The second day on the main stage of TI10 brought fans thrilling three-game series' which allowed PSG.LGD and Virtus.pro to advance further on the high road.
The second day of TI10 playoffs kicked off with two of the upper bracket series. While the first series ended with the expected winner, PSG.LGD, T1 put up one hell of a fight. In the second series, it was the dark horse Virtus.pro that was left standing when the dust settled. Both series were nothing less than spectacular.
PSG.LGD
vs
T1
This series showcased the strength of each team and had some standout performances.
The first game was a flawless one for Ame on the Terrorblade with a perfect score of 12:0:6. LGD was fully in control.
The second game saw LGD take Terrorblade for Ame once again but this time T1 went for Medusa, Doom, and Magnus - their best core heroes - as well as picking up their first Dawnbreaker. Aghs on Dawnbreaker is an amazing item, especially against Terrorblade and T1 used everything to their advantage.
There was so much happening in the team fights, it was wild and bursting with kills and deaths for both sides - even to the point of having 10 buybacks for one fight alone. If there is one game to watch from the upper brackets, this might be the one.
T1 mounted their lead and was able to tie up the series.
In the deciding game, T1 last picked Venomancer but they never did get a chance to take advantage of it. LGD dominated and were all over the map thanks to an Io support. It was a crushing game, with a fast tempo and over too quickly for T1 to do much about it.
LGD advanced to the top 6 while T1 drop to the lower brackets to face off against Alliance.
Virtus.pro
vs
Vici Gaming
The second upper bracket series of the day was ViCi Gaming taking on Virtus.pro.
The first game saw ViCi Gaming take the better draft with the top heroes of the meta including Magnus while Virtus.pro went with some variety of heroes that would give them the early advantage. Although it did give the CIS team an even start early on against VG, it turned very one-sided towards the late game as was expected, giving the Chinese team the first game advantage.
The second game saw another Magnus pick for ViCi Gaming and they were hitting their stride early, but VP put up an impressive performance with GPK on Puck. Virtus.pro seemed to know what to prioritize and was able to get on top of their targets. The Drow pick for VG didn't seem to do much and the Magnus skewers at the base seemed to work against them and help VP to initiate.
Virtus.pro's fantastic play tied up the series and forced the deciding game three.
In the last game, VP had a strong start and their lane setup worked perfectly. For the most part, there were fantastic fights and both teams were trading back and forth, but GPK's reactions were just amazing. ViCi Gaming started to crumble, with things eventually spiralling out of control for them.
Virtus.pro took the unexpected victory and the full team of debutants move towards the top 6 at their first TI.
ViCi Gaming dropped to the lower bracket to battle it out against Evil Geniuses for their tournament life.
TI10 Main Event
Main Event -October 12th - October 17th, 2021
- Sixteen teams play in a double-elimination format over six days.
- Eight teams begin in the Upper Bracket, eight in the Lower Bracket.
- First Lower Bracket round is Bo1, Grand Finals are Bo5, all other rounds are Bo3.
Schedule:
- Main Event - Day 3 (UB Semifinals, LB Round 2): October 14th
- Main Event - Day 4 (LB Round 3 & 4, All-Star Match): October 15th
- Main Event - Day 5 (UB Finals, LB Round 4 & 5): October 16th
- Main Event - Day 6 (LB Finals, Grand Finals): October 17th
TI10 Prize Pool
The final total for the TI10 prize pool has clocked in at $40,018,195 when the crowdfunding and Battle Pass purchases ended this past weekend. That is a 2401.14% increase from the original base amount of $1.6 million.
Only 25% of the sales contribute to the prize pool meaning that $153,672,780 has been spent on purchases by fans across the globe.
The previous year, The International 9 prize pool reached $34,330,068 ($32,730,068 added).
The International 10
The International 10 is now expected to take place in October with the group stage matches unfolding October 7 - 10, the playoffs set to kick off on the 12th of the month, and the grand finals scheduled for October 17.
