The International 2018 Main Event: Day 1 games

The International 2018 kicks off!

• August 20, 20:00 CEST marks the beginning of The International 2018 Playoffs. Let's break down all the initial fights of the championship: there will be only six during Day 1.
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Team Liquid vs OpTic Gaming

August 20, 20:00 CEST, the best of 3

The opening match of the championship will happen between Team Liquid and team OpTic Gaming. However, we will begin with the defending champion.

Players of Team Liquid finished the group stage in the first place in group A, showing exactly the same result as last year - 13 wins and 3 losses. At the same time, this time, the team did not hesitate to experiment. So, the captain KuroKy had a chance to play Clinkz, while Miracle- once got his hands on Riki. And all this was done so confidently that it was clear to the audience: the champions of last year are confident in their abilities and know what they are doing. As a result, these games were won.

Concerning OpTic Gaming, ppd and his teammates had a rough start, being under the weather for the first 3 days and coming close to dropping out of the event. However, the final game day brought the team 4 points straight away, which allowed not only to make it out of the last line of the group, but also to get into the top half of it. The result: tiebreakers, where OpTic Gaming beat last year's finalist of The International Newbee and goes to the upper bracket of the tournament. Even ppd himself joked about this, still stunned by the success.

As for the forthcoming meeting, the chances are favoring Team Liquid: the team, which aims at the maximum possible result, looks too powerful. However, the tournaments like The International are famous for their unpredictability: everything is possible here.

Virtus.pro against PSG.LGD
August 20, 23:00 CEST, the best of 3

The most interesting duel for the fans from the CIS. Despite going to the upper bracket of the tournament, the "bears" did not show the same champion game that the fans and ordinary viewers expected from them: for this reason, there is little concern that the meeting may not end the way Virtus.pro fans would like. In addition, RAMZES666 didn't encourage the fans much, saying that during the training matches they lost to the representative of Chinese scene with a score of 0: 3.

However, PSG.LGD does not seem to be in the best shape either, although the team performed better than all other teams from China. It is also necessary to remember two facts. Last year it was the team Virtus.pro beaten the Chinese team in the lower bracket, so the players (albeit only two remaining from that moment) PSG.LGD still want to take revenge. The second point is in a sense mythical: this year the winners of the tournament should be none others than the representatives of China. And PSG.LGD looks the most powerful in this regard.

Nevertheless, it is incredibly difficult to predict the outcome of the meeting: any team can become a winner. But we will believe that it will nevertheless be the team from the CIS.

VGJ.Storm vs. OG
August 21, 20:00 CEST, the best of 3

Who would have thought, before the tournament started, that VGJ.Storm would take the group stage so convincingly! Nevertheless, the team with Resolut1on showed a great game (spoiling it a bit after the encounter with Virtus.pro) and took first place in the table, thus entering the ranks of favorites in the championship.

At the same time, the first rival of the team does not look very invincible: the team OG only made it to the top half of its group during the third game day, where it took the fourth place,allowing them to start from the upper bracket. Perhaps the word that best describes this team: instability. This is clearly seen in jumping from one place to another in the group.

The team VGJ.Storm is the favorite in this matchup, which, most likely, will be able to deliver problems to more than one opponent. However, OG is an excellent fusion of experience and youth that can become one of the key factors of a possible victory.

Evil Geniuses vs. Team Secret
August 21, 23:00 CEST, the best of 3

Another great confrontation! Players of Evil Geniuses were considered in some way a dark horse before the start of the tournament: what is there to expect from a team that changed its roster at the end of the season? And the statement was true even with the remark that the set of players looked extremely powerful on paper, and even resembled teams that had already been in the role of a dream team in previous iterations of The International: Team Secret and Team DK.

However, the "evil geniuses" were just as strong in games: they easily passed through the group stage, unable to cope only with Team Liquid and, somewhat unexpectedly, with a team that has left the tournament already - Invictus Gaming, finishing with a draw. Players of Evil Geniuses are good and can be justly considered favorites in this tournament.

Concerning Team Secret, then the fourth team in Dota Pro Circuit ranking finished the group stage, let's say directly, uncertainly, squeezing into the upper bracket only thanks to the tiebreakers. Their score is 8: 8 - this is clearly not the result expected by the fans from Puppey and his company. Therefore, in the upcoming duel "secret" can be safely attributed to the weaker side.

Fnatic vs Team Serenity
August 21, 02:00 CEST, the best of 1

The first meeting in the lower bracket will take place between the representatives of South-East Asia and China - Fnatic and Team Serenity. It must be said that each of these matches will be very interesting and depend extremely heavily on the draft, since no one has the right to make a mistake - all the series will be held in the best of 1 format.

But it is necessary to say that Fnatic in the group stage showed a good game and had a real chance of reaching the upper bracket of the playoffs, but on the last day of the game, it got an opponent in the face of Evil Geniuses, leaving no chance for EternaLEnVy and his company. Concerning Team Serenity, it is still a dark horse: the group stage was held at a fairly high level, but in the playoffs everything can change, because no one has canceled the hidden strategies and the unusual drafts.

Choosing a winner from this pair is extremely difficult: despite the fact that Fnatic looks stronger, the team has "EternaLEnVy factor". The captain of the team can once make a brilliant play, and in a few minutes die in the best traditions of low-level pubs.

TNC Predator against Mineski
August 21, 03:00 CEST, the best of 1

Another interesting match, during which you can safely expect to see a blood bath. Fans from South-East Asia will certainly be very disappointed that, in the first round of the tournament one teams from their region will leave the event, but there are no others but the teams to blame, because they did not show the best games in the groups.

However, players of TNC Predator initially had a tangible chance of getting into the upper bracket, but the third and fourth game days of the group stage were rather unclear, as a result of which they dropped into the bottom half of the table. And here Mineski, in turn, stayed in the middle of the group since the very beginning, and came dangerously close to finishing their run, but this role was taken over by other teams.

You can safely expect two ways of development of events in a duel: either teams will play as carefully as possible, fearing to make the slightest mistake, or they will show a bright and interesting game. There's no third option, likely.

Newbee vs. Winstrike Team
August 21, 04:00 CEST, the best of 1

The second most important duel for the CIS-community. Winstrike Team's incredible efforts secured them a place in the playoffs, taking one point in the match with OG on the last game day, as well as defeating Invictus Gaming during the tiebreakers. But now before the former players of FlyToMoon stands another enemy from China - Newbee.

Silver medalist of last The International spent an extremely contrived season, not particularly highly pleasing their fans, as well as somewhat blank group stage, losing both important matches and their upper bracket chances vanished. In other words, Winstrike Team won't face the toughest opponent, but the match will not be simple.

Even in spite of all the problems, the favorites in this meeting are the players of Newbee. Winstrike Team made quite a few mistakes, which makes the fans wonder if they will repeat.

VGJ.Thunder vs. Vici Gaming
August 21, 05:00 CEST, the best of 1

Sixth and eighth place ranking Dota Pro Circuit teams in the lower bracket. The isThe International - cruel, but unequivocally fair. In addition, both teams are representatives of one organization, so this situation is extremely annoying for the management.

Both teams, after the first game day of the group stage, were in a rather sad situation, as they were located in the last places in their groups. Nevertheless, the situation was subsequently amended, and the players of Vici Gaming did achieve victory over Virtus.pro, which should raise their morale. But guessing the winner of the match is not the best idea.

What do you think, which teams will leave the International 2018 tournament after the first day of the game? Share your opinion in the comments!