Western teams continue to struggle at day three of the International Dota 2 championships

The third day of the 2017 International Dota 2 Championships saw some slivers of life from western teams from the lower bracket, but odds only seem to be improving for Chinese Dota to secure a second consecutive Aegis of Champions.

Wednesday opened with an emotional rematch of sorts as EU team OG once again faced off against Filipino team TNC. At least year’s International, TNC delivered a shocking upset to OG, knocking the tournament favorite — and winner of four of five of Valve’s Majors tournaments — out of contention in straight sets. This year, a revamped TNC and OG led to different results, as OG delivered a convincing 2-0 win against the Filipino squad and advancing in the lower bracket of the main event.

Next, TI6 runners-up Digital Chaos played against Chinese team LGD after the latter team was knocked to the lower bracket the day before. However, LGD regained some of their footing as they delivered one of the faster wins of the tournament and continued on to take the series 2-0.

The day continued in the upper bracket, as Chinese orgs Invictus Gaming and Newbee attempted to secure at least a top three finish, and millions of dollars of prize money. It was a hard-fought series, with IG and Newbee trading wins, and key picks of the hero Earth Spirit back and forth. But ultimately Newbee sent the TI2 winners to the lower bracket.

The night closed with one more upper bracket match as Russian team Virtus.Pro and Chinese team LGD.Forever Young fought to secure a top three spot in the tournament. LGD.FY delivered a convincing game one victory over the Russians, but VP stunned the Chinese team with a wave of early aggression in game two. However, key mistakes as VP attempted to secure high-ground objectives ultimately cost them as the nail-biter concluded with a stunning LGD.FY comeback.

Virtus.Pro will continue in the lower bracket today, though their opponent has yet to be determined as Team Liquid face off against Team Empire, and OG take on LGD.

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