cdec's drafting got somewhat figured out in the finals but they put up a hell of a fight and were competitive
dc really didn't have a chance against wings
The International 2016 (Aug 3rd - 13th)
- Thread starter neurosisxeno
- Start date
cdec's drafting got somewhat figured out in the finals but they put up a hell of a fight and were competitive
dc really didn't have a chance against wings
DalikSkywing
Member
cdec played teamfights better than EG last year, they lost because techies was OP and completely countered their gameplan and because shiki was awful at laning stage and couldn't play leshrac at all.
shira
Member
Who do you pick/ban when your opponent can play every hero?
GabeN sends his regards.
GabeN sends his regards.
DalikSkywing
Member
all I can say, China can't lose even TI, THATS A FACT
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
Which game did Wings pick Techies in? I missed that one
Who do you pick/ban when your opponent can play every hero?
Is that just some clever editing or was it really like that?
DalikSkywing
Member
that's obviously because of salty NA fanboys Kappa
Has the TI team change game begun yet?
I don't think it's coincidence either that both DC and Wings made it. If you're playing against LDC, OG, Secret, EG, Newbee, etc. There is enough material and years worth of it out there. They know their game in and out well before it.
DC was a thrown together team and Wings basically became a reality last year, while peaking just recently. These are teams that most others haven't played multiple times over and saw continually over the past year.
I don't think it's coincidence either that both DC and Wings made it. If you're playing against LDC, OG, Secret, EG, Newbee, etc. There is enough material and years worth of it out there. They know their game in and out well before it.
DC was a thrown together team and Wings basically became a reality last year, while peaking just recently. These are teams that most others haven't played multiple times over and saw continually over the past year.
shira
Member
Next LAN in 33 days, contracts are ending between now and the end of the month.
I don't expect OG to stay together. Alliance probably, VP seems to have a stack prepared.
Expect some garbage dota from now until the Winter Major
Who do you pick/ban when your opponent can play every hero?
man, really makes you appreciate the depth of their hero pool
Surprised they didn't bust out morphling support again.man, really makes you appreciate the depth of their hero pool
I posted this in the regular Dota thread, but I figured I should cross-post it here too.
I'm an idiot and accidentally left my alarm notifications on silent on my phone, so I missed my alarm and my flight. United Customer Service is pretty good and got me on a new one with no charge, but I have time to kill at the airport so I figured I could go into full blogpost mode now.
The International 2016
TI6 was amazing, and topped last year in my opinion. Not only that, I think the quality of the matches made it the best TI yet. Stars of the show were easily Wings (really fascinating to watch their picks and strategies), EG, DC, and EHOME. My favorite game of the whole tournament was EG vs EHOME game 1 (the one with the comeback from Mega Creeps). Everyone in the arena was on the edge of their seats the entire game. It was easily one of the best games of Dota, if not the single best, I have ever watched. The grand final matches were also great. I wanted DC to win, but Wings is so fun to watch that I'm okay with them winning too. Going into the tournament, I was pulling for Na'Vi (with the expectation that they wouldn't get anywhere, and I was right), then EG and DC in their matches. I wanted EG to beat DC, but DC proved themselves to be incredibly strong. Much more that just a meme about Sunsfan.
It was great meet you guys/see you again. For many of you I basically got to say hi/wave at you and we didn't really get to talk at all due to lack of seats or time, and being too disorganized for a meetup. Off the top of my head I saw Anbokr, Procarbine, TUSR, Russ T, DrKirby, Chris R, DrPizza, lvl 2 pidgey, JambiBum, and I'm sure I probably missed someone. It was great to meet you guys, and hope to see you again next year. There was no Bandits photo this year as we didn't have a meetup, but I still have some photos regardless. This was posted earlier, but I'll post it again:
https://twitter.com/KaciAitchison/status/764621996894199808
I happened to be at the right place at the right time. I'm right behind Kaci to the left of Dendi. I also got selfies at other times with Kaci and Purge.
Speaking of Purge, the Weatherman Purge segments were a really great addition this year, and something I would like to see at more tournaments, such as the majors. He did a great job at pointing things out with drafts, critical teamfights, laning, etc. Since Purge was doing this, that most likely resulted in the noob stream being cut, and at that point I feel like they were running out of people to do a potential noob stream so it was cut. Pyrion was on the panel, Merlini was a co-caster, I'm not sure if there is anyone else really in the vein of Purge out there.
