclusion of its stomp fest series. On Day One, Team Aster was forced to play with its coach as a stand-in, replacing Liu "White丶Album_白学家" Yuhao due to health issues. Fortunately today, the team has its midlaner back on board, and the squad seemed to have better synergy as they convincingly defeated OG 2-0. Team Aster seemed a step ahead in both games, dominating the early phase and not letting OG any chance to turn the game around. With a heavily farmed Ursa in game one and a solid performance in game two, Aster earned itself two points and moved up the group rankings.
Later, Team Aster’s midlaner was revealed to have not been in peak physical condition and was playing while he was sick. Even with such a handicap, Team Aster still managed to pull a powerful performance.
OG then battled against T1 in its final series of the day. In the first match, OG demolished the SEA team and we witnessed a high net worth SumaiL earned himself a triple rampage before T1 called ‘GG’ to end the game. The second match showcased T1 put up a much better fight, challenging OG’s versatile draft. However, OG managed to outplay the SEA team, eventually ending the game in its favor 2-0.
T1, a team that looked lackluster on the first day, showcased some amazing play against the Russian powerhouse, Virtus.Pro. In the first match of the series, T1 managed to turn the game around after a mild lead from VP, using its Lion and Lina’s burst and Carlo "Kuku" Palads’ Earthshaker to execute some amazing teamfights that proved to be the difference maker. Game two was a walk in the park for T1. Almost all of VP’s ganks and initiations were flawlessly countered and T1 did not let a member of its team die without punishing the enemy. Egor "Nightfall" Grigorenko on his Sven, struggled to get significant farm and on the other side, Karl Matthew “Karl” Baldovino’s Doom racked in an immense amount of gold on the midlane, ultimately leading to VP tapping out on the 33-minute mark.
Alliance, despite a loss in its first match against EG, managed to even the series 1-1. In the second match, the Swedish team showcased more confidence and commanded the tempo of the game. Gustav "s4" Magnusson’s Tidehunter executed the right Ravages, setting up beautiful teamfights for Nikolay "Nikobaby" Nikolov to shine on his Morphling. After a steady net worth lead by Alliance and bad fights on EG’s part, the NA team forced a final fight down the map. Alliance endured the fight with ease as the Morphling got himself a rampage, ultimately leaving EG to tap out of the game. Alliance also got itself another 1-1 series against Team Aster. The first match against Aster was a smooth victory, however, the next game showcased Du "Monet" Peng’s powerful Troll Warlord, which secured the game for the Chinese team.
Thunder Predator is the only team yet to find itself a map win. With six consecutive losses and three series dropped, the South American squad is struggling in the group stage. The first day hit the team with the team suffering losses against Alliance and OG, and the team did not manage to fare any better on the second day, as it dropped both of its series against Invictus Gaming and Team Undying.
Group B
Team Spirit, who had a dampening start to TI10 on the first day, managed to secure a series win against Elephant on day two. Both the matches were of a similar nature, where Team Spirit demolished the enemy and concluded the kill score with 27-4 and 31-9 respectively. However, it dropped the next series against Vici Gaming as the team wasn’t able to answer Yang "poyoyo" Shaohan’s Morphling and Zeng "Ori" Jiaoyang’s Templar Assassin in respective games.
SEA’s underdog, Fnatic brought an impressive performance against the world’s top Dota 2 team, PSG.LGD. The team dominated the early phase of the first match with its members constantly punishing Ame’s Faceless Void and invading enemies’ space. With a 12k net worth lead, they pushed on to PSG.LGD’s high ground. When it seemed like Fnatic was on the verge of winning, PSG.LGD put its experience to use and came on top in a crucial fight.
The tables turned and the net worth swung further to PSG.LGD’s side. Fnatic lost a multitude of fights thereafter, ultimately ending the first match on the 47-minute mark. The second game was a back and forth show, but the Chinese team was ahead in terms of net worth and eventually, Fnatic fell during decisive teamfights. The 2-0 series definitely shows the expertise and experience in PSG.LGD, and despite the loss also showcases the fact that Fnatic, with its fresh roster, is not to be underestimated in this tournament.
Team Secret outplayed PSG.LGD in their first match of the day, with Yazied "YapzOr" Jaradat proving, yet again, his Rubick mastery. In an intense mid game, he managed to steal opponent’s Echo slam and turned a fight around, surging Secret’s net worth and eventually forcing PSG.LGD to tap out at 50 minutes.
The second game, however, witnessed the Chinese team picking a mid Tinker for Cheng "NothingToSay" Jin Xiang and in a one-sided show, closed the game in its favor.
In the final series of the second day, Team Secret went against Elephant and after a lengthy series of intense teamfights, it concluded in a draw.
Quincy Crew is struggling in Group B, not securing a single series win, and was only able to collect a draw against beastcoast and Fnatic. Both QC and TP are at the bottom of each group, and if they fail to secure more wins, they might face elimination from TI10.
There are still two more days of group stage action remaining, before the main event kicks off. Teams that secure the top four of their group will book a slot in the Upper Bracket while the next four will proceed to the Lower Bracket. The last team placed at the bottom of respective groups will face elimination. The first match of the third day will begin tomorrow at 3:00 PM SGT. You can check out the schedule and results of all The International 10 games here.
