After two weeks of single-match play, eliminations, and the final bracket, Valve’s International Dota 2 championship is down to just two teams: the dark horse Chinese team Newbee, who came back from a losing record during single-match play to win straight sets without losing a game in a week of play, and ViCi Gaming. ViCi started strong against US squad Evil Geniuses with a 16 minute win in game one, but suffered a resounding defeat in game two. ViCi regained their footing in a quick game three to secure a berth in the finals against their fellow Chinese team Newbee.
With ViCI advancing to the grand finals, fans are looking to Monday, when the two teams will play a best-of-5 series to determine the winner of the International and take home a purse of more than $5 million USD. This is the first time an International final has been composed entirely of Chinese squads.
Here’s a breakdown of the two teams that will competing for that massive $5 million prize!
Team NewBee
NewBee is a Chinese team whose current lineup has only existed recently, adding their last player at the end of April. The team consists of former members of high profile Chinese DOTA teams TongFu, Invictus Gaming, LGD and RisingStars.
NewBee struggled at times during phase two of TI4, but displayed a dominating performance in phase three, winning straight sets against every opponent. By winning the phase three bracket, NewBee is guaranteed winnings of at least $500,000 USD, and advances to the main event’s winner’s bracket. This is NewBee’s first International as a team.
Members:
- Chen Zhihao – “Hao”
- Zhang Pan – “Mu”
- Zhang Ning – “xiao8”
- Wang Jao – “banana”
- Wang Zhaohui – “SanSheng”
Team ViCi Gaming
ViCi Gaming (or ViCi/VG) is a Chinese eSports organization who founded their Dota 2 team in October of 2012. ViCi’s Dota 2 squad was originally assembled nearly entirely of high-ranking amateur Chinese DOTA players.
Since their inception, ViCi has seen a high degree of player turnover – their current International squad were recruited after ViCi’s disastrous TI3 qualifier performance last year. This new squad has acquitted themselves well, turning in a dominating phase two performance at this year’s International with a 12-3 record and a guaranteed spot in the Main event.
This is ViCi’s first time beyond the qualifier rounds of The International.
Members:
- Liu Jiajun – “Sylar”
- Xie Juanhao – “Super”
- Bai Fan – “ROTK”
- Lu Chao “Fenrir”
- Xu Linsen – “fy”
We have a breakdown of the prize money, teams competing and the first few round results here. If you are new to DOTA, catch-up on our history of the DOTA 2 Internationals here.
[Source: DOTA 2 2014 International Finalists – Newbee vs ViCi]
