Team Newbee members taking turn hoisting the Aegis trophy after their victory against Vici Gaming.
It was China vs China in the Dota 2 The International 2014 grand finals. Vici Gaming (VG), the favourite to take the crown, was crushed by Newbee in a thrilling match that stretched to four rounds.
VG took the lead initially by beating Newbee in the first round but it couldn’t maintain the momentum. Newbee made a strong comeback to dominate the second and third rounds.
“It’s a massacre,” said the commentator, as Newbee vanquished VG in the forth round to take the Aegis trophy and US$5mil (RM15.87mil) in cash. VG walked away with US$1.5mil (RM4.76mil) for coming in second.
For many gamers, the outcome was totally unexpected as Newbee performed poorly in the group stage, losing eight matches and winning only seven.
Newbee’s Chen “Hao” Zhihao was brilliant in the finals, as his hero, Weaver, disrupted VC’s gameplay time and time again.
The Chinese teams were brutally efficient at this year’s The International, as five teams made it to the Main Event after defending champion Alliance, team DK of China and Na’vi of Ukraine crashed out in the early stages.
Valve forked out US$1.6mil (RM5.1mil) for the prize money, while the rest came from the sale of in-game digital items, stretching the final pool to more than US$11mil (RM34.91mil), making it the largest bounty for a videogame tournament.
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