I know a lot of the filler content between games wasn't generally appreciated around here. Maybe it's just me, or being at the event live, or a combination of both, but I enjoyed it, even the "cringey" stuff. I don't mind Slacks, I actually like his stuff, but I can understand why people would find him irritating. I think we can all agree on something though: That the segments like International Archives were fantastic. The Fountain Hook one was easily my favorite, and gave us perspective on it from some players we had never heard before. Hearing how Loda was salty about it at the time, and the way the TongFu players took it that they just lost and it was simple as that. The Not Playing Dota segments were also well done, and very interesting.
The cosplay contest was cool just becasue of all the creativity that goes into it. TheKittyPlays as Roshan was pretty clever, I remember meeting her last year and she was dressed as QoP. Arc Warden gets at the very least an honorable mention though, because that was a cool idea.
The All Star match was a lot of fun as well. I was able to get both shirts, but I was wearing Team Kaci and Team Kaci won! It's amazing to me how Kaci came in at TI3 as a news reporter doing interviews that didn't know much about the game, to someone that knows so much more about it now and is leading a team in the All Star match. Kaci in the Timbersaw cosplay was great, and all the witty banter between Kaci and Slacks was pretty funny. The showstopper though was of course Underlord. Everyone kind of expected it, although people were thrown off by the match actually starting. Remember in TI4 that Techies took over after Sniper was picked, and this was still during picking phase. The pause and "cheat code" was pulled off pretty well and showing Underlord warp in in AR was great.
On the subject of the AR, I thought that was a great addition to the event. It was nice to look at, with the times being shown on the stage so everyone could see them. I think the best benefit of it though, was giving people that were either new to the game, or don't watch much Dota but tune in for TI, just to get a better idea of what the heroes look like. It was also a good idea to have the brief ability demos of certain heroes when they were picked. Slacks interviewing AR heroes was also pretty funny. My "cringe" tolerance is pretty high.
The opening ceremony was cool last year, with the orchestra, but in my opinion this year's topped that. I'm probably in the minority on this, but I actually like Lindsey Stirling. I hadn't heard of her before TI, and looked her up and she's pretty cool actually. That performance was great, and went particularly well with the event. I'm glad they put the Aegis on it's own stage this time instead of having the "Roshan penis" sticking out of the center stage like last year.
On Friday I noticed on the monitors that usually showed autograph schedules that they said there would be a "special performance" after the last match and to stick around for it. It was also announced on the panel, and there was speculation as to what this was. Deadmau5 again? Lindsey Stirling again? Darude? Resurrecting the Beatles with all of Valve's money? During the last match of the day, drums were being brought out and placed around all four corners of the stage, as if they were war drums. The match ended and they started beating the drums immediately. Everyone was thinking "wtf is going on. The martial art performers came out and then I looked closer at their outfits: they reminded me of monkeys. I was thinking there was no way they were doing this since they had just unveiled Underlord the previous night. Sure enough, there he was. We got the Monkey King trailer. Judging by the trailer, it looks like his skills changed significantly since his Dota 1 secret boss form. That transform into a tree thing wasn't there at all. I'm really excited to see what they bring to this hero since they don't have to design it with WC3 limitations in mind now, and more heroes in the future will be the same way.
Secret Shop, as usual, was great. I was disappointed by the lack of Demiheroes, but I also really like the Nendoroids and Figmas. Here's my haul:
I ended up trading the Vengeful Spirit plushie for Night Stalker later in the week. That Windrunner print you see at the bottom came with the Figma, the Dragon Knight and Mirana had a holographic print in them. The blanket they are all sitting on was actually sold on the lawn. They were only $25 and actually pretty nice, made for sitting on grass or beaches.
The ceremony for the grand final was a really nice touch. I like live orchestras like that, and they played my favorite track from the game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZwlt04y8bM
Having the drums during drafting was also great, really giving dramatic effect.
Like I said before, it was great to meet you all/see you again. One of my favorite things about TI, both this year and last year is how it's basically a place that really brings the Dota community together. I'd be lying if I didn't say Dota was a major part of my life. I enjoy the game, I enjoy watching it, I enjoy the community. Before the Grand Final, they did a bit where Kaci and Slacks did a "heart to heart" type of thing, and Slacks said something that really resonated with me on that: https://www.twitch.tv/dota2ti/v/83400929?t=05h51m22s
"To me, TI means a lot. It's where I started. I think it means a lot to all of us. It's not just about the games. It's a celebration of who we are. The players, the viewers, the guys that watch the workshop artists, everyone. It's not about what we do in the games, it's about coming together and showing we are a family, it's a celebration of us."
