PSG.LGD and Team Secret recorded sweeps on Thursday to advance to the upper bracket final at the main event of The International 10 in Bucharest, Romania.
Secret swept Invictus Gaming while PSG.LGD defeated Virtus.pro 2-0. PSG.LGD will battle Team Secret on Saturday in the best-of-three upper finale. Invictus Gaming and VP drop to the lower bracket.
In other action Thursday, T1 stayed alive with a sweep of Alliance and Vici Gaming rallied from a map down to defeat Evil Geniuses.
The International 10 is the final tournament of the Dota Pro Circuit, returning to Europe (Arena Nationala in Bucharest, Romania) for the first time since 2011. Participation is by invite only, but teams qualified through the Pro Circuit.
Following group play (18 teams), 16 teams began in the double-elimination bracket at the Main Event, which began Tuesday. Eight teams began in both the upper and lower brackets for a total prize pool of $40 million (an initial prize pool of $1.6 million plus 25 percent of Battle Pass sales).
On Thursday, Secret defeated Invictus Gaming in 30 minutes on red and 46 minutes on green. Michal “Nisha” Jankowski of Poland and Finland’s Lasse Aukusti “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen were a two-man wrecking crew for Secret. Nisha finished with a kills-deaths-assists ratio of 10.0-2.0-12.5 while MATUMBAMAN went 10.5-2.5-11.5.
PSG.LGD defeated VP in 43 minutes on green and 27 minutes on red. China’s Wang “Ame” Chunyu led PSG.LGD with a ratio of 11.0-1.5-7.5.
T1 defeated Alliance in 37 minutes on red and 34 minutes on green. Filipino Karl “Karl” Matthew Baldovino and Nuengnara “23savage” Teeramahanon of Thailand had monster matches for T1. Karl finished with a ratio of 15.5-2.5-12.5 while 23savage went 11.5-1.5-12.5.
Vici Gaming dropped the first map of the day as Evil Geniuses won in 22 minutes on red. But VG rebounded with wins in 58 minutes and 38 minutes, both on green. Zeng “Ori” Jiaoyang led the all-Chinese side with a ratio of 7.3-4.3-9.7.
Play continues Friday with three matches:
Team Spirit vs. OG, lower bracket Round 3
T1 vs. Vici Gaming, lower bracket Round 3
Virtus.pro vs. Spirit-OG winner, lower bracket Round 4
International 10 prize pool:
1. $18.2 million
2. $5.2 million
3. $3.6 million
4. $2.4 million
5-6. $1.4 million
7-8. $1 million
9-12. $800,400 — Fnatic, Quincy Crew, Alliance, Evil Geniuses
13-16. $600,300 — Team Undying, Team Aster, beastcoast, Elephant
17-18. $100,000 — Thunder Predator, SG esports
–Field Level Media
