The International 2024; Liquid and C9 dominate

photo credits: Valve

Phenomenal performances by Team Liquid and Cloud9 lead to two sweeps in the upper brackets at The International 2024. 

The road to The International 2024  has finally reached the playoffs stage, where the stakes are higher than ever and every match could be the difference between glory and looming elimination. 

The opening series set the tone, showcasing high-caliber Dota 2 as two of the tournament’s top teams clashed in an intense battle. This was followed by a team that delivered a surprising upset to find their place in the upper brackets, shaking up the competition and injecting fresh momentum into the race for the Aegis of Champions.

Xtreme GamingvsTeam Liquid 0:2

Team Liquid and Xtreme Gaming were the first to go head-to-head for the day. These two teams are no strangers to each other. They have met at several events through the season – being pretty evenly matched with wins, losses, and draws to each other – but also seem to have scrimmed a lot against each other leading up to The International according to Xtreme Gaming coach. 

In the first game, Team Liquid picked up Doom. Despite it being a hero that has been performing subpar in the Group Stage and Seeding Deciders, it tends to be a favourite for Neta "33" Shapira – and for good reason. Xtreme Gaming went with a Slark and Marci support duo as a twist on what would have normally been expected, except as Maps stated in the post-draft interview “I think Liquid has a feel for what are doing because we've done it in scrims.”. And that seemed to be true. Team Liquid really just had Xtreme's number, Michał "Nisha" Jankowski had a perfect game on Puck with a 12:0:10 record as did Michael "miCKe" Vu on his last pick Luna with 8/0/12 K/D/A. 

Trying to reset, Xtreme Gaming picked up a Phantom Assassin for Wang "Ame" Chunyu. Despite a promising start, it wasn't enough as Team Liquid just ran at Xtreme and destroyed them in the process. In just under 20 minutes it was all over. 

Team Liquid continue in the upper brackets for the semi-finals. They will have a few days to rest and prepare before playing again on Friday, September 13th.  

Xtreme Gaming will drop to the lower brackets for Round 2 expected to take place on Tuesday, September 10th

Cloud9vsAurora 2:0

Cloud9 dominated in groups, Aurora struggled but found themselves in the upper brackets after a thrilling upset in the Deciding Seed series against Team Zero. 

• Read Jabz interview at The International 2024: "It was scary at that moment"

Cloud9 opened with Naga Siren, grabbed a Luna, and closed with Earth Spirit for Volodymyr "No[o]ne-" Minenko. Aurora countered the last pick with an EarthShaker but all eyes were on the Marina carry that seemed questionable. Aurora had a tough start as all three cores from Cloud9 were leading in networth. Typically Aurora thrives when behind and slowly chips away at the gaps and is known for high execution in the late game but unfortunately, C9 is a team that once they get rolling they don't stop and it was just too much for Aurora to cut through and they couldn't bring themselves into the game. No[o]ne- is looking to be on point, similar to the VP version in 2017-2018 era when they just dominated the season – a scary mid-player to be back in form. 

This time C9 opened with a Wind Ranger and ended with Storm Spirit. When Aurora needs a win they return to the Nuengnara "23" Teeramahanon Morphling, which is exactly what they did. Post-draft Lee "SunBhie" Jeong-jae, Aurora coach said it was going to come down to how to defeat their [c9] auras mid-game – which clearly didn't happen. Alimzhan "watson" Islambekov landed shackle after shackle and had a flawless game and Vladislav "Kataomi`" Semenov's Tinker was a force to be reckoned with. C9 came into the series with a ‘near perfect’ record having lost only game in the group stage and continue to overpower their opponents.  

Cloud9 will continue in the upper brackets for the semi-finals to face Team Liquid on Friday, September 13th. 

Aurora will drop to the lower brackets expected to take place on Tuesday, September 10th. 

The day will continue with two more upper bracket quarter-final series:

Team FalconsvsTundra Esports at 16:00 CEST
nounsvsGaimin Gladiators at 19:00 CEST

The International 2024 Playoffs 

The International 2024 is finally here and GosuGamers has you covered with a comprehensive, one-stop guide to all things TI13 to keep you in the know. 

Ten days of glorious Dota 2 action will kick off on Wednesday, September 4th with the Group Stage in Copenhagen, Denmark, and continue through Sunday, September 15th. Sixteen will begin the journey, and only one will seize the Aegis of Champions and the lion's share of the $2+ MILLION prize pool. 

 For more match results and updates on the go don't forget to check out our Telegram channel.