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Team Liquid has lifted the Aegis and claimed victory in Dota 2’s 2017 International, earning themselves $10.9m in cash prizes.
Team Liquid, captained by Dota veteran Kuro ‘KuroKy’ Takhasomi, ploughed through much of the competition throughout the entire event, and they kept up this dominance in the final, sweeping former champs Newbee away in the first 3-0 Grand Final in the International’s history.
This wasn’t the first world class team they’d played on their way to the finals, brawling through the lower bracket to topple Empire, LGD Gaming, Virtus Pro and Team Secret in addition to LGD.Forever Young (LFY) in a lower bracket final just a few hours before the grand final.
Liquid looked in control through the final, although Newbee got a beefy lead at the start of game 2 off of the back of several ganks and some solid farming. However, a teamfight 25 minutes in flipped the game on its head, and Liquid was soon tearing down racks.
So caps off the final ‘standard’ Dota 2 series, with big changes coming next year to reiterate how The International, Major and Minor tournaments all work. There will be a shift to monthly competitions and points based qualifications, that should ensure a fairer scene for those trying to qualify for big events. It’s also time to consider the yearly roster shuffles. It’s not uncommon for teams to disintegrate or form in the void left after The International, and it’s unknown how many members of the winning Team Liquid will remain there by the time the new season starts up.
The prize pool hit $24,787,913 this year, with Valve adding $1,600,000 to the pot and fans throwing the rest by buying cosmetic items to support the tournament. Valve give 50% in proceeds to the prize pool, so for the contributed £23,187,913, Valve has also just earnt an identical amount that should just about pay for the whole event.
Newbee walk away with $3,950,066, disproving the old adage that there are no prizes for second place, while everyone in the top 16 gets a chunk of cash of varying sizes, with 16th place earning $123,440.
There are no prizes for 17th place, sadly.
