Russian-Ukrainian esports group Team Spirit has been crowned champions of the 10th Dota 2 world championships, The International 2021, by defeating Chinese favorites PSG.LGD 3–2 in a spectacular best of 5 finals. The underdogs will be taking home $18.2 million USD of the total $40 million USD prize pool, which is the largest to date of any esports tournament, and represents two years of community funding, once again displaying the unity and love for the game of the Dota 2 player base.
It was an arduous journey for Team Spirit — comprising, from Position 1 to 5, Yatoro, TORONTOTOKYO, Collapse, Mira and team captain Miposhka — having placed 4th in Group B during the group stages, then losing 2–1 to Invictus Gaming in the Upper Bracket Round 1, and then making the slow climb back in the Lower Brackets, notably having to take out defending champions OG, and second highest winning streakers at TI10, Team Secret.
Team Spirit started off the finals against PSG.LGD with a clear strategy: ban Ame’s Monkey King and split up their Tiny-Lycan combo — and with that, Team Spirit took the first two games with relative ease with yatoro’s Naga Siren and Collapse’s Magnus.
The next two rounds however brought on a champion that Team Spirit did not have an answer for: the Undying, which in Game 3, allowed Ame’s Spectre and NothingToSay’s Tinker to globally control the game; and in Game 4, giving PSG.LGD’s Mangus-Luna combo free reign under the protection of Tombstone.
Then finally in Game 5, Team Spirit let through PSG.LGD’s undefeated Tiny-Lycan combo in exchange for the Undying ban, and in the most convincing fashion, won the game with unrelenting pressure from Yatoro’s Terrorblade, TORONTOTOKYO’s Ember Spirit, Mira’s Bane, Miposhka’s Winter Wyvern, and most notably Collapse’s Magnus which is now arguably the world’s best.
This year, TI10 was held at Bucharest, Romania, as its initial location in Stockholm made it difficult for international players to attain a Sweden visa when the country refused to recognize esports as an official sport.
Watch the recap of the finals above.
At the end of a ruthless Grand Final that kept us all on the edge of our seats, @Team__Spirit were able to overcome @PSGeSports, and now hoist the Aegis of Champions as the winners of The International 2021! #TI10 #Dota2 pic.twitter.com/97KoEIUb7k
— The International (@dota2ti) October 17, 2021
Before #TI10, the total earnings for @Team__Spirit since 2015 was just under $600,000. Today their team walks home with $18 million.
An absolutely stunning display of Dota skill and a true Cinderella story; we can’t wait to see what the future holds for Spirit! ? pic.twitter.com/jNegwNKs4P
— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) October 17, 2021
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