Dota 2, the greatest and longest-lived of the Multiplayer Online Battle Arena, has just celebrated its tenth “International” competition. This competition hosts some of the strongest teams in the game in a spectacular display of skill, willpower and talent as the eighteen teams go head to head to win the golden Aegis of Champions, the highest achievement for any Dota player out there. But with the TI10 over, who won, what happened, and why is Magnus’ name being thrown all over the forums online?
The Teams and the Favourites
Going into the championship this year, many fans were unsure of the odds, but just as GGPoker fans know, it’s always best to keep your best hand secret. Many people were still thinking of OG’s brilliant two-year winning streak from TI8 and TI9, where the complete underdogs pulled off fantastic wins over and over again to prove themselves as one of the best teams in history. Many others were looking toward PSG.LGD, a team that has huge amounts of funding and training, as a potential victor for this year’s Aegis. However, Team Spirit seemed to be the dark horse of this TI, few people expected the plays that TS delivered. Despite being a strong team from Russia, they weren’t anyone’s first choice, so as it seems, they entered this year with something to prove.
Put into Group B, they pushed their way into being seeded for the Upper Bracket. However, an early defeat by Invictus Gaming had Team Secret dropped into the Lower Bracket, forcing an attempt to pull their way back from the bottom. With a 2-0 win against Fnatic, Team Secret came face to face with the fan favourite OG, the underdogs of the last two years. In this match, Team Secret’s Collapse chose Magnus, the “Magnoceros”, their secret weapon to success. Magnus’ skewer ability is what ended up allowing Team Secret the 2-0 victory on the previous two-time Aegis holders, with Collapse being able to drag N0tail’s Tiny away from the rest of his team and removing him from every team battle. This tactic worked time and time again and took Team Secret all the way to the top, the final team being the well known PSG.LGD, who were decimated by Team Secret’s power and precision.
The Best Heroes Of This TI
Magnus has grown in popularity in the public eye since Collapse showed the world how effective he can be. The strength based character was able to tear the key heroes out of every team fight to be defeated with ease before the rest of Team Secret could jump on the weaker characters. However, not every player in the championship decided to take Magnus onside, instead he was one of the least picked heroes. However, Tiny, the growing rock golem, was one of the most picked active carries. As a tank with great health, armour and stun, Tiny is favoured for the mig-game and late-game team fights where his avalanche ability can be used to its full potential, stunning an entire team and allowing for the other heroes to make their moves. Despite a tough battle between OG’s Tiny and Team Secret’s Magnus, Tiny has been seen used by N0tail in the past to great effect.
Tidehunter is another of the best TI10 heroes, the second most picked hero and rated the best Offlaner of the roster. Tidehunter’s size is only matched by his presence on the battlefield, with his anchor smash allowing him to lane with the best of them, and his thick skin able to absorb even the highest of damaging attacks. A brilliant hero to charge into the fights, Tidehunter saw some amazing plays throughout the TI and has gained extra popularity in public games.
TI10 has been an amazing road to Team Secret’s success, an unbeatable event that saw some of the greatest plays the game has seen thus far. The kind of event you have to be at, and must catch next year to see the next winner and holder of the Aegis.
