PSG.LGD and OG in the Upper Bracket Final of the Dota-2-WM

The Dota 2 World Championship The International in Shanghai is heading for home straight: five out of eighteen teams are still in the competition. PSG.LGD and OG have already secured their top 4 positions and are in the final of the Upper Bracket.

Both OG and PSG.LGD were considered strong teams, but not top favourites for this year’s World Championship title before the tournament. After a strong group phase, the Paris Saint-Germain offshoot relegated their rivals Virtus.pro and Vici Gaming to the lower bracket with clear 2-0 victories in the main phase.

OG already exceeded all expectations at last year’s World Cup and surprisingly played his way to the title. The team’s journey was presented in the documentary “Against The Odds”, which was published in the run-up to this year’s International.

For the four German hopefuls in the competition, things have so far been rather mixed. With Chaos Esports Club and Ninjas in pyjamas, the teams of two representatives were already ingloriously eliminated in the group phase. Also for Max “qojqva” Bröcker (23), the competition ended in the first round of the Lower-Bracket against a strong Royal Never Give Up from China, who subsequently eliminated Virtus.pro, one of the favourites in the tournament.

The only remaining German in the competition is 26-year-old Kuro “KuroKy” Salehi Takhasomi (26). He and his team-mates from Team Liquid again eliminated Royal Never Give Up after they also beat Fnatic and TNC Predator through the lower bracket. Evil Geniuses was also sent home 2-0 by Team Liquid in the lower bracket.

In the next round, however, Vici Gaming or Team Secret, one of the big tournament favourites, will be waiting for Team Liquid. Both candidates are among the best three teams of the regular season but have not yet reached their full potential at The International. A chance for the title must be given to all remaining teams from the lower bracket despite the outstanding performances of PSG.LGD and OG.

On Sunday, the big winner of the e-sport competition, which is endowed with around 34 million US dollars, will be played out. It will be the highest prize money ever awarded in an e-sport tournament.