Don’t say we never answer the big questions here at The Game Haus. Today, we’re making our predictions for who will win The International 2019. We are also going to take a stab at the top 3. Take a read below and see if your predictions match ours.
We’ve heard it said that Evil Geniuses have fallen from grace recently. While they have had strong results in major tournaments over the past couple of years there have been a few upsets. June’s EPICENTER Major, for example.
Image courtesy of Evil Geniuses.
In fact, let’s dwell on this for a second. Their performance in the EPICENTER was pretty dire. The team took a shock 2 – 0 loss to Gambit in the group stages. Then they failed to make it past round 1 in the Lower Bracket, losing 1 – 0 to OG.
Some fans even started referring to EG’s star man as “SuFail”. (If anyone asks, you didn’t hear that from us). However, despite all this, they have an undeniably talented and experienced squad of players from all over the world. Prior to EPICENTER, they were having a very strong season.
Captained by the incredibly experienced Tal “Fly” Aizik and fronted by the incredibly talented Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan, Evil Geniuses are a force to be reckoned with in the Dota 2 professional scene.
We’ve predicted their 3rd place finish over teams like Virtus.pro, PSG.LDG and the inconsistent OG. This is because of their comparative consistency (EPICENTER notwithstanding) and individual talent.
Ranked 5th in the Dota 2 Pro Circuit Teams as of writing, we shouldn’t have to tell you that the boys at Team Liquid are no joke. Their form in 2019 has been excellent and they’ve finished strong in a number of important tournaments. These include 2nd place finishes in both the EPICENTER Major and the MDL Disneyland Paris Major.
Image courtesy of Team Liquid.
Their individual talent is incredible. If you ask casual fans of Dota to name just one pro player in the scene they would undoubtedly say Dendi…
But seeing as Dendi doesn’t play for Team Liquid you’d probably have to ask them to name another player – and they’d most definitely say Miracle-. Undoubtedly one of the best players in Dota 2, Amer “Miracle-” Al-Barkawi can dismantle entire teams by himself.
Backed up by fellow superstars like Maroun “GH” Merhej and Kuro “KuroKy” Salehi Takhasomi, Team Liquid have the potential to achieve great things in this tournament. Is that who will win The International 2019? It’s close, but not quite. For us, that honor goes to…
There’s a reason Team Secret is currently ranked number one of the Dota 2 Pro Circuit Teams. Of the six major tournaments, they have entered in 2019, they’ve finished 1st in four of them. They fell apart somewhat at EPICENTER but, as we’ve established, that tournament turned out to be a big of a giant killer.
Image courtesy of Team Secret.
The team is built around the incredibly experienced Clement “Puppey” Ivanov, who leads from a support position. Under his guidance, Team Secret has gone from losing almost their entire roster to becoming the most dominant team in the current Dota 2 pro scene. It probably won’t surprise you to learn that players like Puppey and Yeik “MidOne” Nai Zheng feature heavily in our Dota 2 fantasy team draft for TI.
We’re prepared to stake our professional reputation on the fact that, barring any disasters, Team Secret will be walking away with several million dollars in prize money by the end of August. Of course, if this turns out to be wildly inaccurate you might find that The Game Haus has a sudden vacancy for a new Dota 2 writer…
Get your resumes ready, boys and girls.
The International is the single biggest tournament in the Dota 2 professional calendar. Almost anything can happen and upsets are not uncommon. Just because we haven’t featured your favorite team on our list doesn’t mean they aren’t in with a shot. Quite the contrary, in fact.
Who will win The International 2019? Honestly, it’s anyone’s tournament…
…but Team Secret is going to win.
Who do you think is going to take home the Aegis this year? Care to share your Compendium predictions with other fans? Join the conversation in the comments and on social media!
Featured image courtesy of Valve and Team Secret – with a little bit of editing by me.
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