Groups drawn, The International 2019 begins

Dramatic encounters await the audience in the group phase of The International 2019 (TI9). KuroKy’ and Team Liquid will meet a former teammate who only left the team in June. Meanwhile, there is no death group.

It’s the same game every year. Valve draws the groups for the Dota 2 World Championship and the discussion starts: Which is the death group? At The International 2019, however, the debate is limited because the division at the top is very balanced.

In Group A, top favourite Team Secret will face direct competition from PSG.LGD and Team Liquid, challengers TNC Predator, Keen Gaming and Alliance, and the underdogs of Chaos Esports Club, Newbee and Mineski. In Group B, the top Chinese team, Vici Gaming, will be hunted by Virtus.pro and Evil Geniuses. OG, Ninjas in Pyjamas follow them, Fnatic and Royal Never Give Up, which in turn are followed by Natus Vincere and Infamous.

Meeting of former teammates

Special attention in Group A is paid to the encounter between Team Liquid and Chaos Esports Club. Not because of the meeting of two Germans, but because of the personal ‘MATUMBAMAN’. After almost four years and a World Championship title, Team Liquid had eliminated the Finn in June 2019. Now it could be time for revenge against his old team.

Group B has a similar story. Here the Israeli ‘Fly’ meets his old team, OG, and his long-time friend and teammate ‘N0tail’. Almost a year ago ‘Fly’ had left the later champion team.

In the group phase, which starts on August 15th at 3 am, the teams try to finish at least 4th. This guarantees a place in the upper bracket of the knockout round. Place 5 to 8, on the other hand, must be in the lower bracket, while place 9 flies out of the tournament.