Dota 2: How the bottom two teams shocked the world at TI9

Royal Never Give Up does not surrender. Infamouse has turned themselves into celebrities. And no one in Shanghai expected anything from either team.

This time’s TI9 story focuses on the heavyweights but pale in competition. Team Liquid, although gradually improving in the playoffs, struggled in the previous group stage. Just like no one expected Team Secret to be relegated to the losing bracket. And Virtus.pro is under the curse of TI – their title of strong team before the tournament only makes the boys more humiliated.

But let’s not just talk about disappointment, let’s talk about the bottom teams that have achieved success, Royal Never Give Up and Infamous.

Royal Never Give Up is a famous name in the world of League of Legends. They’ve won multiple LPL wins and been in the top 8 of the Worlds for the past three years. But the Dota 2 roster hasn’t been able to do much since the boys only competed together a year ago after The International 2018.

Despite creating a buzz at DreamLeague right after its founding, they were unable to win the right to the Major against strong regional rivals.

But in the TI9 China Qualifier, RNG overcame the losing bracket, defeating EHOME, Invictus, and CDEC to qualify for TI9. RNG struggled after day 2 – the day they won big 2-0 against Na`Vi and NiP, with the responsibility on carry Du “Monet” Peng.

RNG continued to rely on Monet when facing Alliance. They won a teamfight in the 42nd minute against Alliance that couldn’t buyback and knocked the TI3 champion out of the tournament.

With the advantage of morale, the host audience, and the TI curse of the enemy, RNG knocked out tycoon Virtus.pro in the next round in just two games – with superior drafts and clever play.

Next, we talk about Infamous’s journey. Infamous signed this roster less than two months ago, and a week later the Peruvian team rocked the South American region. Infamous’s only loss was 1-2 against paiN Gaming – the opponent was then beaten 3-0 by the boys themselves in the final.

Infamous was present at TI9 even though South America was looked down upon by many. Infamous held their ground in the group stage and knocked out a Chinese team without any cheers from the stadium crowd.

These two teams entered TI9 with no expectations and did not think they would win anything. However, they went very deep, beating some very strong teams, only to lose to super talented teams in the losing bracket. Prior to TI9, both teams had only earned a total of $525,000USD in winnings. And now, each brings home $850,000! The numbers say it all.