The International 2016 started ten days ago, with the best DotA teams in the world battling for the Aegis of Champions and millions of dollars in prize money.
The event started off with the Wild Card teams, fighting for a chance to compete in the biggest DotA event of the year. Chinese team, EHOME, and European team, Escape Gaming, qualified for the event through the Wild Card bracket, and progressed to the Group stage of The International 2016.
In the Group stage, the remaining sixteen teams were divided into two groups. OG, Evil Geniuses, Wings Gaming, and Alliance finished in the top half of Group A, while TNC Gaming, Natus Vincere, LGD Gaming, and Escape Gaming finished in the lower half of the Group.
EHOME, Digital Chaos, Newbee and MVP Phoenix finished in the top half of Group B, with the lower half of the group consisting of Fnatic, Team Secret, Team Liquid, and Vici Gaming Reborn.
The main event kicked off with tournament favorites, OG, taking on MVP Phoenix. OG lost to MVP Phoenix in a best of three match, where MVP Phoenix defeated OG two games to one. Due to the loss to MVP Phoenix, OG was knocked down to the lower Bracket. In the lower Bracket, OG faced South-East Asian team, TNC Gaming. TNC Gaming managed to defeated OG, knocking the tournament favorites out of The International 2016.
Digital Chaos lost their first upper bracket match to Wings Gaming, knocking them down to the lower bracket. Digital Chaos was considered to be one of the weakest teams at the event, however, they surprised everyone with their amazing performance. After being knocked down to the lower bracket, Digital Chaos breezed passed the competition, and made it to the Grand Final of The International 2016. Digital Chaos lost only two games in the lower bracket.
Meanwhile, Wings Gaming exerted their dominance in the upper bracket, where they lost only one of the seven games they played. Wings Gaming started off by defeating Digital Chaos 2-1, next they defeated MVP Phoenix 2-0, until finally defeating The International 2015 champions, Evil Geniuses, 2-0 in the final of the upper bracket.
Wings Gaming faced Digital Chaos in the Grand Final of The International 2016. Digital Chaos took game 1, as their star player, w33, helped his team execute perfect teamfights which gave Digital Chaos the upper hand.
In game two, Digital Chaos started off strong, however, because of their incredible team work, Wings Gaming took back the advantage. Wings Gaming won game two, and tied the match score to 1-1. Game three had a similar start as game two, with Digital Chaos’ early aggression got them a few kills to give them an early advantage. However, Wings Gaming’s carry player, Shadow, played an amazing game, helping his team win their second game of the series. Shadow had a flawless game, going 20-0-16 in game three.
In game four, Wings Gaming played an amazing game, shutting down Digital Chaos from the start of the game, making room for their carry player. The mid game was fairly easy for Wings Gaming, as they won teamfight after teamfight. Another incredible performance from Wings Gaming resulted in them winning game four, and The International 2016.
Wings Gaming claimed the Aegis of Champions, and were crowned the Champions of The International 2016. Taking home $9,139,00 in prize money. Digital Chaos received $3,427,000 in prize money after an incredible run at the event.
The final standings for The International 2016 are listed below:
1st Wings Gaming – $9,120,223
2nd Digital Chaos – $3,420,084
3rd Evil Geniuses $2,176,417
4th Fnatic – $1,450,945
5th-6th EHOME, MVP Phoenix – $932,750
7th-8th TnC Pro Team, Team Liquid – $518,194
9th-12th OG, LGD Gaming, Alliance, Newbee – $310,917
13th-16th Vici Gaming Reborn, Team Secret, Escape Gaming, Natus Vincere – $103,639
Wings Gaming’s unpredictable drafts and outstanding team work led to their victory in The International 2016. Teams did not know what heroes to pick and ban during the draft, as every player on Wings Gaming has a very wide hero pool and can play just about any hero. According to the statistics of the tournament, Wings Gaming was the team with the most different heroes picked. Teams did not know how to counter the Chinese team, and that led Wings Gaming to victory.
