This article is part of our Dota 2 series.
Another day of The International 7 is in the books and we now have just eight teams left standing. The green machine of OG continues to fight its way through the lower bracket, while LGD.Forever Young is taking teams up in the upper bracket at Key Arena in Seattle.
OG and LGD dominate in lower bracket
With Evil Geniuses and Team Secret eliminated from the tournament, few contenders from the west remain.
The "Green Dream" is still alive and well in Seattle after OG defeated TNC 2-0. It was a rematch of the same set that saw OG exit The International 2016, but deja vu was not in the cards this year. The revamped OG started off shaky in Game 1 as TNC slipped from its grasp time and time again all the while nabbing kills left and right. OG managed to steady itself and turn the game around, however. Anathan "Ana" Pham completely took over the later game, controlling TNC and enabling OG to slaughter them with relative ease.
In Game 2, OG kept its momentum and ran over TNC in an incredible display of power. Playing both patient and aggressive, OG took advantage of every opportunity that came its way. Conquering its demons, for the first time in months, OG finally looks like a team that could win it all this year.
The west suffered yet another blow at the hands of China as LGD stomped Digital Chaos into oblivion, sweeping the young squad 2-0. Both games took less than one hour for LGD to claim victory. In Game 1, the crowd was electric as Digital Chaos last picked Abed "Abed" Azel L Yusop's signature Meepo for the first time at The International. Despite the comfort picks, Digital Chaos was outclassed. LGD easily handled the Meepo and dealt a huge blow to the confidence of DC. In Game 2, Digital Chaos fell apart at the seams. Wang "Ame" Chunyu's Anti-Mage finished the game with nine kills and zero deaths, never breaking a sweat as he cut down hero after hero. With Lu "Maybe" Yao's Death Prophet pushing down the towers, DC threw in the towel at just over 30 minutes to exit the international. LGD will now take on OG in Round 3 of the lower bracket.
China takes charge of the upper bracket
Newbee and Invictus Gaming went to battle in the third series of the day. With both teams having been called "Kings of China" at different points throughout the season, it was finally time for them to battle and decide who was truly the champion. Newbee picked up a 2-1 win in a full series that showcased midgame terrors such as Drow Ranger and Bloodseeker. In Game 1, Newbee managed to win a scrappy game despite Song "Sccc" Chun suffering from the very start. iG was quick to respond in Game 2, utilizing Bloodseeker to run right over Newbee's Drow Ranger lineup. In Game 3, iG played with fire, drafting Monkey King support for Ye "BoBoKa" Zhibiao. Usually a dynamic player who can break games open with his mind-blowing playmaking ability, BoBoKa unfortunately fell flat with no kills and 11 deaths. Invictus Gaming now falls to the lower bracket where they will await the winner of the series between OG and LGD.
Keeping with the theme of the day, the Chinese continued purging all opposing teams from the upper bracket as LGD.Forever Young swept Virtus.pro 2-0 in the most exciting series of the day. LFY took Game 1 by storm, kiting the opposing team with their superior range as Du "Monet" Peng's Morphling racked up nine kills and incurred zero deaths. Game 2 was a much lengthier and closer affair, where VP looked as though they were on their way to forcing a third game. With both teams reeling off one explosive teamfight after another, VP eventually became impatient and tried to force LFY's hand. In doing so, the last remaining bulwark against Chinese Dota was crushed. A late Roshan fight where Tue Soon "Ahfu" Chuan snatched the Aegis sealed the fate of Virtus.pro, which now drops into the lower bracket to face the winner of Team Liquid and Empire series.
We're getting down to the wire, with just three days left until the TI7 champion has been crowned. The action of Day 4 will kick off Thursday at 1 p.m. ET with Team Liquid taking on Team Empire in the lower bracket.
