OG and Evil Geniuses are creating a TI8 replay at TI9. Evil Geniuses are living the exact same playoffs stage so far, sending Team Secret to the lower bracket in upper bracket round one and facing OG immediately after in the upper bracket second round.
Live stream: Watch OG vs Evil Geniuses at TI9
Forget about last year's drama, forget about money. For N0tail and Fly it's about who has the last word. This is about public and historic rivalry and esports gods giving a second chance to Evil Geniuses to prove they can exorcise their demons: beat OG and win a major event title this year - the biggest one.
Head-to-head record
Since OG's victory in TI8 upper bracket round 2 last year, EG beat OG 2-0 in the MDL Paris Major group stage.
OG eliminated Evil Geniuses in EPICENTER Moscow Major 2019 lower bracket round 1 best-of-one after that, allowing OG to qualify to TI9.
OG just beat Evil Geniuses 2-0 in TI9 group stage best-of-two where N0tail could not help a bit of bantering towards fly, just to raise the temperature up a bit as a reminder.
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Their road to TI9
Qualification
Advantage Evil Geniuses
Evil Geniuses
Evil Geniuses ends a consistent season on a 4th place in the DPC standings, qualifying directly to TI9 like their opponent of the day.
EG finished 3rd of the MDL Paris Major, 2nd of the MDL Macau, 2nd of the Chongqing Major and 3rd of the Kuala Lumpur Major. If there was a bonus for consistency over a DPC season, they would certainly get it to the maximum. Only a final victory is missing to their yearly record, when is better than TI to take the lion share? And eliminate OG on the way.
OG
OG only got their ticket for The International 2019 at the EPICENTER Moscow Major 2019 last June through the DPC standings. Their Dota 2 season did not start ideally with the departure of Ana but they managed to secure a ticket without the stress that goes along regional qualifiers... and got Ana back too.
TI9 Group Stage
Advantage OG
Evil Geniuses
They finished 3rd of their group (3-3-2) and lost against FNATIC and OG. Their TI9 group stage is at the image of their DPC season, consistent, in spite of points dropped vs teams who qualified through their regional qualifier.
Evil Geniuses 0-2 FNATIC - Series B1
Evil Geniuses 1-1 Natus Vincere - Series B2
Evil Geniuses 0-2 OG - Series B3
Evil Geniuses 2-0 Royal Never Give Up - Series B4
Vici Gaming 0-2 Evil Geniuses - Series B5
Evil Geniuses 1-1 Infamous - Series B6
Virtus.pro 1-1 Evil Geniuses - Sereis B8
Evil Geniuses 2-0 Ninjas in Pyjamas - Series B9
OG
OG literally crushed their group only drawing the first game to Natus Vincere and the last one vs Vici Gaming when they were already qualified. N0tail even allowed himself a bit of bantering vs EG. They naturally finished first of their group with 14 points.
OG 1-1 Natus Vincere - Series B1
OG 2-0 Infamous - Series B2
Evil Geniuses 0-2 OG - Series B3
OG vs Ninjas 2-0 Pyjamas - Series B4
OG 2-0 Royal Never Give Up - Series B5
Virtus.pro 0-2 OG - Series B6
OG 2-0 FNATIC - Series B7
Vici Gaming 1-1 OG - Series B9
Mindset going into the match
Yes, the temperature has cooled down from last year's exact same confrontation date but so much so that EG might be on a cold revenge. You don't get a second chance in life often, here the opportunity is too beautiful. The motivation on Fly's side should be at 200% with it. Evil Geniuses just beat Team Secret, their confidence going into this game with memories from not such a distant past will surely add some pressure on. Hopefully, only sane and competitive pressure.
OG has already proven so much at TI with simply being the TI Champions until they prove they can keep the shield home this week. They have to be careful not to be animated by the fear of losing however, because EG can only have a strong will for winning given their DPC Season lack of major titles and this game's particular context.
Dota 2 fans can claim a free item of their choice when they top up their Luckbox account during TI9.
Picture: StarLadder