Like I said last year, TI is truly incredible in person, and I highly recommend going to one if you can, it's absolutely worth it. I hope to be going again next year, but it's possible real life commitments might get in the way. I think at the very least it's realistic I can do the finals ticket only (assuming they still do that), with the possibility of being able to do the weekday ticket.
Hope everyone else enjoyed TI!
I'm an idiot and accidentally left my alarm notifications on silent on my phone, so I missed my alarm and my flight. United Customer Service is pretty good and got me on a new one with no charge, but I have time to kill at the airport so I figured I could go into full blogpost mode now.
The International 2016
TI6 was amazing, and topped last year in my opinion. Not only that, I think the quality of the matches made it the best TI yet. Stars of the show were easily Wings (really fascinating to watch their picks and strategies), EG, DC, and EHOME. My favorite game of the whole tournament was EG vs EHOME game 1 (the one with the comeback from Mega Creeps). Everyone in the arena was on the edge of their seats the entire game. It was easily one of the best games of Dota, if not the single best, I have ever watched. The grand final matches were also great. I wanted DC to win, but Wings is so fun to watch that I'm okay with them winning too. Going into the tournament, I was pulling for Na'Vi (with the expectation that they wouldn't get anywhere, and I was right), then EG and DC in their matches. I wanted EG to beat DC, but DC proved themselves to be incredibly strong. Much more that just a meme about Sunsfan.
It was great meet you guys/see you again. For many of you I basically got to say hi/wave at you and we didn't really get to talk at all due to lack of seats or time, and being too disorganized for a meetup. Off the top of my head I saw Anbokr, Procarbine, TUSR, Russ T, DrKirby, Chris R, DrPizza, lvl 2 pidgey, JambiBum, and I'm sure I probably missed someone. It was great to meet you guys, and hope to see you again next year. There was no Bandits photo this year as we didn't have a meetup, but I still have some photos regardless. This was posted earlier, but I'll post it again:
https://twitter.com/KaciAitchison/status/764621996894199808
I happened to be at the right place at the right time. I'm right behind Kaci to the left of Dendi. I also got selfies at other times with Kaci and Purge.
Speaking of Purge, the Weatherman Purge segments were a really great addition this year, and something I would like to see at more tournaments, such as the majors. He did a great job at pointing things out with drafts, critical teamfights, laning, etc. Since Purge was doing this, that most likely resulted in the noob stream being cut, and at that point I feel like they were running out of people to do a potential noob stream so it was cut. Pyrion was on the panel, Merlini was a co-caster, I'm not sure if there is anyone else really in the vein of Purge out there.
I know a lot of the filler content between games wasn't generally appreciated around here. Maybe it's just me, or being at the event live, or a combination of both, but I enjoyed it, even the "cringey" stuff. I don't mind Slacks, I actually like his stuff, but I can understand why people would find him irritating. I think we can all agree on something though: That the segments like International Archives were fantastic. The Fountain Hook one was easily my favorite, and gave us perspective on it from some players we had never heard before. Hearing how Loda was salty about it at the time, and the way the TongFu players took it that they just lost and it was simple as that. The Not Playing Dota segments were also well done, and very interesting.
The cosplay contest was cool just becasue of all the creativity that goes into it. TheKittyPlays as Roshan was pretty clever, I remember meeting her last year and she was dressed as QoP. Arc Warden gets at the very least an honorable mention though, because that was a cool idea.
The All Star match was a lot of fun as well. I was able to get both shirts, but I was wearing Team Kaci and Team Kaci won! It's amazing to me how Kaci came in at TI3 as a news reporter doing interviews that didn't know much about the game, to someone that knows so much more about it now and is leading a team in the All Star match. Kaci in the Timbersaw cosplay was great, and all the witty banter between Kaci and Slacks was pretty funny. The showstopper though was of course Underlord. Everyone kind of expected it, although people were thrown off by the match actually starting. Remember in TI4 that Techies took over after Sniper was picked, and this was still during picking phase. The pause and "cheat code" was pulled off pretty well and showing Underlord warp in in AR was great.
