Team Spirit won the $18 million Dota 2 championship in a close final
Dota 2’s Aegis trophy returned to Eastern Europe for the first time since the first tournament in 2011. Team Spirit won the 2021 International Invitational and crowned the world champion. Leading 2-0 early in the 5 best finals, including a brutal fourth defeat with a 2-2 record, Team Spirit led the team to win the championship in the final game.
Team Spirit, based in Moscow, will now receive the largest single bonus in the history of e-sports: $18,208,300. They are also the first team from Eastern Europe since the Ukrainian team Natus Vincere (Na’Vi) won the first Dota 2 International in 2011.
We are the top 10 international champions 🐉 This is an amazing adventure. We thank all fans for their support! We would not be there without you. See you next season! #SPIRITIX pic.twitter.com/JWB5buXfEWOctober 17, 2021
The fierce competition in Dota 2 over the past four years has been defined by a team headquartered in the European Union. Liquid won the championship in 2017, and then OG won two consecutive victories in 2018 and 2019. The 2020 event was cancelled and the prize pool was transferred to this year.
Team Spirit was eliminated in the first game by Team Secret to the disadvantage of the group stage, but it only started from there. In the process of winning, Team Spirit first eliminated the defending champion OG, and then defeated fellow Russian Virtus.pro. Perhaps the most surprising thing is that they defeated the 2012 champion Invictus Gaming, who was considered one of the strongest teams in the tournament with a score of 6-2-0 in the group stage-only PSG.LGD performed better. , 7-1-0.
Nevertheless, despite playing a wonderful final series, but the Chinese team PSG.LGD failed to win. They must be satisfied with the prize of $5,202,400 for the runner-up.
Dota 2’s international tournaments are the most profitable events in e-sports. Each of the past six events has set a new world record for the championship prize pool. This year’s event was held in Bucharest, Romania after some adjustments to the venue. There was no audience at the event, but there were some strange fake cheers.