Team Spirit shocks PSG.LGD to win The International 10

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From 7 to 17 October 2021, we saw the best Dota 2 teams in the world compete at The International 10. Teams fought their hearts out for their share of the biggest prize pool in esports history, a mind-blowing $40,018,195. For those curious, at the current Dollar to Rand exchange rate, that's over half a billion Rand. To be exact, it's 580 million Rand...

Team Spirit wins The International 10

The group stage of The International 10 whittled down the competition to the final 16 teams, with the Chinese juggernaut PSG.LGD going 15-1 in Group B. PSG.LGD has always been a top contender, for those who are new to the Dota 2 esports scene. In recent years, they placed 2nd at The International 8, and 3rd at The International 9. However, the famed organization has never managed to close one out and lift the Aegis of Champions.

During the playoffs, PSG.LGD barreled through the competition. They beat T1 with a score of 2-1 in the upper bracket, followed by ploughing down Virtus.pro with a clean 2-0. In the upper bracket final, Team Secret was outclassed by PSG.LGD as the Chinese team secured their spot in the grand final.

Team Spirit, a young CIS squad, was knocked down to the lower bracket in round one by Invictus Gaming. That's when a Cinderella story like no other started to unfold. Spirit went on, what can only be described as a miracle run. Team Spirit brought down Fnatic 2-0, followed by a 2-0 victory over the defending champions, OG. The squad didn't stop there, as they knocked out Virtus.pro 2-1, and Invictus Gaming 2-0 to claim their revenge.

This past Sunday, we saw Secret take on the young Team Spirit squad in a thrilling lower-bracket final match. Secret, led by Puppey, couldn't manage to put an end to Team Spirit's miracle run, as the CIS squad secured a spot in the grand finals, where the final boss, PSG.LGD laid in wait.

No one could have imagined Team Spirit even making it to the grand final. However, the squad rallied once again, going 2-0 up in the best-of-five against PSG.LGD. The Chinese juggernauts fought back with two very convincing wins to make it 2-2, bringing us to the final game of The International 10. Despite a strong, signature draft from PSG.LGD, Team Spirit would not be denied, as they beat PSG.LGD in a fantastic final game to claim the Aegis of Champions, with four players who have never been to The International before!

A big congratulations go out to Team Spirit for winning The International 10, and the lion's share of the record-breaking prize pool. Team Spirit wins 18,208,300 while PSG.LGD limps away with $5,202,400 as the Aegis of Champions is now in the hands of the CIS region for the first time since Na'Vi won the very first The International.