In a dramatic turn of events, Invictus Gaming dominate tournament favorites OG in the grand finals of the Dota 2 Asia Championship.
Despite falling to OG on the tournament’s previous day, Invictus looked completely ready for both of their opponents on the last day of the tournament. Neither Newbee nor OG were able to take a single game off the Chinese juggernaut.
OG, who had only dropped two games throughout the tournament, were countered constantly by Invictus support Ye “BoBoKa” Zhibiao’s on both Riki and Earth Spirit. Whether it came down to disrupting Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka’s Enigma in the second game of the series, or disrupting OG’s teamfights in the final third game, BoBoKa delivered one of the strongest performances of the entire tournament in the grand finals.
With their victory at the Dota 2 Asia Championship, Invictus has won its first major international LAN title in more than two years—a considerable feat given the fierce opposition present at the event. Additionally, this is also Xu “BurNIng” Xhilei’s first large-scale victory in his entire Dota 2 career, making it a landmark event for the legendary Chinese carry player.
For OG, the defeat in the grand finals marks the European squad’s second consecutive top-two finish at a LAN in the past three months, as the team was defeated by Evil Geniuses at the DotaPit Season 5 LAN finals on Jan. 22. Up until the Dota 2 Asia Championship grand finals, however, OG solidified their status as one of the top teams in the world with an almost flawless performance in the group stage, as well as their victories against Newbee and Invictus Gaming in the tournament’s upper bracket.
Aside from Invictus Gaming’s dominant showing in the grand finals, the biggest takeaway from the event were the performances of Team Liquid and Evil Geniuses. Considered to be favorites heading into the event due to their victory at the StarSeries Season 3 LAN finals on Feb. 26, Liquid’s run in the main event was ended by Team Faceless in the first round of the losers bracket—ending one of the tournament favorite’s journey through the event in last place.
While Evil Geniuses’ tournament run didn’t end quite as soon as Liquid’s, the team failed to place within the top four—an unexpected result, given the team’s consistency with its current roster.
With the conclusion of the Dota 2 Asia Championship, all eyes are now set towards the Kiev Major on April 27, where the majority of Dota 2’s most established teams will once again face off.