On the subject of the AR, I thought that was a great addition to the event. It was nice to look at, with the times being shown on the stage so everyone could see them. I think the best benefit of it though, was giving people that were either new to the game, or don't watch much Dota but tune in for TI, just to get a better idea of what the heroes look like. It was also a good idea to have the brief ability demos of certain heroes when they were picked. Slacks interviewing AR heroes was also pretty funny. My "cringe" tolerance is pretty high.
The opening ceremony was cool last year, with the orchestra, but in my opinion this year's topped that. I'm probably in the minority on this, but I actually like Lindsey Stirling. I hadn't heard of her before TI, and looked her up and she's pretty cool actually. That performance was great, and went particularly well with the event. I'm glad they put the Aegis on it's own stage this time instead of having the "Roshan penis" sticking out of the center stage like last year.
On Friday I noticed on the monitors that usually showed autograph schedules that they said there would be a "special performance" after the last match and to stick around for it. It was also announced on the panel, and there was speculation as to what this was. Deadmau5 again? Lindsey Stirling again? Darude? Resurrecting the Beatles with all of Valve's money? During the last match of the day, drums were being brought out and placed around all four corners of the stage, as if they were war drums. The match ended and they started beating the drums immediately. Everyone was thinking "wtf is going on. The martial art performers came out and then I looked closer at their outfits: they reminded me of monkeys. I was thinking there was no way they were doing this since they had just unveiled Underlord the previous night. Sure enough, there he was. We got the Monkey King trailer. Judging by the trailer, it looks like his skills changed significantly since his Dota 1 secret boss form. That transform into a tree thing wasn't there at all. I'm really excited to see what they bring to this hero since they don't have to design it with WC3 limitations in mind now, and more heroes in the future will be the same way.
Secret Shop, as usual, was great. I was disappointed by the lack of Demiheroes, but I also really like the Nendoroids and Figmas. Here's my haul:
I ended up trading the Vengeful Spirit plushie for Night Stalker later in the week. That Windrunner print you see at the bottom came with the Figma, the Dragon Knight and Mirana had a holographic print in them. The blanket they are all sitting on was actually sold on the lawn. They were only $25 and actually pretty nice, made for sitting on grass or beaches.
The ceremony for the grand final was a really nice touch. I like live orchestras like that, and they played my favorite track from the game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZwlt04y8bM
Having the drums during drafting was also great, really giving dramatic effect.
Like I said before, it was great to meet you all/see you again. One of my favorite things about TI, both this year and last year is how it's basically a place that really brings the Dota community together. I'd be lying if I didn't say Dota was a major part of my life. I enjoy the game, I enjoy watching it, I enjoy the community. Before the Grand Final, they did a bit where Kaci and Slacks did a "heart to heart" type of thing, and Slacks said something that really resonated with me on that: https://www.twitch.tv/dota2ti/v/83400929?t=05h51m22s
"To me, TI means a lot. It's where I started. I think it means a lot to all of us. It's not just about the games. It's a celebration of who we are. The players, the viewers, the guys that watch the workshop artists, everyone. It's not about what we do in the games, it's about coming together and showing we are a family, it's a celebration of us."
Like I said last year, TI is truly incredible in person, and I highly recommend going to one if you can, it's absolutely worth it. I hope to be going again next year, but it's possible real life commitments might get in the way. I think at the very least it's realistic I can do the finals ticket only (assuming they still do that), with the possibility of being able to do the weekday ticket.
Hope everyone else enjoyed TI!
Would have been nice to know there were after party invites
lv2 pidgey
Member
0.04 pts away from top 100 in fantasy
well player
lucebuce12
Member
I had the final being EG vs Wings. Obviously EG wasn't in it and DC was, but then I have Wings winning the tournnament, and my compendium says that's wrong?!
That's cause Team DK won in a glorious 5 match Grand Finals against EG.
lv2 pidgey
Member
nah i think it ended up being just the convention flu.
