I had a good time watching this TI as always, but there is just something missing the last few years, ever since Valve stepped away from being involved. A little bit of that magic I used to associate with the event. I miss the International Archives, I miss Remember When and the TI aftershow. I miss the all star matches (I know the pros hated them but cmon, they are entertainers at the end of the day) and the spectacular hero announcements. I miss main stage events lasting longer than 4 days and every invited team getting at least one match in front of the fans.

There were a lot of good matches but it felt just like an upscale major tournament, not like the TIs of old. Or am I just old, cranky and addicted to nostalgia?

I’m not too fond of Skiter either if I’m honest. He’s been in some situations before where he’s looked pretty bad.

If Ammar could micro he’d probably be within the discussion of the overall best player right now. He’s very very talented.

I am categorically unable to just blanket feel happy for Falcons winning. I hate Saudi sportswashing, they have some players I don’t vibe with and I don’t really enjoy their playstyle. That being said, I am very happy for Cr1t finally winning TI, and I am happy for Aui_2000 who has come back from once being disrespected and underrated to now practically forcing the world to recognise him as one of the greatest minds of Dota. Also, nobody can say Falcons wasn’t the overall best team of the tournament, so in that sense it was at least a fair victory.

I am with you though, Heroic were the stars of the tournament for me in terms of entertainment value, but they actually also played really well. That one Aegis steal is going to haunt their dreams for the coming year. I so wish we got to see more of them.

If PV stay together they can be a force, Noone still has some left in the tank and 9Class just needs to practice some more heroes like Void Spirit or maybe Weaver for his play style. Satanic might be the best young player in a long time, the kid is so fucking good.

Naga has been banned in 90% of the games for a reason (IceFrog please just remove the ult nobody likes what it does to Dota) and Jugg is literally not a hero. What a hill to die on for a game 5.

Credit where it’s due to Ammar though, he knew XG like to play for the late game so instead of running the usual Falcons gameplan he just set up an ultimate late game inevitability. I think there maybe was still a path to victory for XG if they were able to play fast, but they just weren’t.

Real ones remember POTM Bottom

I hate Falcons and want them to lose, but I fear we might be nearing the point where we have to admit there might be a reason Ame is the Uncrowned and not Crowned King, my friend.

It’s also a very Xiao8 move to pick Jugg and give up Naga in game 5 of a grand final.

Falcons are too good to let themselves get caught out like that. XG played this game too slow from the start and made too many individual mistakes. Ame choking, honestly whole team kind of choking.

With how XG like to play this just felt like a complete soul read and outdraft by ATF.

I don’t see how Falcons lose this unless they make a series of uncharacteristically spectacular misplays. Naga can always stall and late game looks physically unwinnable for XG.

It was the freest Ursa game ever, the Gyro was either an insane draft bait that caught Xiao8 totally off guard or it was the most ballsy and inspired improvisation by ATF.

Also when will people stop giving Malr1ne Sand King and Cr1t Hoodwink? I’m so sick of seeing SK getting stacked camps uncontested and then killing everyone with Hoodwink.

And finally, it’s fascinating in a sense to see this chess game between the drafters, but it’s also kind of disappointing that every game in this finals has been predetermined from the lineups.

This has been an insane game, and after Heroic yesterday here’s another series turned on its head out of a single Aegis steal. Fantastic strategy by XG proving again that they are incredibly competent at the 4-protect-1. These late game farm fests aren’t my favourite thing to watch, but XG are putting their hopes and dreams on the back of Ame.

It’s unfortunate they will get 3-0’d in short fashion by Falcons. I really hope I’m wrong though.

I’m exhausted by that Falcons PV game three, some absolutely crazy Dota on display there. Looks like people finally figured out that you just have to ban Slark and MK and 9Class suddenly looks like a completely different player.

Wonder if PV stumbles at the finish line.

I didn’t do predictions, but XG looked quite good earlier today. I still think they gave a strong shot against BB.

Absolute heartbreak for Heroic, shades of that Thunder Awaken series vs Liquid a few years ago. So so close, entertaining games all the way to the end and yet at the precipice just denied by some incredible plays by BB to claw back what looked like a closed game.

Phenomenal games but damn, I really wish Heroic went one step further. They are just so likeable, fun to watch and feel good to cheer for.

Nigma outdrafted and outplayed twice, but that was very impressive from XG. Definitely bounced back and look back to their best, even though game 2 was a bit of a freebie from the lineups.

Finally got a three game series, although it’s a bit of a monkey’s paw situation where after the incredible first game comeback BB got completely destroyed by Falcons twice. Getting merked by a perfect last pick Huskar happens, but I don’t understand how they basically let Falcons have their absolute dream draft in game three.

PV and Falcons look like the best two teams by far, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see them face each other in the grand final on Sunday.

Fantastic series from PARIVISION, dominant display in game one with the patented 9Class Slark being the MVP, and then a super patient game two clawing back a deficit and capitalising on XG mistakes. Some extremely clean teamfights, Invoker late game being just insane and the late game timings in general just paying off for PV. Centaur cart provided some clutch saves that completely nullified the threat of Static Field.

PV look scary.

Definitely feels like it. Stark difference between the days as well, feels like both Nigma and Heroic felt the nerves and the pressure yesterday and brought much more calmness today.

I’d have preferred some more even games, but at the same time not having every game be a stalled out 60+ farm fest is also not too bad.

Don’t know if it was Tundra just not showing up and/or really suffering from playing with a standin, but Heroic looked like a completely different team from yesterday. Playing well, drafting well and still winning with their specialist heroes like Pudge and Bat. Great to see and I hope they make a deep run.

Welp, despite a strong start Nigma just got outdrafted twice in a row I think. They were also outplayed at times and made a handful mistakes and GPK was insane - but mostly I think game 2 & 3 were almost predetermined from the lineups.

Hope for some better action tomorrow, the games today have not really matched the hype and the quality and the action of the group stage sadly. Not just all the 2-0s but the games themselves.

They almost had a bit of a half-throw, but very positively surprised to see they kept their heads cool and saw out the endgame with patience and control instead of gambling on a highground push without aegis.

GH on Phoenix is such a force.