The Greatest Underdog Story in Esports History?

This past weekend the tenth International came to a close. That’s right, you heard me: the tenth. And, if you’re like me, and you’ve watched all ten of these, I’m sure you feel, as I do, that this one was for the ages.

From the stomps to the skewers to the fact that the roster to take home nearly twenty-million dollars ended up being Spirit, it’s safe to say that the tenth annual be-all and end-all of Dota 2 -- or, as I like to call it, the best two weeks in esports -- was a certified banger. Let’s get into it.

Music used under license from Associated Production Music LLC (”APM”).

[matheo]

It was impossible for OG to win because the number 3 doesn't exist in valve games.

[mickeyari]

Guys they beat OG, IG, VP and Secret in the lowerbracket and then they had to beat psgLGd in the grand finals. This is def a 2011 Dallas Mavericks run, it wasthe most difficult TI win in all of history.

[yeah]

It's such an incredible shame there was no crowd. They would have gone absolutely batshit insane, the crowd would have loved their run SO much

[omarness]

Forgot to mention about the Yatoro's hair sacrifice to the Dota gods and writing their enemy names on Death note :D

[Rane]

Yatoro's map awareness in the last game (and in most games) was basically equivalent to map hacks. That spider sense was unreal

[xvi-Panda]

Just put “It’s TI” on a T-Shirt with Dimitri’s face on it and I’ll buy it

[duckyduck]

It was my first International and first dota tournament ever (with 1 hour in this game on steam) and I gotta say that was the greatest esport experience of my life. I didn't understand shit in terms of gameplay but the final was such a rollercoaster of emotions

[Deadshot]

Missed the chance to talk about how Putin sent spirt a letter to congratulate

[mangles]

you should of talked about LGD's unbeatable tiny lycan combo that spirit beat in game five

[kayawhite]

2021 is probably the best ever year for CIS esports, arguably even better than 2011. After years of disappointment and underachieving we have Navi and Gambit in CS, Gambit in Valo and Spirit in dota. As a Ukrainian esports fan it brings true joy to my heart, now the only thing left is for s1mple to finally win his deserved major championship

[twanxz]

Just appreciate what they've done. Team Spirit beat all the best Teams to win TI10.

[masakovske]

I'm a CS fan and hardly understand gameplay of dota (played 4 hours at max) but holy shit that was awesome to watch.

[miski]

People doesn't realize how ridiculous their run was. before TI, Teamspirit literally plays in tier 3 tournaments for $20k, basically scraps. For them to go in and beat the literal crap out of everyone, and then beat LGDs Lycan Tiny strat that was near unbeatable until game 5. Yatoro went on to have 3 rampages basically dumpsters on every other carries on the mainstage

[tingispingis]

Poor PSG.LGD are forever destined to be the anime villains. TI8 they lost to OG's cinderella run. TI9 they lost to Liquid's cinderella run.

[Mathias]

Team Spirit winning is so unexpected that not a SINGLE dota player got the prediction in game right.

[Reilly]

Ive been waiting for this lol

T1 vs LGD 10 buybacks 10 deaths was the best part of ti10 for me

[adhi]

Tbh if Secret won the lower bracket final, it would be a GUARANTEED WIN for LGD to be the TI10 champion. Boy I'm glad Team Spirit won this

[mst-]

"For 2 weeks the laws of reality get modified turning TI week into an anime, making impossible dreams come true"

[Speedself]

I've watched quite a bit of that TI despite not following the Dota scene closely, but I didn't realize just how crazy that Team Spirit run was. Thank you for that!

[artemayzer]

You forgot torontotokyo "ez game" and yatoro 3 rampages in play-off record of the TI