Take that back hooker
neurosisxeno
Member
I think my mostly Meme-Free OP scared some of them off. Sorry folks
man, really makes you appreciate the depth of their hero pool
As well a Wings played at times, they got really lucky with whom they faced in the Main Event. My reasoning for that is that Wings is hilariously bad at playing against Chen, and he was never brought out against them after the Group Stage--because every team they played didn't have an Artstyle level Chen player. On top of that, they also hate playing against Axe--he was their first ban target in about half their games. If EG or DC had a decent Chen player (PPD is servicable, but I don't think he noticed Wings 72% loss rate against Chen, and wanted to try and take it late where EG's team work tends to pay off), or managed to take a chance with the Axe against their generally agressive playstyle, I think things would have gone very differently
Also, just realized, every team first phase banned Drow against Wings--when Wings is 2-2 with the hero this patch. I looked further, and of the 14 games recently where opponents banned Drow, Wings has won 87% of the time. WHY ARE PEOPLE BANNING DROW AGAINST WINGS STILL?!@$?>
What you're saying is kick ppd bring in akke??
neurosisxeno
Member
Not at all. I think PPD definitely misdrafted the last day of the tournament, but generally he's a great drafter. The issue as I see it, was that nobody looked at the trends enough, and all approached Wings the same way. First ban Drow, second ban ET/Mirana/Kotl/Io/Oracle. Most of those heroes, Wings wasn't even trying to play that much. DC lost to a Drow/Mirana from Wings, but the simple answer is don't give them Drow and Mirana--take the Mirana out first phase and target something like Oracle with the second ban. People were drafting against Wings the same way they were drafting against every Chinese team over the past month, but much like CDEC slipped through because they were just different enough, Wings cleaned up because nobody wanted to take the necessary chances. Everyone drafted to "not lose" rather than to win.
Look at their games against Na'vi--a clearly weaker team--and you see that Na'vi kind of lucked into a lineup that was perfect against Wings. Wings can't first ban the Chen because they hate playing against ET and Drow, and know Na'vi like playing both those heroes, so they have to let Chen through every time, which on Artstyle is risky enough. Then all Na'vi has to do is play their counter-agression game and keep the really obnoxious heroes like Mirana and Oracle out of Wings hands. It cripples them from the start.
EDIT: HOLY SHIT. Jimmy proved Day 1 that I'm right. He gave Wings Drow 2 games in a row and TNC beat them both times. It's just like TI5 but with Drow instead of Lesh. Wings has to either ban it and give up something every team can play (Mirana, Io, ET) and they are weak against, or take it--but they can't play it well enough.
Who do you pick/ban when your opponent can play every hero?
GabeN sends his regards.
Wait they really did this? What is the point of using it? What a dumb thing to do.
neurosisxeno
Member
Jimmy straight up outdrafted Wings. People can claim it's that Wings played a little bad, but part of that was because TNC's drafts against them were so perfect. Yea, he gave up the Drow, but he proved that if you cripple the rest of the team, a Drow doesn't matter that much. Here's my take on the drafts from TNC vs. Wings;
shut your mouth shira
Wok
Member
Interesting analysis of the drafts. Thanks.
shadow2810
Member
Why it's a dumb thing to do? Making note of opponent's draft makes sense to me.
Depends on your accomodations mostly. Airbnb/hostels are cheap, but if you aren't comfortable with those, hotels get more expensive unless you get lucky. One thing before booking anything, especially hotels, is to make sure you see the final price with fees and all. The hotel I got was something like $50 more per night than another one I looked at, and the cheaper one was a little further from the arena than the one I actually got. Then I looked at both with fees: The more expensive nightly rate one cost LESS in total than the cheaper nightly rate one with fees. I don't really understand how it happened, but the difference was about $500, which was pretty significant. Depending on what part of town you stay in you would have to factor transportation costs to the arena every day. This year I stayed at a hotel less than a mile from the arena, so I had it great. Last year my hotel was a bit over 2 miles out, so I just took the bus.
Food and stuff is up to you, but the arena food is expensive as all hell and pretty garbage. It makes McDonalds look like gourmet food. There is a McDonalds nearby as well as a food court area called the Armory, which has decent food, not as bad prices as the arena.
Secret shop can also be a big one depending on what you want. I spent over $350 on stuff this year. Your mileage will vary on this one.
Bottom line: accomodations are the biggest cost of the whole thing. Flight tickets you can actually figure out when to buy them with apps like Hopper, you put in your trip dates and your phone will notify you when you should buy your tickets at their cheapest, wait longer for price to drop, etc. I used it this year and it was right and I got my tickets at their lowest.
In total including Secret Shop I spent maybe $2800, but again that's with secret shop. This figure might be too high or too low, I'm just estimating here and haven't gone back and calculated it.
Wok
Member
Hidden costs? Slightly "scammy" approach to have people book thinking it is cheaper.