Dota 2's premier tournament has come to a close, its winner decided and the $15 million award given out. 2019's The International was, as is said every year, one for the ages. The tournament was filled with clutch plays, killer comebacks, and international drama unlike any other tournament in esports. At the end of it all, one Dota 2 team stood above all challengers. The International 2019's championship team is OG.
With its victory, OG becomes the first team to ever win back-to-back The International tournaments. The team also made a staggering run in 2018 to take the vaunted Aegis of Champions trophy. The one difference between the two championships being the prize pool. In 2018 OG took home $11 million from a prize pool of over $25 million. For winning The International 2019, OG will take home over $15 million from a prize pool of over $34 million.
Team OG didn't come into the tournament as the favorites, not having won a premier tournament in Dota 2 since The International 2018. However, it quickly proved itself to be the team to beat at The International 2019. OG stood in first place following The International 2019's group stages, losing just 2 of 16 matches and getting matched into the next round's upper brackets.
As impressive as its run was, OG didn't go without a loss in the tournament's bracket stage. In fact, it faced several big challenges. OG went 2-1 against both Evil Geniuses and PSG.LGD in the tournament's quarter and semifinals. And while OG inevitably went 3-1 against Team Liquid in The International 2019's Grand Finals, Liquid showed clearly it deserved to be there.
OG, whose professional esports players include ana, Topson, Ceb, JerAx, and N0tail, is a Europe-based team and will take home a prize of exactly $15,609,462. The International 2019's second-place team, Team Liquid, is also based in Europe. Team Liquid will take home a prize of $4,459,846. Third place belongs to PSG.LGD. Fourth place is Team Secret. They'll take home $3,087,586 and $2,058,391 respectively. Tied for fifth are Evil Geniuses and Vici Gaming, both earning the tournament's final million-plus prize of $1,200,728.
The International remains the tournament with the largest prize pool in esports, due to its unique crowdfunded system. Dota 2 fans contribute to the prize pool by purchasing a Dota 2 microtransaction called The Compendium, which can further be paid into for levels that grant various rewards.
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