16 teams do battle in The International 3 for $2.8 million dollars

The largest prized eSports tournament in history has concluded with almost $2.9 million handed out and a reported one million online spectators. The yearly DotA 2 International tournament held by in Seattle by developer Valve really outdid itself; it was the perfect tournament, complete with the best finals I’ve seen in a very long time. 

The favorite, Alliance, went into this tournament with very high expectations on it. Formerly under the name No Tidehunter, and now the sister company of Evil Geniuses, Alliance has won no less than 17 gold medals, with The International’s trophy The Aegis of Champions topping that off, along with the $1,437,204 first place prize.

Going into the preliminary games Alliance was dominant with a 14-0 score, securing its spot in the upper bracket; from there it tore through the bracket toward the grand finals, dropping only one map, beating eventual second place Na’Vi 2-0.

After losing to Alliance in the upper bracket, The International 2011 winner and 2012 second place Na’Vi defeated the impressive Malaysian squad of Orange ESports in the lower bracket finals before going on to face Alliance once again in the grand finals.

With the stage set and over a million people watching on TwitchTV, in-client on DotATV and on Swedish TV, the crowd favorite Na’Vi would do battle one final time with the so far unstoppable Swedes, Alliance.

In the first game Alliance looks to continue the onslaught, beating Na’Vi in every lane and gaining a massive lead. Knowing defeat when they see it, Na’Vi taps out at the 16 minute mark to preserve its mentality going forward. Na’Vi’s surrender makes this the shortest game in the tournament.

In the second game, Alliance boldly picked the same Venomancer Na’Vi had just failed with, in a bid to destroy Na’Vi’s mental fortitude. However, they have bitten off more than they can chew as Na’Vi gets full rein of the heroes they want, showing Alliance why they are the 2 time TI finalists. Na’Vi uses the relocate of Io to effectively control the map, cutting Alliance down wherever it turns.

In the all-important game three which decides who gets the high ground in a best of 5, both teams pull out their wild card strategies. This game is swings and roundabouts as Na’Vi takes the early lead, but Alliance puts its hopes on one Hero and finds some pick-offs giving it a lead. Na’Vi soon manages to turn-around with a few good team fights and begins taking control of the map once more.

With Alliances’ barracks exposed and Mega Creeps pouring into its base, Alliance makes one last ditch effort, buying the all-powerful Divine Rapier. Charging toward the enemy’s base Alliance is turned around by Na’Vi which picks up the Divine Rapier. Alliance is left with no other option but to concede defeat.

Now behind 2-1 in a best of 5 it is make or break for Alliance which debuts the TI3’s first Night Stalker, a risky Hero pick that relies heavily on making the most of the in-game night time cycles. During the first night Na’Vi steps too far into the darkness and is wiped on the tier 2 tower, Alliance capitalizes on the mistake by taking three towers and a Roshan by 12 minutes. Na’Vi is never able to come back from this deficit and eventually falls to Alliance.

Now 2-2 this final game of The International 3 would decide $800,000 and, more importantly, the Aegis of Champions. This was the first International that has gone to a game 5, the first team to come back from 2-1 down; it was to be an epic for all to remember.

Things don’t start off as planned for Alliance. What should be an easy pick-off on a lone Alchemist for Alliance turns into a nightmare, as the tri-botlane dives tower for the kill Alchemist dodges in and out of trees and manages to get three kills to Alliance’s two.

The game balances out going into the mid-game before chaos ensues.  Puck makes a misguided gank attempt which leads to an already farmed Dendi getting a triple kill. A fight breaks out at Roshan as both teams refuse to back down, both teams buyback and eventually S4 manages to stop Dendi and pick up the Roshan, Aegis and gold.

With both teams at a stalemate the game goes on pause until the 30 minute mark, eventually Na’Vi takes an uncontested Roshan followed by Alliance’s middle barracks. As this is happening, on the other side of the map Alliance has pushed into Na’Vi’s undefended bottom and top barracks, realizing this too late Na’Vi tries to teleport back but is interrupted by Puck; they lose both barracks.

With Mega Creeps incoming Na’Vi is forced to push out to avoid being locked into a defensive position. Every time Na’Vi pushes out it is punished as Alliance takes its Tier 4 towers, exposing the throne. Na’Vi manages to find a kill on Crystal Maiden at Roshan but is once again flanked by Alliance which is now pushing top, Teleport scrolls uses Puck once again cancels two of them leaving Na’Vi with too few to defend. Screaming and shouting as the Radiant Ancient’s health plummets the crowd goes wild and Alliance rushes the stage to lift the Aegis of Champions.

An excellent tournament held by Valve, with undoubtedly the best teams in the world and production quality to suit. Will Alliance continue to dominate the DotA 2 scene in the future? Which teams will change their rosters in the future? These are all questions that make eSports so exciting to follow.

The final standings:

1^st – Alliance ($1,437,204)

2^nd – Natus Vincere ($632,370)

3^rd – Orange Esports ($287,441)

4^th – TongFu ($201,208)

5^th-6^th – Invictus Gaming, Team DK ($114,976)

7^th-8^th – Team Liquid, Fnatic ($43,116)

If you missed any or all of the games, you can find them on YouTube: Day One, Day Two, Day Three, Day Four, Day Five. A Redditor is compiling a list of must watch games, that should make it easier to find the good games. 

DotA 2 is a free-to-play offering from Valve, you can download and play all heroes for free directly through Steam.

Photos courtesy of Valve

Chris Rainy, Columnist.