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The best TI Grand Final to date

fragster Radu M. 7. October 2023

Despite the decline it has seen in recent years, The International is still the most prestigious event in all of esports. Its history is full of epic moments and dramatic Grand Finals, immortalized by the True Sight series, which can be watched on YouTube.

Here are the top 3 TI Grand Finals.

TI3 Grand Final: Natus Vincere versus Alliance

This match made a lot of Alliance players famous. Some of them went on to build a very successful career as streamers following this moment.

This was the first time when an outsider managed to win the Aegis of Champions. Natus Vincere had won the first TI and played in the Grand Final of the second. Compared to them, Alliance were a bunch of nobodies.

But that didn’t matter. AdmiralBulldog and his crew defeated one great team after another in that tournament, starting with LGD Gaming and continuing with Team DK and the Na’Vi in the upper bracket Final.

In the Grand Final, Alliance won game 1 in 16 minutes. Then they lost games 2 and 3, only to make a great comeback in games 4 and 5 with the help of IO and Nature’s Prophet. This was rat-Dota at its finest, an era that we won’t see again too soon.

TI8 Grand Final: OG versus PSG.LGD

Ahead of The International 8, OG nearly disbanded. The team lost two players, including its captain, and looked completely lost. But after some very inspired roster moves, OG qualified for the tournament, where they were regarded to be the least likely to succeed. A total of 18 teams were in the race and they were the ultimate underdogs.

With every match, OG got better and ended up securing an upper bracket spot in the playoffs, where they won four consecutive matches. In the Grand Final, PSG.LGD came close to beating them multiple times, but the end result was 3-2 in favor of OG. This was by far the best TI Grand Final in the history of the game.

TI10 Grand Final: Team Spirit versus PSG.LGD

In 2021, after a one-year break, The International came back and was held in one of Romania’s stadiums. With $40 million in prize money, this was the biggest TI ever.

The favorite team was PSG.LGD. Team Spirit, who ended up winning the Grand Final 3-2, didn’t even make the top 6 list in most pundits’ eyes. But they still ended up winning thanks to the roster’s incredible cohesion.

Header: Valve